Why Apocalypto is winning audiences:
December 15, 2006
Mad Mel defends Apocalypto
Gibson not surprised film's a hit
Why Apocalypto is winning audiences:"I felt strongly we had told a good story, everybody who was involved in this, and my general opinion is that if you tell good stories, original stories, people value that, and they come to the theater." Why the characters are one-dimensional:"It's a mythic thing, and that's why the characters in 'Apocalypto' are archetypes. We have the hero, Jaguar Paw (played by Rudy Youngblood), who is called upon to stand up for his family and community, the villain who is driven to destroy him to prove his power, and the women who make the men be better men. It's ancient stuff." Why the bloody violence is acceptable:"It's hard for me to understand that criticism considering that a lot of weeks, the top film is some exploitive horror film like 'Texas Breakfast Cole Slaw' or 'Chainsaw Hack-Em-Up,' you know? In any case, this film is a lot less violent than 'Braveheart' or 'The Passion.' I was merciless in 'The Passion,' but that was because it's what the story required. But I'm no sadist, you know. I'm really tenderhearted if you get to know me. I like to have fun." Comment: I think this picture is phony, but it's worth posting because it makes a good point.
Why Apocalypto is winning audiences:
Gibson's deep, deep thoughts
An Exclusive Interview with Mr. Mel Gibson!ComingSoon.net: You've said that you made this movie to "entertain, educate and lift to a higher plane of awareness." That last one's kind of a lofty goal, so is that a good reason to make a movie nowadays?
Mel Gibson: I think if you can do all three of those things, you're kind of firing on all cylinders. Whether or not I actually achieved it is up to an audience member to extrapolate. From my sensibilities, I did, but those are only my perceptions.
CS: What was it about the Mayan people or that era that got you interested in trying something like this?
Gibson: Well, no, it wasn't that. At first, I was just trying to make a chase film, but I wanted to make it a chase film that didn't have automobiles, so I thought of a foot chase. And I thought, "Well, where would you have a foot chase? You'd have a foot chase in some place that was a long time ago. And let me see, where can that be? Oh, this is interesting. No one's really looked at this much before. And what's more interesting is that the civilization dates back to millennia before the Europeans arrived." And that to me, musing on what might have happened before Europe arrived—because we have this conceit that history began when we got here--I thought that was interesting. Most people do it when the boats arrive, and then the fun starts, but I wanted to do it the other way around, and look what was before all that. Comment: So Gibson was trying to "educate" us with a message about the fall of civilization. And his reasons for choosing the Maya were about as shallow as you'd suspect.
Mel Gibson: I think if you can do all three of those things, you're kind of firing on all cylinders. Whether or not I actually achieved it is up to an audience member to extrapolate. From my sensibilities, I did, but those are only my perceptions.
CS: What was it about the Mayan people or that era that got you interested in trying something like this?
Gibson: Well, no, it wasn't that. At first, I was just trying to make a chase film, but I wanted to make it a chase film that didn't have automobiles, so I thought of a foot chase. And I thought, "Well, where would you have a foot chase? You'd have a foot chase in some place that was a long time ago. And let me see, where can that be? Oh, this is interesting. No one's really looked at this much before. And what's more interesting is that the civilization dates back to millennia before the Europeans arrived." And that to me, musing on what might have happened before Europe arrived—because we have this conceit that history began when we got here--I thought that was interesting. Most people do it when the boats arrive, and then the fun starts, but I wanted to do it the other way around, and look what was before all that.
Tribe split over Skywalk
Visitors stand 4,000ft over Grand CanyonTourists will pay $25 to experience the Skywalk, which is being built at the western rim of the Grand Canyon. Sheri Yellowhawk, a former tribal councilwoman overseeing the project, said: "We have to do something, and this is something spectacular."
The experience would be "quiet and personal", she added. "We are not building a power plant or high-rise building, we are complementing the canyon and providing something new to the world." However, other members of the tribe, which believes its ancestors emerged from the earth of the Grand Canyon, are worried.
"We have disturbed the ground," said Dolores Honga, a 70-year-old tribal elder who regularly travels to the canyon edge to perform traditional dances. She said workers on the walkway, which is surrounded by sacred archaeological and burial sites, often complained to her about nightmares. 
The experience would be "quiet and personal", she added. "We are not building a power plant or high-rise building, we are complementing the canyon and providing something new to the world." However, other members of the tribe, which believes its ancestors emerged from the earth of the Grand Canyon, are worried.
"We have disturbed the ground," said Dolores Honga, a 70-year-old tribal elder who regularly travels to the canyon edge to perform traditional dances. She said workers on the walkway, which is surrounded by sacred archaeological and burial sites, often complained to her about nightmares.
Tribes protest DNA research
Human history: It's all relative[T]he tribes most are concerned that the DNA research may undermine the moral basis for sovereignty and might chip away at legal claims.
They may have a point. Sovereignty is always on the table and up for grabs unfortunately that has been proven time and again in our history, so much so that there is reason for apprehension. I think that holds true of legal claims. Tribes always have been a small nation in the middle of larger, more powerful groups it isn't always easy to prove our point in court.
They may have a point. Sovereignty is always on the table and up for grabs unfortunately that has been proven time and again in our history, so much so that there is reason for apprehension. I think that holds true of legal claims. Tribes always have been a small nation in the middle of larger, more powerful groups it isn't always easy to prove our point in court.
December 14, 2006
Native defends Apocalypto
Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” is good entertainment
By Roscoe PondI saw “Apocalypto” here in Los Angeles at the huge Cinerama Dome and was transfixed. It was a visually stunning film shot by a cinematographer who won an Oscar for capturing “Dances with Wolves” 1990. I did not go to watch a PBS documentary about the Mayan Civilization. I went to see how Gibson was going to entertain me and boy he did.
This is what I say to all those angry historians, native journalists, bloggers and native newspapers in general. I nominate you all for ESPN’s “Whine of the week.” Wah, wah, Waaaahhhh! Please stop. If you feel so angry about historical accuracy then go and make your own movie about the real Mayan culture. Write a screenplay, get a camera package, editing software and create something that speaks to who you are as Native or Indigenous or Mayan. I’m sick and tired of your whining. That’s all Natives do. Stop it. Do something about it. A lot of us Natives are here in Hollywood trying to change things, trying to make it, trying to show the world that we are here. Come join us if you will.
As a filmmaker Mel Gibson will continue to flourish. I’m glad to say that he is a visionary who stands behind his artistic integrity. Other directors would never take the chances Gibson does and he will be remembered for it. One last thing, if you disagree with Gibson on any level then don’t go to see his movies. It’s that plain and simple. And by all means, do not sit back and whine and whine and whine about it. That isn’t doing anybody any good. Get over it! Comment: One doesn't have to be an artist to weigh and judge artwork. But I've created Native-themed comic books that are as free of stereotypes as possible. That gives me the right to reprehend anyone who hasn't made the effort I have.
So no one should ever criticize a movie and its flaws? Yeah, right. How are people supposed to learn how to make good films: by trial and error?
Stop whining about our so-called whining. If you can't make a stereotype-free product, stay out of the business. Leave the field to those of us willing to depict Native people honestly and accurately.
By Roscoe Pond
This is what I say to all those angry historians, native journalists, bloggers and native newspapers in general. I nominate you all for ESPN’s “Whine of the week.” Wah, wah, Waaaahhhh! Please stop. If you feel so angry about historical accuracy then go and make your own movie about the real Mayan culture. Write a screenplay, get a camera package, editing software and create something that speaks to who you are as Native or Indigenous or Mayan. I’m sick and tired of your whining. That’s all Natives do. Stop it. Do something about it. A lot of us Natives are here in Hollywood trying to change things, trying to make it, trying to show the world that we are here. Come join us if you will.
As a filmmaker Mel Gibson will continue to flourish. I’m glad to say that he is a visionary who stands behind his artistic integrity. Other directors would never take the chances Gibson does and he will be remembered for it. One last thing, if you disagree with Gibson on any level then don’t go to see his movies. It’s that plain and simple. And by all means, do not sit back and whine and whine and whine about it. That isn’t doing anybody any good. Get over it!
So no one should ever criticize a movie and its flaws? Yeah, right. How are people supposed to learn how to make good films: by trial and error?
Stop whining about our so-called whining. If you can't make a stereotype-free product, stay out of the business. Leave the field to those of us willing to depict Native people honestly and accurately.
War on Iraq = human sacrifice
Mel Gibson criticizes Iraq war at film festGibson, 50, drew parallels between the collapsing Mayan civilization depicted in the movie and the United States at a screening Friday at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, the Hollywood Reporter said Monday.
“The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again,” the actor-director said after a screening of an unfinished cut of “Apocalypto,” his first directorial effort since “The Passion of the Christ.”
“What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?” he said at the festival, which is devoted to new science fiction, horror and fantasy films. Comment: Several critics have assessed the alleged parallels and found them to be wanting. But I include them for the sake of argument. <g>
Also note that the Maya civilization may have collapsed through no fault of its own. If that's the case, Gibson's comparision would be false and specious.
“The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again,” the actor-director said after a screening of an unfinished cut of “Apocalypto,” his first directorial effort since “The Passion of the Christ.”
“What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?” he said at the festival, which is devoted to new science fiction, horror and fantasy films.
Also note that the Maya civilization may have collapsed through no fault of its own. If that's the case, Gibson's comparision would be false and specious.
December 13, 2006
Gibson's sick sadomasochism
What's with Mel's bloody porn?
By Richard Schickel, film critic for TimeIt is not so much the detail with which [Apocalypto] treats violence that finally disgusts even the most hardened moviegoer; it is the ritualistic staging of it. Most reviewers have commented on the scene in which the Mayans stretch their victims across an altar and cut out their hearts and lift the still-throbbing organs to the skies. Gibson repeats this action and then sort of tops it by having the Mayans behead their prey and send their excised noggins bouncy-bouncy down their temple's steps.
This is a standard Gibson trope. He loves to get people painfully restrained and then do really bad things to them—Turan mentions the actor's drawing-and-quartering scene in "Braveheart" and the ghastly flogging of Jesus in "The Passion." We are not, in these instances, dealing with mere "violence." We are dealing with ritualized sadomasochism—an open manifestation of one of those dark fantasies that those in thrall to them must endlessly repeat and that have, of course, some sort of psychosexual component. Schickel expects Apocalypto to do about as well as the splatter flicks it resembles:I know the movie topped the box-office charts last weekend. But I suspect that in the end, "Apocalypto" will perform like your average horror movie—doing well with bloodthirsty adolescent males for three days, then dropping 50% or 60% the following week. Maybe we should just let it die its death. Generally, we do not comment extensively on road kill. We just avert our eyes and hurry on past it. 
By Richard Schickel, film critic for Time
This is a standard Gibson trope. He loves to get people painfully restrained and then do really bad things to them—Turan mentions the actor's drawing-and-quartering scene in "Braveheart" and the ghastly flogging of Jesus in "The Passion." We are not, in these instances, dealing with mere "violence." We are dealing with ritualized sadomasochism—an open manifestation of one of those dark fantasies that those in thrall to them must endlessly repeat and that have, of course, some sort of psychosexual component.
"Horrified to be Indian"
Letter to the Editor about ApocalyptoThese kind of media reinforce destructive stereotypes that mainstream doesn't even have the eyes to recognize and that Native people, like it or not, conscious of it or not, like my friend, internalize. She argued that what’s more important than chosing not to see a movie are programs like language revitalization; and I argued that yes that is extremely important in reclaiming our identity but we also need to take an extra leap and reclaim our own thoughts, images, and ideas about what it means to be Indian.
A Native child who is being tutored or re-taught their language still has to deal with a world that does not consider Indians as people. Will a film like this make him proud to be Indian, horrified to be Indian, embarrassed to be Indian? How much more work will Native artists need to do to ameliorate the reinforced dehumanizing affect in the mainstream that this film likely will have? The most destructive force in Indian communities today is that internalized self-hatred. We all have experienced it. "Are you Indian enough?" Maybe your skin is too dark, or maybe it's too light, or maybe you’re too smart. This is just one example of it. And then there’s Sherman Alexie’s resonating saying that you can only be an Indian if you ever wished you weren’t an Indian. 
A Native child who is being tutored or re-taught their language still has to deal with a world that does not consider Indians as people. Will a film like this make him proud to be Indian, horrified to be Indian, embarrassed to be Indian? How much more work will Native artists need to do to ameliorate the reinforced dehumanizing affect in the mainstream that this film likely will have? The most destructive force in Indian communities today is that internalized self-hatred. We all have experienced it. "Are you Indian enough?" Maybe your skin is too dark, or maybe it's too light, or maybe you’re too smart. This is just one example of it. And then there’s Sherman Alexie’s resonating saying that you can only be an Indian if you ever wished you weren’t an Indian.
Apocalypto's lasting impression
'Apocalypto' does disservice to its subjectsAlthough this film will undoubtedly create interest in the field of Maya archaeology by way of its spectacular reconstructions and beautiful jungle scenes, the lasting impression of Maya and other pre-Columbian civilizations is this: The Maya were simple jungle bands or bloodthirsty masses duped by false religions, resulting in the ruin of their mighty but misguided civilization, and their salvation arrived with the coming of Christian beliefs saddled on the backs of Spanish conquistadors.
As archaeologists struggle to accurately reconstruct ancient Maya society, obstructed by their decimation via Western diseases; destruction of their books, art and history by Spanish friars; and their subjugation and exploitation by the conquistadors, such films as "Apocalypto" represent a significant disparagement of that process. 
As archaeologists struggle to accurately reconstruct ancient Maya society, obstructed by their decimation via Western diseases; destruction of their books, art and history by Spanish friars; and their subjugation and exploitation by the conquistadors, such films as "Apocalypto" represent a significant disparagement of that process.
Avoiding the Black Cloud syndrome
Brainstorming in Baghdad...The Story Behind the Story of “Turquoise Rose”Turquoise Rose is the flower that blossomed from that seed; the story of a Phoenix college student planning to study in Rome when called back home to the reservation to care for her ailing grandmother. And in early ’07, this Iraq war veteran will premiere his film that is, without a doubt, Navajo in feel and spirit; Navajo even though this Iraq war veteran isn’t Native himself.
This fact is something Hamilton is sensitive to; which is why he has worked all the more vigorously to recruit Navajo story advisors, cast and crew. He didn’t want to fall prey to what he refers to as the “Black Cloud” syndrome, referring to Rick Schroder’s 2005 Navajo-themed film with virtually no involvement from the people portrayed. 
This fact is something Hamilton is sensitive to; which is why he has worked all the more vigorously to recruit Navajo story advisors, cast and crew. He didn’t want to fall prey to what he refers to as the “Black Cloud” syndrome, referring to Rick Schroder’s 2005 Navajo-themed film with virtually no involvement from the people portrayed.
December 12, 2006
More mistakes in Apocalypto
'Apocalypto' does disservice to its subjectsFirst, a typical Maya village is shown as an unorganized group of jungle people who appear to subsist on hunting alone. The Maya were an agricultural people with a very structured social and economic system. Even small villages in the hinterlands of large cities were connected to some political center. The jungle people in Gibson's movie are flabbergasted at the sight of the Maya city, exclaiming that they have never seen such buildings. The truth is, pyramids of comparable size were never more than 20 kilometers away from anywhere in the Maya world, be they occupied or abandoned.
Second, Mayan city people are shown as violent extremists bent on harvesting innocent villagers to provide flesh for sacrifice and women for slaves, leaving the children to die alone in the jungle. Hundreds of men are sacrificed on an Aztec-style sacrificial stone, their headless bodies thrown into a giant ditch reminiscent of a Holocaust documentary or a scene from "The Killing Fields." Problem is, there exists no archaeological, historic or ethnohistoric data to suggest that any such mass sacrifices--numbering in the thousands, or even hundreds--took place in the Maya world. 
Second, Mayan city people are shown as violent extremists bent on harvesting innocent villagers to provide flesh for sacrifice and women for slaves, leaving the children to die alone in the jungle. Hundreds of men are sacrificed on an Aztec-style sacrificial stone, their headless bodies thrown into a giant ditch reminiscent of a Holocaust documentary or a scene from "The Killing Fields." Problem is, there exists no archaeological, historic or ethnohistoric data to suggest that any such mass sacrifices--numbering in the thousands, or even hundreds--took place in the Maya world.
Trend: non-Westerners as savages
'Apocalypto' does disservice to its subjectsThe Maya at the time of Spanish contact are depicted as idyllic hunters and gatherers, or as genocidal murderers, and neither of these scenarios is accurate. The film represents a step backward in our understanding of the complex cultures that existed in the New World before the Spanish invasion, and it is part of a disturbing trend re-emerging in the film industry, portraying non-Western natives as evil savages.
"King Kong" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" show these natives as uncaring, beastlike and virtually inhuman. "Apocalypto" achieves similar goals, but in a much subtler fashion. For some similar thoughts, see Great White Hopes vs. Screaming Hordes.
"King Kong" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" show these natives as uncaring, beastlike and virtually inhuman. "Apocalypto" achieves similar goals, but in a much subtler fashion.
Indians a big part of gaming
Tribal gaming hits its stride“This didn't happen overnight. This is no explosion. It's hard work from all of you.” That was the opening message from National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. during a keynote address at this year's Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas in November.
“We're from all over Indian country, and we get to talk to people from all over the world,” Stevens said of the conference. “We are not a sidebar. We are a large part of the success of G2E. In Indian country, we call this the 'North American success story.' Las Vegas is a lot of things, but when we come here we come to work.” 
“We're from all over Indian country, and we get to talk to people from all over the world,” Stevens said of the conference. “We are not a sidebar. We are a large part of the success of G2E. In Indian country, we call this the 'North American success story.' Las Vegas is a lot of things, but when we come here we come to work.”
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