SACRIFICE [Professors say Gibson's Apocalypto is biased against Mayan bloodletting]

Newsweek ^ | December 5, 2006 | Newsweek

[freedomdefender]

Let's get right to the point, shall we? About halfway through Mel Gibson's movie "Apocalypto," which opens this week, viewers are treated to a stomach-turning scene of human sacrifice, set in a Mayan city around 1500. It's not revealing too much to say that the movie's hero is captured by a gang of marauders, bound, marched through the jungle, painted blue, and forced to the top of a pyramid where heads roll.

In a smaller version of the outrage and skepticism that preceded the opening of "The Passion of the Christ"—is it historically accurate? is it anti-Semitic?—scholars who study the ancient Maya are concerned that Gibson's film will distort the great civilization and demean its descendents, six million of whom still live in Central America. Yes, the Maya sacrificed humans to the gods, but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Maya believed that their bodies, their blood, were created by the gods and that they occasionally needed to repay this debt with human life. "The gods need you," explains David Carrasco, professor of religious history at Harvard. "They depend on human life for their own existence, there's this kind of reciprocity." In sacrifice, he adds, the people are becoming like gods. Based on the trailer, Carrasco believes that Gibson has made the Maya into "Slashers," and their society a "Hypermasculine fantasy."

[marron]

"Sympathy for the Devil"

[hosepipe]

[---SACRIFICE [Professors say Gibson's Apocalypto is biased againsMayan bloodletting] ----]

LoL... liberals have no shame... (Eddie Murphy laugh)...

[Bushwacker777]

Meso-American cultures (yes, even highly advanced ones) also didn't let the protein go to waste -- if you know what I mean. Forensic studies on bones confirm early Spanish descriptions of ritual canibalism.

[zbigreddogz]

Hilarious.

Could you imagine what this same guy would be saying if ONE Christian Church in the south, say, advocated making a small cut in the palm of your hand to, say, feel sympathy for what Jesus went through when he was nailed to a cross?

He'd hit the roof, demand that their children be taken away from all parents who attended the church, etc.

[norton]

"Hansen hopes viewers will see the movie, as he does, as a contemporary allegory on the squandering of natural resources and the abuse of power, but he says that "the movie is designed for people who don't have the intellect to grasp the deeper concepts."

Ummm..., Er....,
They captured people from other tribes,
Confined them or use them as labor in their 'public works',
Hauled them up those 'works' in large groups;
AND CUT OUT THEIR HEARTS!

From this I'm supposed to learn how to share?

[freedomdefender]

"Yes, the Maya sacrificed humans to the gods, but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Maya believed that their bodies, their blood, were created by the gods and that they occasionally needed to repay this debt with human life."

Alright then. That makes it ok.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I think I'm beginning to get a picture of what makes Gibson tick.

[pcottraux]

I'm sure the Mayans are deeply offended.

[Bushwacker777]

Cannibalism by the Meso_Americans was discussed in this FR thread a while back:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1688893/posts

Here is the original article:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1243302006

[newzjunkey]

"Based on the trailer" is all I need to know. He hasn't seen the film so his opinion of how Mel treats the Mayan culture's about as worthless as they come.

[GATOR NAVY]

In sacrifice, he adds, the people are becoming like gods.

Of course, if the sacrificees are from other tribes and don't believe in the Mayan gods, then they're just sucking...

[Van Jenerette]

Thanks to David Carrasco, professor of religious history at Harvard for the following Logic sequence...try it, you'll be amazed!

...Yes, the Maya sacrificed humans to the gods, but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Maya believed...

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the KKK believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Islamic Suicide Bombers believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Nazis believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the Kymer Rouge and Pol Pot believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the males who threw female virgins into volcanos believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the U.S. Calvary who killed the Indians at Wounded Knee believed...'

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the American slave owners believed...'

Hmmm...this Logic Flow can take us anywhere. Thanks David Carrasco, professor of religious history at Harvard!

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

"The gods need you," explains David Carrasco, professor of religious history at Harvard. "They depend on human life for their own existence, there's this kind of reciprocity.

Sounds suspiciously like the Clintons.

[raygun]

"sympathy for the devil" ping...

er, ping, for sympathy...

I want to know everything 'bout these people because I'm working on a CivIII epic. So there.

Anything that you guys come up with I'd like to know 'bout.

[raygun]

ping

[NordP]

Oh...that's rich, too true, and perfectly pithy! Thanks for the smile it put on my face to read your post ;-)

[carumba]

Alright then. That makes it ok.

The Mayan ball court game could've helped NBA players with the attitude thingy.

[Killborn]

Lets see...'but these rituals were part of a complex worldview: the U.S. Calvary who killed the Indians at Wounded Knee believed...'

It ain't PC, but it's not that bad. One of the biggest lie perpetrated on our history is that we commit "genocide" on the Indians.

BS. They hit us as hard as we hit them. The only difference is technology. This nation would be split in half if they have the same tech we do or vice versa. In fact, I heard that in the first conflict between colonists and indians, they drew first blood.

[bruinbirdman]

"In sacrifice, he adds, the people are becoming like gods."

Did Mayans get 69 virgins too?

yitbos