Ok, I'm gonna try a less solemnly emotional tack but on the same subject.

I disagree with and detest Mel Gibson's views on his version of Catholicism and his apparent view on Jews. But, I sure love his Mad Max flicks. And his early lethal weapon movies. And, in a perverse way, Apocalypto. Many of his other flicks are self-serving in character and presentation, and he is limited as an actor because of that. But he is clearly talented, entertaining, and has a large solid body of work to be proud of.

This possibly is a distinction between Americans and those on the East side of the Atlantic. We Yanks like being entertained even if we are not politically as one with the entertainer. There are many right wingers who bitch about the reds out in Hollywood, but they go to the movies without vetting them first. I learned this when all the Alaska oil business folks I worked with went to see Avatar with their families and loved it without spending a lot of time or attention on its environmentalist message.