#Apocalypto historical accuracy plus#
Plus let's not forget that human sacrifice or organized mass-killings did occur all over the world. I'm sure under the right circumstances, stone-age men could be just as vicious to neighboring tribes as any medieval crusader or Nazi concentration-camp commandant. But you don't have to search our history very hard to find examples of "local" human-on-human violence that had nothing to do with invading forces/explorers. Some periods and/or civilizations were worse than others, sure. Humans have always had to potential for cruelty towards their fellow man. reply shareĪn offensive and racist notion that Maya people were brutal to one another long before the arrival of Europeans and thus they deserve, in fact they needed, rescue. As well as we can´t say all those cultures were all good and innocent. Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Mayan, Aztec, were cultures and civilizations that acted according to their own cosmovision, we can´t stand and say they were acting right or wrong cause they were just doing what they thought was the best at that time.
Now we see that a lot of things that happened in that historical moment were wrong, as well as a lot of things that happened in other cultures and civilizations in other eras. A majority of the public see this dicotomy under the veil of our own actual human rights and contemporary way of thinking. Regarding to the critics thoughts about the so called "meaning" of the movie, i think they are just exposing they own prejudices about The Good Indigenous victimized people and The Bad Spaniard Conquerors. The struggles between mayan clans and villages now means nothing cause they have a greatest threat to fight. I loved the ending, because it gives a sense of "a greater antagonist". "Morbius, something is approaching from the southwest.
#Apocalypto historical accuracy movie#
When the movie gets to the penultimate scene and we see the Spanish coming ashore, my personal reaction is not "Ah, the good guys are going to set things right," but much more along the lines of "Now they're all screwed." Just having a general knowledge of the history of the continent, I can know that the decline we see depicted in the middle of the movie is going to become obliteration.
The applicability of that idea is pointed towards our current civilization. In my opinion, anybody who actually watches the film and comes away with the idea that it is promoting some idea of European/Christian superiority is either nuts or has a chip on their shoulder before the movie starts.ĭoes it address the idea of a once-great civilization in critical decline? Yep, that is the point. I generally agree with you (I haven't seen Passion, though.) So, after your reply with the quotes from others, I went back and read your thoughts linked in the OP. Now, I don't pretend that these quotes come from highly regarded scholars, just as I mentioned in my post that some interpret the arrival of the Spaniards as meaning salvation is at hand now. Link: apocalypto-and-exploitation-of-mayan-civilization/ They are portrayed in an innocent and unapologetic light, as if they are, indeed, arriving to save the Mayans. (by Traci Ardren, Archaeology)Īs I keep this in mind, I reflect on the ending of “Apocalypto” when fair-skinned and bearded Spaniards arrive with ships and a wooden cross. Gibson replays, in glorious big-budget technicolor, an offensive and racist notion that Maya people were brutal to one another long before the arrival of Europeans and thus they deserve, in fact they needed, rescue. The film opens with a quote about the Roman empire from Will Durant: "A great civilisation is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." In other words, Apocalypto blames the Mayan people for being conquered.