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Apocalypto Now
(10/3/06)


Before the movie
While Mel Gibson was still finishing Apocalypto, he was engulfed in a firestorm of controversy. If you don't know the story, read the short version

Mad Mel's Upcoming Apocalypto

or the long version:

Gibson:  Indians to blame
Bad news for Apocalypto
No doubt:  He's prejudiced
Mel Gibson's true colors
Apocalypto soon

The run-up to the movie
As the marketing machine kicked in, people began speaking favorably of Apocalypto:

Running away from Gibson
Marketing Mel's Maya movie
Buzzing about Mel
An Oscar for Gibson?
First thoughts on Apocalypto
Mad Mel of the Apocalypto
Disney backs Apocalypto

The movie premieres
The short version:

Gibson's Buckets of Blood

The long version:

Audiences like Apocalypto
Not just another snuff film
Maya to blame for their own poverty?
Natives better protest Apocalypto
Mel's message:  Christians saved Indians
Apocalypto = problem, not solution
Gibson's bloodlust is "cool," "fun"
Apocalypto stereotypes Maya
Gibson sought legitimacy
Poor box office predicted
No Maya play Maya?
Gorefest gone wild
Violence could sink Apocalypto
Was Maya civilization that bad?
Culture doesn't sell tickets
Can Academy ignore Gibson?
Early thoughts on Apocalypto
Rituals, battles, and a lot of blood
Mayas await Apocalypto
Long odds for Apocalypto
Gibson gives back

The critics weigh in
The short version:

The Death-Dealing Maya

The long version:

Apocalypto's howlers
Rappin' Apocalypto
Christians still seek "Apocalypto"
Mel's doomsday scenario
Educators and filmmakers lie
Human sacrifice and other thrill rides
Apocalypto actors had no choice?
Apocalypto is bogus
Apocalypto's absurdities
"The odd detail wrong"?
Movies and missionaries vs. Natives
Why Mel chose Maya
Mad Mel defends Apocalypto
Gibson's deep, deep thoughts
Native defends Apocalypto
War on Iraq = human sacrifice
Gibson's sick sadomasochism
"Horrified to be Indian"
Apocalypto's lasting impression
Apocalypto actors had no conscience?
Apocalypto drops at the box office
Still more mistakes in Apocalypto
More mistakes in Apocalypto
Trend:  non-Westerners as savages
Apocalypto's many mistakes

Still more thoughts on Apocalypto
Native truth vs. Christian lies
Indiana Jones, like Apocalypto
Genghis Khan, Vikings, and the Maya
Mel Gibson = Leni Riefenstahl
More on 300 and Apocalypto
Gibson sacrficed the Maya
Another expert criticizes Apocalypto
ABC and Gibson blame the victim
Details of Mad Mel's outburst
Gibson can't handle truth
300, like Apocalypto
Gibson to do it again
Maybe Mel was confused
A fundamenalist view of Apocalypto
Mel's drunken Maya dance
Maya scorn Apocalypto
The message in the poster
Comments on Apocalypto coverage
Apocalypto = propaganda
Sacrifice stabilized Maya?

Yeagley vs. Youngblood
Youngblood ignores Yeagley
Yeagley responds to Youngblood article
More attacks on Youngblood
Yeagley attacks Youngblood again
Yeagley wrong about Youngblood
Youngblood not an Indian?

Related links
Were the Aztecs murdering "animals"?
Indiana Jones and the stereotypes of doom
Gladiator and The Patriot glorify violence
The best Indian movies

Readers respond
"It's a movie for Chrissake and the comparison to Hitler's propoganda machine is almost as hackneyed as it is patently stupid."
[Y]ou relied totally on the words and judgments of others while committing NONE of your own time or efforts on which to found your opinions."
"How do you know that Gibson concurred with Quinones? ... [C]an you read his mind?"
"[I]f the Yucateque language was 'wrong', are there Cholan speakers today from whom that language could have been obtained?"
"Any comparison between that statue and the icon of the film APOCALYPTO purely is coincidental and accidental."
"I had been greatly interested in Mel Gibson's movie based on pre-release hype but have no interest in lining his pockets after reading the data you've provided."
"[W]riterfella riposted that the film only paralleled many of writerfella's thoughts from his own researches into Mayan existence."
"There's an old adage [in the industry]: 'If you want to send a message, try Western Union.' And writerfella saw no 'Candygrams for Mongo' in the film."
"[R]emember, of course, that despite having an anti-Semitic father...Mel Gibson learned his biases, hatreds, and stereotypical thinking only from the media."


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Original text and pictures © copyright 2007 by Robert Schmidt.

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