# Mel Gibson's secret **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600 "2000-10-27T15:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/1 "2000-10-27T15:18:59Z")
So I was watching The Patriot the other night, and I realized that all Mel movies that turn into blockbusters have one thing in common - Mel losing his wife. All the big Mel movies - Mad Max series, Lethal Weapon series, Braveheart, Patriot, Man w/o a Face - have Mel with a dead wife as part of the plot. The not so huge Mel flicks - Bird on a Wire, Air America - do not have feature an ex Mrs. Gibson. So, to make a successful Mel Gibson movie, all you have to do is kill his character’s wife. Instant success. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/2 "2000-10-27T16:11:27Z")
Two successful Gibson movies (over $100 million US box office) that do not involve a dead wife: Chicken Run (yes, hard to call it a “Mel Gibson” movie) Ransom ---
**Author:** ![doc\_miller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@doc\_miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doc_miller)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/3 "2000-10-27T16:17:05Z")
If you’re going to count Chicken Run, you’ll have to count Pocahontas too. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/4 "2000-10-27T16:20:41Z")
Lethal Weapon 3 he finds the wife he’ll have in Lethal Weapon 4. Moral of this story: Don’t much with Mel fans. And in Payback, although the rotten wife is killed off, he ends up with the lady of his choice anyhow (I was for some reason unavailable at the time). ---
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/5 "2000-10-27T16:23:24Z")
**Hijack** Ever noticed that The Patriot was supposed to be all about American patriotism and pride in their country, and yet the 2 lead roles were played by Australians? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/6 "2000-10-27T16:46:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MadHatter \* > \*\ ***Hijack** > > Ever noticed that The Patriot was supposed to be all about American patriotism and pride in their country, and yet the 2 lead roles were played by Australians? \*\* That and it was hardly historically accurate. But watching brits get shot is always fun. ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/7 "2000-10-27T17:35:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MadHatter \* > \*\ ***Hijack** > Ever noticed that The Patriot was supposed to be all about American patriotism and pride in their country, and yet the 2 lead roles were played by Australians? \*\* So what’s wrong with that? After all, we’re (mostly) a nation of immigrants. ~~Baloo ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/8 "2000-10-27T18:12:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > But watching brits get shot is always fun. \*\* OW! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/9 "2000-10-27T19:17:09Z")
It should also be pointed out that Mel Gibson _is_ (or at least, was born) American. He was born in Peekskill, NY. His family moved to Australia when he was a teen. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/10 "2000-10-28T00:52:27Z")
A better generalization is that all major Mel Gibson movies involve him losing (or being close to losing) someone important to him, so he decides to take revenge. That’s why the taglines for his films are always something like “They killed [or kidnapped] his wife/son/whatever, and he’s mad as hell. Mel Gibson is back, and this time it’s personal.” ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/11 "2000-10-28T03:33:51Z")
I hate to break it to you guys, but Mel Gibson’s secret is his butt. And his eyes. And his chest. And his voice. Like Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart, they could film him reading a phone book, I’d I’d pay to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/12 "2000-10-28T03:38:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\* > And in Payback, although the rotten wife is killed off, he ends up with the lady of his choice anyhow (I was for some reason unavailable at the time). > > \*\* Yeah, apparently he got my answering machine when he was looking for the next movie wife. :::sigh:::: It’s his voice that does it for me. And ditto for " I’d pay to watch him read the phone book." adding, " Naked. Him, not me." Oh, in " Forever Young." He didn’t lose his wife. He was never married. I won’t spoil the ending …they all die by a large asterroid smashing into the earth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/13 "2000-10-28T03:43:06Z")
And here I was thinking this would be a thread about underwear . . . oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibsons-secret/38600/14 "2000-10-28T08:52:11Z")
_Forever Young_ wasn’t really a huge hit, so it doesn’t affect any generalizations about Gibson’s major movies.