What's Up With Mel Gibson?

What we’re seeing play out between Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva happens everyday in America countless times over. Screaming, cursing, punching, knocking teeth out…well, maybe not the last thing, but sure, nasty fighting with passions running wild when child custody is at stake. Throw into the mix an A-list celebrity and his Russian beauty and you have high drama and gripping headlines.

Just because Mel Gibson is famous doesn’t mean he’s immune from the tragedies of relationships. The recently released audio is glaring evidence of that. By no means is Oksana to blame for the tirade, but if indeed she felt so threatened then why stay on the telephone? People in these types of situations who feel scared are not as composed, controlled, and strategic as Oksana, but rather panicked and the usual response is to flee the situation. This of course begs the question of her intent but for that I’ll defer to the legal experts.

That said, I would urge folks not to rush to judgment on the relationship that was once Mel and Oksana and the aftermath we’re now privy to. Sure, Mel has said some questionable things that would lead many to believe he’s a bigot and anti-Semite, and he has a flair for the dramatic, but I must say, as a couples therapist, the public never truly knows what goes on behind closed doors.

So what might Mel’s words reveal about him? Let’s take a look at some of his now infamous quotes:

"I stand up for myself! You, you weak c—t, you call the f—king cops!"

He dismisses her involving the authorities. Perhaps he thinks he’s immune or above the law, given his celebrity status.

"You don’t have any f—king friends except me!"

He wants to play hero. And he might be projecting his loneliness or isolation onto her.

"I’ll put you in a f—king rose garden…I’m capable of it."

His laughter when he says this might suggest he derives pleasure from inflicting pain – an indicator of narcissism and a grand sense of entitlement.

"You need a bat in the side of the head…selfish b*tch."

He’s displacing onto her his great frustration in the form of anger. He’s resorting to a barbaric approach to problem solving and is truly unhinged.