The Hollywood Nightmare

The best thing to be yielded up by the BBC news website this week was (a link to) a letter from Joe Esterhaz to Mel Gibson, complaining about Gibson's refusal to direct his script. Not only that, it also detailed the Esterhaz family's terrifying experiences as houseguests of Gibson, wherein they cowered in their beds in fear for their lives while Gibson rampaged around the house like a mad gorilla. Among Mel's numerous crimes were saying that John Lennon 'deserved to be shot', and announcing to Esterhaz's fifteen year old son his intention of fucking his ex-girlfriend ('She is evil') from behind while simultaneously stabbing her in the back. Wild! Mel later sent the family a note apologising for the 'rage-filled puss' which occasionally bursts out of him. What? Is he some kind of were-cat? Anything is possible with Mel, it seems.

The script in question was for a historical drama about a Jewish hero, which is supposed to counter all those wild accusations of anti-Semitism that have been thrown Mel's way of late - although Mel's own idea (according to Esterhaz) is that the resulting film will 'convert the Jews to Christianity'. You do wonder if Joe might not have wondered a little sooner whether a man who habitually refers to Jews as 'oven-dodgers' is really the ideal person to be making 'the Jewish Braveheart' with. The Jewish Texas Chainsaw Massacre maybe.

Personally, I think Esterhaz's script sounds boring, and Joe should be thanking Mel for providing him with priceless new material - a psycho-thriller about a scriptwriter menaced by a bonkers Hollywood actor called (just a suggestion) Gil Mebson. It could be the Mommie Dearest of our age.