Yellow

I hope everyone will read this. And I hope we all realize that alcohol, even a .12 blood alcohol level's worth, doesn't turn one into an anti-Semite. It is deep seated. You know this, right?

Please make no excuses for this man. At least do not make them here.

My daughter is a Mel Gibson fan—that is to say she prefers his treatment of the Hamlet character to Kenneth Branagh's version. She finds Branagh "ugly." I hope that she will now find Gibson ugly.

I told my eight-year-old girl, a child raised on film versions of Shakespearean plays, that Gibson got drunk the other day and drove his car. Her eyes widened. I continued the story, explaining that he had said mean things about Jewish people. I don't know that I am completely astounded by her response: "I would have just said no if he asked me so that I can protect my life." That she would find her life endangered by those words is the surprise. That she is so astute is not.

I said the same thing at her age when I learned that Jews were forced to emblazon their arms with the yellow badge*. No one believed what followed could have followed.

I hope we are smarter now.

I'm not saying I'd pretend, that I'd go undercover as a Christian or a Muslim or the Opressor du jour to protect my life. And I'm not saying the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of our government is preferable, either.

I asked once in a poem:
"and will you take up arms when they / come knocking at your door? or will / you hold this pen and write these poems?"

Both. Both.

And what a dismal thought for a Sunday morning. Who should have to protect her daughter from the words of a hateful, drunken actor? And will that lead to having to protect her from more than words?**



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*Read more about the history of the yellow badge.

**This is, of course, why I love blogging. Bloggers expose us to news that is often suppressed or hidden. And bloggers share with us their intimate thoughts and offer us glimpses into their lives. I like to share my daughter's wisdom. And when you see it after I've exposed my flaws, you know that your child is going to be OK.