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What Apocalypto Got Wrong: A Whole Lot »
Posted by: Karina 3 years ago"According to one University of Texas professor, Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is a big fat pack of Apoca-lip service."
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Karina
Karina Longworth blogs about film at Spout.com. She co-founded the film blog Cinematical in March 2005, whilst simultaneously completing an MA in Cinema Studies ...
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Comments: 55
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THOMNH62
Dec. 12, 2006, 3:34 p.m.who cares it's a movie, not a documentry, if it is entertaining then whats the difference, was Indiana Jones real, duh
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IncaQueen
Dec. 13, 2006, 12:32 a.m.I haven't watched it yet, but I'm of INCA ancestry. I watched a documentary one night, and according to the stories I've had handed down for generations, the Incas were great for blood sacrifices, but didn't sacrifice female virgins, it was male virgins. Do they even exist any more? I'll watch the movie and decide if I approve or disapprove. It is fiction. Give the man a break?
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mozzer
Dec. 12, 2006, 3:37 p.m.I hear that the 1980 movie Airplane! was largely inaccurate.
Alert the press!
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Changingconstant
Dec. 12, 2006, 3:42 p.m.If Madonna and Marilyn Monroe were in a car together it would be one heck of a ride!!
And it is a constant re-write of reality that makes movies enjoyable. They originated as a form of escapism and to demand historical accuracy is just ludicrious.
Man, once again someone shouts "Wrong" and people jump on board.
If I could slap some sense into the populace I would.
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Builder
Dec. 12, 2006, 6:52 p.m.I think the concern is not about the movies inaccuracies which are a whole lot (It's just a movie). I think the concern is a long historical trend of European-Americans and the treatment of the original inhabitants of this continent. This continent sees Natives with contempt and disdain and that is shown in the movie. Aztecs employed hundreds of people to clean streets movie shows dirty places. People of this continent bathed and had steam rooms to cleanse. Europeans believed bathing was wrong yet the spaniards who disembark look meticulous. Those are points of views portrayed on screen that will effect those who know less of these peoples history.
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earthlingerer
Dec. 12, 2006, 7:54 p.m.What axe does this "Weinberg" guy have against Mel Gibson?
Sheesh, every wacko comes out of the woodwork to shoot him down when they used to be Road Warrior fans.
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Rusty
Dec. 12, 2006, 9:32 p.m.Why is it that Mel Gibson seems to be the only movie maker required to be scrupulously accurate in his films? I don't seem to recall lengthy dissertations from these folks about the glaring factual inaccuracies in "The Da Vinci Code." Instead we were all reminded, correctly, that it was "just a movie."
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KrazyKapt
Dec. 12, 2006, 11:49 p.m.There are inaccuraties in most "histocical films" Hwo could michael moore make one w/o them
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1-2-Oscar
Dec. 13, 2006, 12:07 a.m.By using cinematical.com rather than the Austin American Statesman as her source, Karina apparently broke her own "middleman rule." But what the heck, anchors get to have it both ways.
It is odd that the American Statesman writer chose to interview Julia Guernsey of the UT Art Department rather than visit that fine university's excellent history department, where ther are several people with better credentials including one who has devoted virtually his entire career to researching Maya history and culture. Perhaps he learned that Guernsey (who does not hold a PhD) had an axe to grind.
I have not seen the movie, so I can't comment on all of her critigisms. But I do get a strong sense that her sensibilities were more offended than her sense of history. In fact, in her interview she concedes the accuracy of much of Gibson's work.
For the original source, go to: http://www.austin360.com/movies/content/shared/mov
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esmith4145
Dec. 13, 2006, 7:54 a.m.PHD or not, no one really knows what went on in the Mayan civilization 1000 years ago. I'm sure an Art Teacher (????) from UT would love to see a movie about a kinder, gentler society of pacifists living for the greater good in Central America but the rest of the world wants gratitous violence.
Nothing gets em' flocking to the theatre like lots of dead native Americans. Hollywood has been using that theme since silent films were in vogue. The only thing better for box office receipts than tons of native Americans killing each other is tons of native Americans being killed by white people. The sequel will be Cortez and Pizzaro ransacking the place, maybe they can get Antonio Bandares......
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IncaQueen
Dec. 13, 2006, 6:38 p.m.For some of us that are Mayan and Incan descendants, there are only verbal histories passed down. Somewhere back in the antiquities there has to be an element of truth. We've heard the Amazon stories from South America for years, but has anyone ever seen them? At least no man has ever survived the tale to tell?
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contrast
Dec. 13, 2006, 9:55 a.m.there are heiroglyphs on mayan temples of canniblaism and human sacrifice...tough nuggets professor take a trip there.
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IncaQueen
Dec. 13, 2006, 6:39 p.m.You mean Jeffry Dalmer wasn't the first to invite people over for dinner? Say it isn't so...
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MoonMaven
Dec. 13, 2006, 10:44 a.m.You know what, it's just a movie. You can choose to see it or not. How about putting some of that energy into what is going on in the here and now. That is what people should be appalled at.
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Geck
Dec. 13, 2006, 10:46 a.m.I think Mel Gibson is an excellent director/actor and is doing a GREAT job in all his films. Gibson Fan!
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knok
Dec. 13, 2006, 10:50 a.m.Mel Gibson is creepy and all his stories including Braveheart, The one about the early American, the one about Christ and now this one abot the Mayans; all tell the same incredibily violent story of Mad Max & Thunderdome (with very little deviation) over and over. It doesn't even have to be in English. There is always torture, pain and suffering with A VERY violent hero, in his stories. No more, we've seen the same story enough from Mel Gibson. He is just creepy
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lfergie812
Dec. 13, 2006, 11:58 a.m.Well, that seems to be what the movie goers like to watch. Personally I don't watch any movies anymore except "Armed and Dangerous".
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abntv
Dec. 13, 2006, 11:28 a.m.Seems like every movie this man puts out gets slammed for something...get over it, its a movie, self proclaimed experts just love to tear things apart. I will wait to hear from someone that was around at the time.
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DouglasHall
Dec. 13, 2006, 11:35 a.m.It's Hollywood. It's entertainment. Who cares? Anyone depending on Mel Gibson to learn history is sadly misguided.
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IncaQueen
Dec. 13, 2006, 6:42 p.m.I don't recall him ever claiming he was a historian, nor a college professor, nor anything but an actor, playing fictional characters. Tell me you think Indiana Jones was real, or ever real? You didn't pick on Harrison Ford.
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IncaQueen
Dec. 13, 2006, 6:45 p.m.For some of us that are Mayan and Incan descendants, there are only verbal histories passed down. Somewhere back in the antiquities there has to be an element of truth. We've heard the Amazon stories from South America for years, but has anyone ever seen them? At least no man has ever survived the tale to tell?
I haven't watched it yet, but I'm of Inca or Mayan ancestry. I watched a documentary one night, and according to the stories I've had handed down for generations, the Incas were great for blood sacrifices, but didn't sacrifice female virgins, it was male virgins. Do they even exist any more?
I'll watch the movie and decide if I approve or disapprove. It is fiction. He didn't claim to be a historian. Give the man a break? He's just a human after all and entitled to make some mistakes. Just don't get him drunk!!!
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