Not everyone was comfortable reckoning with the show’s demographic. “A lot of celebrities were terrified of coming on TRL,” says Tim Healy, the show’s head writer. “They were fine with Letterman or Conan because that was an adult audience, but they found TRL a challenge. I remember Mel Gibson rolling in, and he was not in the mood to be there. One of the recurring bits we did was having guests draw a self-portrait. And after his appearance — and it was an unnerving appearance — I looked at his drawing. It was terrifying, and in bold letters he’d written, ‘I offer you my decrepit soul.’”

kontextmaschine:

Everyone and -where I know has been praising Fury Road, correctly.

Though. You talk about directors able to succeed big with big-budget action blockbusters with a distinctive, suit-unfriendly vision, you know who comes immediately to mind? Mel Gibson.

(His creative signature is the twinned themes of freedom and the violation of the human body.)

Hollywood has a legend that the McCarthyite blacklist was broken by prohibited filmmakers “secretly” working behind frontmen and then revealing their involvement after the films in question racked up praise and awards.

I’m not saying, I’m just… saying.

Now what would you expect from a Mel Gibson movie?

- huge D.W. Griffith-style set pieces, with a ton of exotic-looking extras

- a scene of self-surgery

- some biblical thematics, like say a man and woman cast out of a garden, their return barred by an angel with a flaming… sword, followed by an end to the old order where evil, violent superhumans mate with fair women to produce warriors, all washed away in a flood of water

(What if it wasn’t an origin story because it was an Origin story?)

- or, say, salvation through the blood of the crucified

I really really think I might be on to something here.

Everyone and -where I know has been praising Fury Road, correctly.

Though. You talk about directors able to succeed big with big-budget action blockbusters with a distinctive, suit-unfriendly vision, you know who comes immediately to mind? Mel Gibson.

(His creative signature is the twinned themes of freedom and the violation of the human body.)

Hollywood has a legend that the McCarthyite blacklist was broken by prohibited filmmakers “secretly” working behind frontmen and then revealing their involvement after the films in question racked up praise and awards.

I’m not saying, I’m just… saying.

Watching Braveheart. Mel Gibson is absolutely obsessed with the twin themes of freedom and the destruction of the human body.