Posted on 12/11/2006 11:05:40 PM PST by beaversmom
Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” is an audacious, unforgettable triumph and, undoubtedly, one of the richest, most electrifying cinematic experiences of the year. In that context it’s unfortunate that the filmmaker has coupled his brilliance as a writer-director with a display of unalloyed idiocy as a commentator on his own work.
The stupidity began in September when he spoke to an audience in Austin, Texas after an early screening of his still unfinished film. At the time, he succeeded in getting advance attention for his work by drawing parallels between the fantastically brutal and dysfunctional Mayan civilization he portrays on screen and the current political situation in the United States. “The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again,” he explained. “What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?”
His comments came across like an unexpected punch-in-the-nose to many of the conservatives across the country who had rallied to his defense during the furious dispute over “The Passion of the Christ,” and even pleaded for forgiveness and reconciliation in his behalf in the wake of his toxic combination of drunk driving and anti-Semitic drivel.
Nevertheless, with his film finished, ready for its Friday (December 8) release, and overwhelming audiences everywhere with its eye-popping visual splendor and relentless narrative energy, the Gibsonian interpretation of his own work has gotten, if anything, even more inane.
The official press kit from Touchstone Pictures (a division the Disney Company) quotes Gibson as saying: “Throughout history, precursors to the fall of a civilization have always been the same, and one of the things that just kept coming up as we were writing is that many of the things that happened right before the fall of the Mayan civilization are occurring in our society now. It was important for me to make that parallel because you see these cycles repeating themselves over and over again. People think that modern man is so enlightened, but we’re susceptible to the same forces – and we are also capable of the same heroism and transcendence.”
The press kit also quotes Farhad Safinia, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gibson, making similar observations: “We discovered that what archeologists and anthropologists believe is that the daunting problems faced by the Maya are extraordinarily similar to those faced today by our own civilization, especially when it comes to widespread environmental degradation, excessive consumption and political corruption.”
On the one hand, these fatuous remarks distort the situation in the United States today--far from “widespread environmental degradation,” for instance, the quality of our air and water has improved dramatically over the last thirty years, at the same time that reforestation has substantially enlarged the acreage of our already impressive woodlands.
Even more startling is the vast, unbridgeable gap between the politically correct comments by Gibson and his collaborator and the raw integrity of the film they actually made. Their observations about the “extraordinary similarity” between Mayan decadence and degeneracy and the realities of American life in the 21st century receive no support whatever from the thrilling adventure story that unfolds in the nearly two-and-a-half hours of the final version of “Apocalypto.” In fact, their interpretation of the project bears so little connection to the film itself that you wonder not only whether they truly made the movie, but whether they’ve ever actually seen it. Nothing—not one scene, one character, one set, or one passing detail in the film – in any way echoes contemporary America, even as seen by this society’s most embittered critics. The movie contains no sequences emphasizing “environmental degradation” (unless you count a heart-pounding chase through a corn field where the stalks look somewhat withered) or “political corruption.” (The spectacle of enslaving primitive tribesmen, binding them with ropes and sticks, marching them to your capital and then slashing open their chests to rip their hearts out in human sacrifice can’t rightly be described as “political corruption”—nor does this pagan savagery connect in any way with current controversies in our society. No matter how much Mr. Gibson may disapprove of the Iraq war, it’s a stretch to suggest that sacrificial victims captured very much against their will, and after their spirited struggle (and after their village has been utterly destroyed) bear any relationship to the volunteers who chose to fight in the Middle East.
The cruel, sadistic, masochistic, deeply demented culture of the Mayas, with its self-destructive emphasis on mutilation and mysticism, slavery and superstition, emerges with conviction and flair on the screen but will cause no one to think, “Oh, wow, that really reminds me of New York and LA!”
So why would a brilliant artist like Mel Gibson insist on ludicrously describing his masterpiece as a commentary on today’s social, cultural, political problems, when no sane viewer of his picture would note or even suspect those messages?
Perhaps Gibson is so eager to transcend the humiliation of his drunk driving incident, and to bury the lingering suspicions that “The Passion” (despite its huge commercial success) was a right-wing, hate-filled screed, that he’s saying stupid things that he believes will endear him to the “progressive” Hollywood establishment.
Clearly, the film (with dialogue in the ancient Yucatec language, with subtitles) represents a major risk and he needs great reviews to get the attention required for decent box office performance. By cooking up some preposterous lefty interpretation of Mayan collapse (is the big chieftain with the body scarring and the elaborate tattoos and the distended ears and the carved piece of jade in place of his nose supposed to represent George W. Bush?) Gibson may be trying to position his adrenalin-soaked, breathlessly paced chase picture as an “important, daring” message movie that indicts the U.S.
Even if there’s no basis whatever in the substance of the film for Mel’s alarmist, we’re-all-guilty-and-doomed commentary about US society, the attempt to fabricate a political subtext for a visceral, straight-ahead action-adventure may prove an effective strategy. The positioning of a relentlessly fast-moving thriller set in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula more than five hundred years ago as some searing, timely indictment of “over consumption” and “political corruption” in Bush-era USA, may force some high brow critics to take “Apocalypto” more seriously than they would without the pretentious preaching surround it’s release. There’s another advantage concerning the movie’s distribution overseas: Gibson’s comments will help to produce the warm reception in France that’s all-but-guaranteed for any work plausibly classified as anti-American.
Great comment.
Good point. In our culture, the most common victims are our own children. The Maya and Aztecs were scarcely a patch on us.
[...What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq
for no reason?...]
While any dumb culture can go to war "for not reason", how
did Mel miss the point that we sacrifice a million babies to the
altars of baal every year?
not = no.
This movie stands on its own as a cinema masterpiece. Take it at face value and enjoy. It is ridiculous to over-analyze it. It is a shame when real artistry is overshadowed by controversy about the personal viewpoints of whoever created it. If the artists and producers were really smart, they would "just shut up and sing".
Well Medved gave it four stars regardless. There are some Hollywood people, when they run their mouths, it turns me off, but I want to see this one--I've enjoyed Mel's work in the past. Steven Speilberg is another one, but not lately, where if something he makes looks interesting, I'll go see it as well.
1973.
Because he is full of himself!
Gibson's mug even pops up on the TV trailer where he explains that the movie is a tale of one man's journey to free his family or something. Even the title is telling...Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.
Hmmm...never. But the enemy offers captives' heads to the Moon God. Does that count?
Oh really?.....
The cruel, sadistic, masochistic, deeply demented culture of the "Inner City", with its self-destructive emphasis on mutilation and mysticism, slavery and superstition,...
I respectfully disagree. As many in this country and in Israel have observed, the Iraq war has hurt Israel.
Mel Gibson is very pro-life (against abortion) and one thing I took from this movie was the very strong anti-abortion message in it, which I wasn't even expecting...
I respectfully disagree. As many in this country and in Israel have observed, the Iraq war has hurt Israel.
_____________
I wasn't talking about the effects on Israel, I was saying that Mel is one of those anti-semetic types that thinks any time we're at war in the Middle East it's to protect Israel. So maybe we don't disagree at all.
Great post, I thought he was a holocaust denier too but didn't want to add that inflammatory bit without doing a little research, you did the research, thanks.
It looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, I was thinking that when he was interviewed about his fathers views. His recent blowups have confirmed it, unfortunately his fathers views have rubbed off on him, not uncommon, and I lay a lot of the blame for this at his father's door.
I completely agree. Gibson's attempt to connect this story to current day events is ludicrous.
Thank you!
When I read the synopsis, my first thought was that he's remade "The Naked Prey."
Yep, my position as well...one at the time, be relentless, consistent and act charming and oppressed!
It is like cancer, it starts out small, innocent and it will grow beyond control! Mix in the daily PC'ness and you will have a recipe for disaster!
May GOD help and give us wisdom!
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