The repairer of reputations

Here's the situation. You're a top Hollywood star who has hit a really tough spot. You've got a DUI, so you've spilled the beans on your drinking problem. You've also got a big mouth, which has branded you with a reputation for potentially career-ending "controversy". But you've also got an expensive new movie coming out in a few months, and your "controversial" remarks have come very very close to flushing all of your production money down the drain.

In short, you need a repaired reputation and fast. Short of saving a drowning infant from Niagara Falls, the only way to do it is Bush bashing:

Mel Gibson has returned to the spotlight to promote his upcoming movie "Apocalypto," and to criticize the war in Iraq, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Almost two months after he railed against Jews when he was arrested for driving drunk in Malibu, the actor made a surprise appearance Friday at Fantastic Fest, an event in Austin, Texas, devoted to new science fiction, horror and fantasy films, the trade paper said in its Monday edition.

He presented a work-in-progress screening of his Mayan adventure tale, and then took questions. About one-third of the full house gathered for the film gave him a standing ovation. The film is scheduled for a December 8 release via Disney.

In describing its portrait of a civilization in decline, Gibson said, "The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," drawing parallels between the Mayan civilization on the brink of collapse and America's present situation. "What's human sacrifice," he asked, "if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?"

That's a strange point of view from someone whose previous movie is essentially a two-hour redemptive human sacrifice.