LET'S DISCUSS MEL GIBSON

Mr. Gibson has gone from being the Sexiest Man Alive (never bought that one) to being the pariah of Hollywood. This has been a long time coming as the town never quite forgave Mr. Gibson for the immense and continuing success of The Passion of the Christ!

The current situation is immensely sad and troubling, as I firmly believe that Mel Gibson is suffering a total nervous breakdown, the result of guilt, mid-life crisis and the psychosis engendered by his admiration for his utterly demented father whose version of Catholicism is bizarre and troubling to say the least.

First, Mel Gibson's 28-year marriage to Robyn probably wouldn't have dissolved, had he not encountered a Russian woman of questionable character and antecedents. A lot of information is now being revealed about her desire to promote herself through the men with whom she ingratiates herself - ala Bonnie Lee Blakely! Or am I the only person seeing the similarities?

Part of Mel's rant to Oksana the mysterious opportunistic Russian parasite who bore Mel Gibson a daughter 9 months ago includes the comment that he left a woman with whom he had no spiritual dialogue and that he lacks a spiritual dialogue with Oksana as well! I find that comment tremendously telling. Mr. Gibson's father is well known to practice a version of Catholicism that would be unrecognizable to the Pope! And if indeed Mel Gibson subscribes to his father's extreme version of Catholicism, then he is experiencing double the pressure and double the guilt over his recent behavior vis-a-vis his out of wedlock child.

Given the pressures exerted by his admiration and love for his rather nutty father and those exerted by his guilt over breaking a pretty significant commandment (and don't think that we Catholics are casual about adultery because we aren't), added to a probable midlife crisis, Mr. Gibson's psyche is in serious trouble and the man deserves not condemnation but rather understanding and encouragement to seek the help of highly qualified mental health professionals. He needs his friends now and so far, I've seen evidence of one, highly intelligent and surprisingly loyal friend in Whoopi Goldberg whose comments regarding this entire situation yesterday on "The View" were beautifully compassionate about a man with whom she has been friends for many years. My respect for Ms. Goldberg has increased greatly. She is an intelligent woman who doesn't knee jerk unnecessarily.