“Mel Gibson Developing Holocaust Series” tells us that Gibson’s production company might produce an ABC mini-series about the Holocaust, but that Gibson definitely won’t be acting in it. In fact, he might not be involved with it at all. Sound like Gossip?
From the Times:
Mel Gibson, whose "Passion of the Christ" was criticized by some as anti-Semitic - and whose father has said that the Holocaust did not happen - is developing a nonfiction mini-series about the Holocaust.
Mr. Gibson's television production company will base the four-hour miniseries for ABC on the self-published memoir of Flory A. Van Beek, a Dutch Jew whose gentile neighbors hid her from the Nazis but who lost several relatives in concentration camps.
The project is in its early stages, so there is no guarantee that it will be completed. Mr. Gibson is not expected to act in the mini-series, nor is it certain that his name, rather than his company's, will be publicly attached to the final product, according to several people involved in developing it.
The article has a point, of course. For the son of a notorious Holocaust denier to make a mini-series about the holocaust is a big deal. For him to be involved with such a project at all is a big deal. It's a good angle that's worth reporting. But the “maybe” stuff is just silly. The article should have been written after something decisive was announced. As it is, it just sounds like gossip. And, as many others blogging at Press Ethic have pointed out, the Times should leave the celeb gossip to those who do it best.
Don’t miss the Mel Gibson as Unabomber photo, though. It’s a keeper.
Christie Rizk @ December 7, 2005 - 5:14pm
I don't know if Mel Gibson himself has ever been a Holocaust denier, but it's really annoying - and gossipy - when any article that mentions Gibson also says his Dad was a notorious Holocaust denier. Unless Gibson himself has made such claims, I don't see how his Dad's views have any important bearing on his activities.
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