When someone hears the name Mel Gibson, more often than not they will think of “one of those movie stars.” Some may instinctively think of his highly acclaimed movie Braveheart. Even fewer may also think of his most controversial work: The Passion of The Christ. So what was his inspiration behind these wildly successful films? Why did he choose directly Christian-inspired works to submit to a highly judgmental industry?

Being raised in a traditionally Catholic home, Gibson knew the themes and stories of the Bible well. This background and his love for “simply telling stories” lead him to his inspiration for the grueling films he both directed and produced. Early in his career, his critics sensed an air of greatness in him. One Vincent Canby wrote of Gibson saying, “I can’t define ‘star quality,’ but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it.” Another yet, Jess Cagle of Time Magazine, equivalates Gibson with highly renowned individuals such as Carey Grant, Sean Connery, and Robert Redford. Both his background faith and his extreme gift for film production allowed the Lord to tell stories of faith to the world. 

Gibson’s work in both The Passion and Braveheart were given both great praise and great criticism with not much in between. With Braveheart, Gibson won both Best Director and Best Picture from the Academy Awards. The criticism came with a scene in the movie considered to be homophobic due to the characters in the movie. Gibson’s Catholic background and previous comments on these matters gave him a bad reputation in the Gay community. The Passion was also highly acclaimed with accomplishments of the seventh (at the time) highest-grossing film in history and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. Yet even greater controversy arose in the casting and portrayal of the characters used to tell this story. Gibson was accused of antisemitism and defamation of the Jewish community with the way he dramatized his actors. However, in both situations Gibson was able to recover favor in the public eye through his own clarifications and the support of public figures such as the Papacy.

We see that even through both high criticism and the temptation of conceit at his success that Gibson’s faith remained. Gibson was and still is using his God-given talent to point a wide audience to Jesus, be it through Biblical stories or fictional accounts. We can be inspired and assured that if we act big in faith the Lord will bring upon blessing and strength to overcome all.