# Mel Gibson's Pa--Nuttier Than a Stuckey's Log!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [March 10, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404 "2003-03-10T20:59:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/1 "2003-03-10T20:59:40Z")

</div>

Did anyone read the article about Catholicer-than-Thou Mel Gibson and his fruitcake author Pa, Hutton Gibson, in this Sunday’s _NY Times Magazine_? A brief excerpt:

“Hutton flatly rejected [the widely-held belief] that Al Qaeda hijackers had anything to do with the [9-11] attacks. ‘‘Anybody can put out a passenger list,’’ he said. So what happened? ‘‘They were crashed by remote control,’’ he replied. He moved on to the Holocaust, dismissing historical accounts that six million Jews were exterminated. ‘‘Go and ask an undertaker or the guy who operates the crematorium what it takes to get rid of a dead body,’’ he said. ‘‘It takes one liter of petrol and 20 minutes. Now, six million?’’ Across the table, Joye [Gibson’s wife] suddenly looked up from her plate . . . .She had kept quiet most of the day, so it was a surprise when she cheerfully piped in. ‘‘There weren’t even that many Jews in all of Europe,’’ she said. ‘‘Anyway, there were more after the war than before,’’ Hutton added. The entire catastrophe was manufactured, said Hutton, as part of an arrangement between Hitler and financiers to move Jews out of Germany. Hitler ‘‘had this deal where he was supposed to make it rough on them so they would all get out and migrate to Israel because they needed people there to fight the Arabs,’’ he said.”

—“Yikes” doesn’t even begin to cover it! To be fair, the _NYT_ says that Mel does not necessarily subscribe to all his Dad’s views.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/2 "2003-03-10T21:07:30Z")

</div>

He’s just gotta bump into a lot of stuff.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/3 "2003-03-10T21:16:39Z")

</div>

Doesn’t _necessarily_??!!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/4 "2003-03-10T21:18:54Z")

</div>

Fuck what a fruitcake. IIRC I saw something the other day about Mel being pissed about his dad getting slammed in some paper. I guess that was the paper.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/5 "2003-03-10T21:21:13Z")

</div>

From what I understand, Mel was **very** unhappy that the NYTimes sought out his dad and interviewed him. Apparently, Mel’s dad is notorious for being a loon, and is kinda embarrassing to Mel. The guy’s in his 80s or something, I guess his nuttiness got more and more cemented over the years. But what can Mel do? It’s his dad, he can’t exactly say to the press and public, “Don’t mind my dad, we all know he’s nuts”. He’ll hurt his dad’s feelings, terribly. I guess he doesn’t want to do that.

It is _so_ embarrassing. I am glad that I am not famous—if they interviewed my mom—hoo boy. (No, she’s not as nutty as Mel’s dad, not even close, but she has a knack ofor being a bit “eccentric” at times.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/6 "2003-03-10T21:28:11Z")

</div>

Of course, Mel, is slightly to the right of the last Czar, politically. I wonder if he doesn’t like Dad being interviewed because,

a) His Dad’s a certifiable fruitcake and embarrasses his whole family, or,

b) Mel just feels his views will cut into Mel’s box office? Mel himself has come out with some wowsers over the years. her’s anti-gay rights, anti-abortion, anti-divorce . . . Pretty much what you’d expect for a Catholic, really, but his films’ backers would really like to keep this under wraps . . .

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/7 "2003-03-10T21:38:52Z")

</div>

Hey. I’m a Catholic. I really don’t share a lot of positions with Mel, let alone his father. I, and most of the observant Catholics I know, are not real big on “antis.”

As to Mel and his father, well, we’ve all got one or two loons in our families. What can we do?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/8 "2003-03-10T21:39:42Z")

</div>

Just read that his father won $25,000 on Jeopardy in 1968.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/9 "2003-03-10T21:44:10Z")

</div>

Hutton used to have a great mind for trivia, he took all the prizes in a quiz show here years ago and was far more famous than Mel for a while. Of course that said nothing of his politics but his mind must have retired for him to be silly enough to spout this stuff out loud.

How very sad.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/10 "2003-03-10T21:51:01Z")

</div>

Let me rephrase that; I don’t mean to tar all Catholics. But Mel is particularly right-wing, and states on the record that the _Pope_ is too liberal for him!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/11 "2003-03-10T22:14:22Z")

</div>

[aside]Why am I not surprised that **lieu** was the first response in a thread about nutty logs? :p[/aside]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/12 "2003-03-10T22:32:53Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by **Eve** \*  
> Of course, Mel, is slightly to the right of the last Czar, politically. I wonder if he doesn’t like Dad being interviewed because,

Well, as much as I love Nicky, he WAS quite an anti-semite in his day. However, I wouldn’t see him denying the Holocaust, or condoning it.

But… **Eve**?

[/quote]  
her’s anti-gay rights, anti-abortion, anti-divorce . . . Pretty much what you’d expect for a Catholic, really, but his films’ backers would really like to keep this under wraps . . .  
[/QUOTE]

Was this REALLY necessary? :rolleyes:

I happen to be Catholic, and so are a lot of people on this board who are NOT at all like Mel Gibson. My mother is an extremely devout Catholic who is very much for gay rights. She doesn’t like abortion, but she doesn’t really pay too much attention to it.

Honestly, **Eve** , this is not something I’d expect from you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/13 "2003-03-10T22:36:38Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*  
> \*\*Let me rephrase that; I don’t mean to tar all Catholics. But Mel is particularly right-wing, and states on the record that the _Pope_ is too liberal for him! \*\*

:o

Didn’t see this when I posted. IN that case, just call me Emily Litella.

The POPE is too liberal for him? Sheesh. (Although, scary enough, the Pope is kinda liberal on some things-female altar servers, evolution, some cases of foreign policy. But no, he’s no John XXIII)

Mel Gibson is an embarassment. Just keep in mind, **Eve** , Gregory Peck is Catholic. So we do have reason to be proud!  
😉

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/14 "2003-03-10T22:39:35Z")

</div>

When are “you people” gonna learn? All of “us” who are not “ignorant” know that the Holocaust, the Moon Landing, 9/11 never really happened! Wise up people! Geez, who keeps you from falling off the edge of the Earth when you are walking around with your blinders on?

Next thing you know, you’ll be telling “us” that God has had plastic surgery and sleeps with little boys.

😃

* * *

Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/15 "2003-03-10T22:41:31Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*  
> \*\*Of course, Mel, is slightly to the right of the last Czar, politically. I wonder if he doesn’t like Dad being interviewed because,
> 
> a) His Dad’s a certifiable fruitcake and embarrasses his whole family, or,
> 
> b) Mel just feels his views will cut into Mel’s box office?\*\*

I think i’ll take (b). Mel Gibson’s a right-wing wing-nut from way back, and while he might not descend to the level of conspiracy-mongering that his father adheres to, i don’t think the apple fell very far from the tree in that family.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/16 "2003-03-10T23:02:16Z")

</div>

Is the NYT so desperate for page-fodder that it stoops to interviewing the 80-some year old father of Mel Gibson? Is the world of ‘entertainment’ so lacking in news items that they need to interview the parents of actors now? Pathetic.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/17 "2003-03-10T23:16:10Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*  
> \*\*Let me rephrase that; I don’t mean to tar all Catholics. But Mel is particularly right-wing, and states on the record that the _Pope_ is too liberal for him! \*\*

Isn’t he a sedevacanist?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/18 "2003-03-11T00:57:53Z")

</div>

Actually, Hutton Gibson is better-known in some circles than Mel, as an author and, ummm, “pundit.” To me, he’ll always be Grandpa Simpson: just read his rant, above, in a Grandpa Simpson voice!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/19 "2003-03-11T01:14:44Z")

</div>

[Ignorance Fighting Request]

What’s a sedevacanist?

[www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) has never heard of that word, nor anything like it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404/20 "2003-03-11T01:35:01Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \*  
> \*\*[Ignorance Fighting Request]
> 
> What’s a sedevacanist?
> 
> [www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) has never heard of that word, nor anything like it. \*\*

The word is actually _sedevacantist_, and it’s not surprising it isn’t in the dictionary. It comes from _sede vacante_, which means “the seat being vacant”. It refers to a time when the Papal seat (or an Episcopal see) is vacant. This is the normal time between the death of one pope and the election of another. The belief (or heresy, as you prefer) of _sedevacantism_ is that the popes since John XXIII, including the current pope, are heretics and therefore cannot hold the Papacy. The belief is based on the liberalization of the Church and the liturgy, hence **Captain Amazing** ’s question regarding Mel Gibson being to the right of the Pope.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-pa-nuttier-than-a-stuckeys-log/160404.md?page=2)
