Will Bridges

Apocalypto was a really good movie, if you can stand the blood and dig through it to get the message. He talks about the Mayan culture and pretty much describes how it was already conquered from within before the Spanish came and destroyed them. The movie plays out ritual Mayan sacrifice and shows a general lack of value for human life on the Mayan’s part. It seems to me he was almost saying the Mayan culture deserved the destruction that the Spanish conquistadors brought with them. I’m not sure I agree with that but the Mayan culture, as depicted in the film, was a picture of how evil human beings can be to one another. Of course the Dark Ages in Europe weren’t much better. So, while this is a story that definately needs to be told, I don’t think the Mayan culture should be seen as savage beasts. This was a point in their society that was a very dark and savage time. However it needs to be remembered that European cultures, Asian cultures, and many other cultures had one as well.

Thought I would modify this entry a bit. I did see the parallels to our own society in this film in regard to the environment and fear mongering and that’s the message they were trying to potray. The main message was ‘When a culture becomes wasteful, dangerous to it’s people, and laden with fear, they are sewing their own destruction’.