[contemplator]

I want to see this movie.

[wbill]

I recently went to the pyramids at (sp?) Chitchenitza. They were impressive.

More impressive were the number of natives living in absolute squalor in the area. It's not often that you see a culture regress.

[RKV]

The same conclusions can be reached about many (if not all) pre-Columbian American civilizations. The Aztecs, Incas and other native american cultures were brutal and violent. Of course the same is true of many cultures in our world. The noble savage myth is just that.

[decimon]

...Apocalypto is a wonton desecration...

I've torn the hearts from a few wonton.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Pretty decent jungle movie. I liked it.

(Comment given in the spirit of Mark Twain who, when asked to review a book, wrote "This is a good book. People who like good books will like this book.")

[Aquinasfan]

(and really, the movie is no more violent--and in some ways, far less so--than, say, Braveheart, which took home 5 Oscars, including Best Picture)

I can't wait to see this.

This one film will undo decades worth of the school disinformation campaign regarding the Mayas and Aztecs.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Ignacio Ochoa, the director of the Nahual Foundation, says that "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."

Ochoa knows better - but he also knows that plenty of white liberals are credulous enough to buy this line of BS.

[Diamond]

Julia Guernsey, an assistant professor in the department of art and art history at the University of Texas told a reporter after viewing the film, "I hate it. I despise it. I think it's despicable. It's offensive to Maya people. It's offensive to those of us who try to teach cultural sensitivity and alternative world views that might not match our own 21st century Western ones but are nonetheless valid."

If "alternative world views that might not match our own...are nonetheless valid" then why does she consider an alternative world view of Mel Gibson despicable and offensive?

Ritual decapitation, human sacrifice, cannibalism, and slavery are "valid", but a Mel Gibson MOVIE is "despicable". Go figure.

Cordially

[SMARTY]

"...offensive to those of us who try to teach cultural sensitivity and alternative world views that might not match our own 21st century Western ones but are nonetheless valid."

What is wrong with the old-fashioned idea about teaching facts? Facts, after all are the only stable, immutable building blocks of knowledge...right?

[brazzaville]

Good morning.
"Julia Guernsey, an assistant professor in the department of art and art history at the University of Texas"

Isn't a Guernsey a cow?

Michael Frazier

[3AngelaD]

Newsweek reports that "although a few Mayan murals do illustrate the capture and even torture of prisoners, none depicts decapitation" as a mural in a trailer for the film does."
Temple paintings at Bonampak depicting torture and slaughter aside, anyone who has ever been to Chitzen Itza and seen the decorations in the ball court, in which a ball player is decapitated, knows that is completely wrong.

"I hate it. I despise it. I think it's despicable. It's offensive to Maya people. It's offensive to those of us who try to teach cultural sensitivity and alternative world views that might not match our own 21st century Western ones but are nonetheless valid."
Translation: this will make it harder for me to lie to my students about how horrible Westnern culture is and how sweet and innocent the pre-Colombian peoples were, views which are not based on any factual evidence whatsoever.

[randita]

The brutality of American Indians toward each other and outsiders continues to this day. Just watch the documentary, "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" and the movie based on the same events, "The End of the Spear".

One of the primary objections to "Apocalypto" put forth by film critics is that it is overly violent. This from the same crowd that nominates "The Departed" for a Golden Globe and who always fawn over anything by Scorcese, Peckinpah and Tarantino -- the gorier, the better for them.

I won't see this movie as I'm particularly squeamish about gore - shouldn't have gone to "The Departed", but son wanted to see it. I averted my gaze for half the film.

I hate to admit it, but I still haven't watched "Saving Private Ryan".

[KC_Conspirator]

This liberal multiculturism/policial correctness expressed by the academics in this article prove that what they teach in class is nothing but lies.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

I thought the Aztecs were encountered by the Spaniards, not the Mayans. I had been taught that the Mayans civilization had been mostly extinct and a newer, more violent version had taken over in the form of the Aztecs.

[Mazda3Fan]

I really enjoyed this movie. The cinematography, acting, and story were great. As for people who don't want to face the truth about their past, get over it, we all have dark pasts that we aren't proud of.

[fish hawk]

My take on this great movie: It's "The Naked Runner" (Cornel Wild) and "Rambo First Blood" mixed, only better.

[unlearner]

Good analysis, but there should be a spoiler warning as it gives away the first and second act plot points - which means it discloses what happens well into the second half of the story, even if it does not give away the ending entirely.

Christian viewers should be advised against taking any children. I heard Michael Medved's review and was expecting lots of violence which is not offensive to me, but I would not expose children to. However, he failed to mention the nudity - men, women and children. Though none is intended to be erotic, some did occur in a sexual context as well.

The family in front of me in the theater endure a lot of this before deciding to leave.

Overall it is a well told parable about the decline of a great civilization, but only for adult viewers.

[ViLaLuz]

"That being said, it is specious for professional historians and grievance groups alike to argue that Apocalypto is a wonton desecration of the memories of the Mayan people."

Main Entry: won·ton
Pronunciation: 'wän-"tän
Function: noun
Etymology: Chinese (Guangdong) wàhn-tAn
: filled pockets of noodle dough served boiled in soup or fried

[Palladin]

I feel sorry for all the little girls who have been named "Maya" in the past several years. Isn't there some outraged group that can protest this movie on their behalf?

< / s a r c a s m >

[AUsome Joy]

I talked to someone from Guatemala who saw this film. They are very familiar with Mayan culture and they loved the movie. The gore didn't bother them. I think I want to see this movie. "Braveheart" was my favorite movie.