January 20, 2007

Mel's drunken Maya dance

Harjo:  MacacalyptoThe ensemble of "Mexican and Native American nonprofessionals move with a collective grace that would make Paul Taylor ache," wrote another reviewer. "Their limber movements, upright poise and the sonorous beauty of their Yucatek Maya language amount to a primitive human symphony."

And there's the magic message word: "primitive." Several reviewers picked up on that one. One characterized the Maya as the "most brutal of human civilizations," with "false religion" and "false gods."

Most of the "primitive" movements came directly from Gibson's head (or bottle, or both).

During his post-rehab apology tour, he appeared on Disney/ABC's "20/20" in an interview that showed location footage of Gibson teaching the actors and extras to dance a "Maya" dance. He flailed and threw himself around in an ungraceful fit of "religious" ecstasy, as his astonished cast attempted to duplicate his movements. It was primitive, all right.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you willing to suit up to be the Jar Jar of such a film, Writerfella?

Anonymous said...

I think he admitted that he took up the bottle again during the making of Apocalypto. I guess it was bound to show up in the film in some ways.

Anonymous said...

First, you are confusing "trade federation" with the old Republic. According to www.starwars.com: "The Trade Federation was a consortium of merchants and transportation providers that effectively controlled shipping". It is not to be confused with the Republic itself.

Secondly, you are getting your episodes and numbers quite wrong when you refer to "STAR WARS EP. 6 - A NEW HOPE". "A New Hope", the first released "Star Wars" film, was designated Episode 4, not Episode 6. I hope you don't similarly think that there is a Peter Jackson movie called "The Return of the Towers".

The "fall of the Old Republic" you refer to happens in Ep. 3 which is not called "A New Hope".

The only films about the trade federation were Ep. 1, 2, 3. All three films featured Jar Jar Binks. The old Republic was overthrown in Ep. 3 ("Revenge of the Sith") and it appears that the trade federation ceased to exist then as well.

The only Republic-related event in Ep. 4 was the abolishment of the old Senate. However, at this time it was an "Imperial Senate", and it was a formality within a long-established Empire.

Perhaps the only fact you got correct in your statement was whether or not you could fit into Jar Jar's costume. I'll have to take your word on that.

Anonymous said...

Sorry writer fella, wrong anonymous, it wasn't me that wrote the Jar Jar crack. It seems we have another anonymous among us. I have been signing off with "anonymouse" so no one will confuse us.
And beside, I would never write about Star Wars, not that important to me.

Anonymous said...

Post script; oops! forgot to sign my name "Anonymouse".

Anonymous said...

Just so there is no confusion, I'm the one who posts as "anonymouse" but signs off as "anonymous". Only when I don't forget to.

Rob said...

Episode 4 was referring to a past event that happened in Episode 3.

FYI, I wrote about Star Wars and Jar Jar Binks in Indian Comics Irregular #11: "Stereotypes: Phantom Menace."

Rob said...

Since ICI #11 (June 1999) isn't online, here's what I concluded about Jar Jar:

Must Jar Jar die? Perhaps not, but these stereotypes should. Is it possible to have a story where the hero isn’t a tall, handsome (Jedi) knight and the heroine isn’t a beautiful young princess?