Mel Gibson and the Real Miracle of Hanukkah

Mel Gibson, before we knew what he thought. Image by Alan Light / Wiki Commons

By Dan Friedman September 9, 2011

Mel Gibson, the Hollywood star so tarnished by anti-Semitism that a foul-mouthed tirade of bigotry can be called “doing a Gibson,” is in talks with Warner Brothers to develop a film about Judah Maccabee — the Jewish hero of Hanukkah, also known as Judah the Hammer.

Reportedly joining up with Hungarian-American Joe Eszterhas, who wrote “Basic Instinct” and “Showgirls,” Gibson is, seemingly, attempting to resurrect a career which went south with the 2004’s oddball “The Passion of the Christ” and went souther when he told Jewish police officer James Mee, “F–king Jews… the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

Although it’s not confirmed what part Gibson is looking to play, there would be a strange poetic justice if he were able to attain forgiveness from Hollywood and the cinemagoing public by playing a fundamentalist religious zealot who, by opposing the global superpower of the age using terrorism, was able to drive western civilization out of the Middle-East.

Of course, if he doesn’t want to play Judah Maccabee he could always play the antagonist: historical Jew-killer and opponent of Jewish self-governance, King Antiochus. Either way, forget about a drop of sanctified oil staying alight for the eight days that it took to produce more, the real miracle of Hanukkah will be Gibson avoiding getting a hammering for messing with the Maccabees.

Addendum: Jeffrey Goldberg details his meeting with Mel Gibson in which they discuss hanging weights on penises to reverse circumcision.

Dan Friedman is the former executive editor and whisky correspondent of the Forward, and is the author of a book about Tears for Fears, the ’80s emo rock band.

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