November 13, 2006

Marketing Mel's Maya movie

Selling 'Apocalypto'

Post-gaffe, Mel Gibson woos Latinos and Native Americans to his newest passion.Two years ago, Gibson reached out to Christians with a carefully orchestrated campaign that helped his film "The Passion of the Christ" become one of the most successful movies of all time, grossing $611 million worldwide. With "Apocalypto"—his visually sumptuous retelling of the fall of the Maya civilization—Gibson is hoping to strike box-office gold once again by wooing Latinos and Native Americans such as Myers, hoping they will identify with his tale of an indigenous culture.

This latest effort isn't just a return to the playbook for promoting another hyper-violent movie made in an obscure language. It also marks an attempt by Gibson to move past his anti-Semitic outburst after a drunk-driving arrest in Malibu in July. Although Gibson publicly apologized and immediately sought treatment for alcohol abuse, some in Hollywood have said they can't bring themselves to forgive him.

Myers, a member of the Comanche nation, put aside any feelings she had on the topic and arranged to screen "Apocalypto" five times over a three-day period in late September for Native Americans and Latinos in Oklahoma City and Lawton, Okla., as well as Austin, Texas. Guests were treated to surprise Q&A sessions with the Academy Award-winning director of "Braveheart" and star of dozens of Hollywood films, and Gibson was able to gauge audience reaction first-hand to an early cut of the film.
For all the news on Mel's Maya movie, see Apocalypto Now.

8 comments:

belledame222 said...

Yup, exactly.

Have you seen the previews? It looks, as with "Passion," stunningly shot, but ultimately just cheap (horror) thrills in the back of my car, baby. You know?

eh, whatever; no matter what he does, i will forever associate him with, not even his glorious drunken episode, but his cartoon-body'd head chasing Stan and Kenny down the road...

"Mel Gibson, Kyle. Mel. Gibson."

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
And remember, of course, that despite having an anti-Semitic father and being raised in the elitist Aussie culture, Mel Gibson learned his biases, hatreds, and stereotypical thinking only from the media. Never did trust that BLAKE'S SEVEN!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

You think Gibson's anti-Semitic father and elitist Aussie culture taught him about American Indians? What an imaginative writer of fiction you are.

I'm pretty sure they read American books and watch American movies in most English-speaking countries. And if Aussies learn about indigenous people from aboriginal movies, that's a form of media too.

I've seen the previews, belledame, and I agree with your assessment. We'll see if the movie has more to offer than glossy gore.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
This exactly demonstrates what writerfella indicated earlier: restricting argument to a sub-topic somehow negates any disputation to simple gainsaying. writerfella has stated and writerfella iterates that ALL racial biases and ALL racial stereotypes perpetuated among Caucasians are taught at home, in schools, in churches, in the communities, and in the dominant culture. And reiterated is the summation that media can and do reinforce such biases and stereotypes but do not teach them originally...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I've debated the full topic as well as various sub-topics, and I continue to win the debate(s). You haven't offered any evidence to contradict my position, which remains unchallenged.

You can state all you want that "ALL racial biases and ALL racial stereotypes perpetuated among Caucasians are taught at home, in schools, in churches, in the communities, and in the dominant culture," but this remains your opinion, nothing more. Every expert on the subject agrees with me that the media is the primary source of stereotypes and parents, schools, churches, and the community are secondary sources.

Stereotypes do come from the dominant culture, but they come from it through the media. With kids spending half their time on TVs, PCs, and other electronic devices, the media is their no. 1 source of (mis)information.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Which is why writerfella neither cites nor quotes from 'experts' for the simple reason that it rather is like citing or quoting from movie reviews. Whatever one wishes reinforced can so be done by picking and choosing the commentaries and/or opinions that support one's own beliefs, or positions, or theses. Elsewhere in all of these writerfella did say that racial biases and stereotypes were communicated by families, schools, churches, communities, or cultures long before there ever were any media of any kind that could stand accused of such communications. Typically, debaters cite and/or quote others or even 'experts' because their own thoughts, opinions, or conclusions are incomplete and thus they escape ever having to complete a thought, opinion, or conclusion on their own. It is not logical but it is most often true...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

One can pick and choose from commentaries that support his position, or one can not pick and choose from commentaries, which is apparently your approach. I again note that you've failed to give us a shred of evidence supporting your position except your opinion. People can believe all the psychologists, educators, and writers I've cited as well as their own personal experiences. Or they can ignore this mountain of evidence and believe you instead.

You may be unclear on the concept of media, because media has existed ever since the invention of art and certainly since the invention of writing. There was never a period of Anglo-Indian relations that was free of media influences. From the first journals and drawings sent back from the "New World" to pamphlets, broadsheets, woodcuts, and prints disseminated across Europe, non-Indians learned about Indians primarily through the media.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
writerfella rarely cites or quotes from other sources and thus does not have to pick or choose among them for that reason. Instead, he quotes or cites from his own works because they are his with which to do so. And he rarely undertakes debating because winning or losing as quantitative results are immaterial and ephemeral to his purposes of wishing to learn. And what he learns nearly always goes into his stories.
Exemplum: Dr. Robin Wilson, former CIA officer, late of the Big Ten Advisory Council, and one of writerfella's beloved teachers, once said in anger toward writerfella's Native stories, "To hell with being an Indian! Creative, artistic, and moral identities are far more important than any racial crap!" Whereupon, those words went whole cloth into writerfella's very next Native story as an example of the ideas that confront his people, writerfella included. And when Robin read the story, he was abashed and immediately apologized. But his words stayed...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'