Mental illness: It’s funny and trendy!

The Oak Bar in New York’s Plaza Hotel has a brand new drink for you to try. Well, it isn’t brand new, it’s a Gibson (a cocktail made with gin and vermouth) but they still want you to try it. Oh, here, I’ll let the Oak Bar’s Executive Chef tell you about the “Mel Gibson, a Bipolar Cocktail” in his own words: “Gibson … Bipolar … All these words flying around in the media just jumped out at me. So I made a Gibson, which is a classic cocktail, into something thoroughly twisted.” He did that by adding Van Gogh Vodka to the cocktail, in honor of the mentally ill artist who may have shared bipolar disorder with Gibson. [Source]

Hilarious.

Wait, no, that isn’t the word I want to use. What’s the word? Oh, yeah: Offensive.

Bipolar disorder is a very serious mental illness. The Mayo Clinic calls it a “disruptive, long-term condition” and notes that at its worst “manic episodes can be severe and dangerous.” It’s a disease, like any other, and can cause serious harm to the person who has it, up to and including suicide. It is not, however, something amusing or cool to base a cocktail on.

Then there’s those pesky allegations against Gibson of domestic violence and racism. Let’s just forget about those while we kick back with our cocktail. We’ll laugh, have a good time, mock the mentally ill and forget about violence and racism all at the same time. It’ll be hilarious.

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