Quote:
Originally Posted by pelathais
Mel's movie was a great acheivement- in particular the work of the actors. The historical gaffes were egregious- the Mayans were generally less aggressive than portrayed and the Spanish didn't suddenly appear on the Mayan shores at the time of the Mayan collapse- 1100 -1200 A.D.
The whole thing would have worked better with the Aztecs, that's an accurate portrayal, despite what some of their 20th century apologists would say. And the capture of an enemy for either "sport" (torture) or human sacrifice was a common theme in many cultures that practiced that ritual. But the withered corn crops and plague were a part of the Mayan collapse and not the Aztec.
Still, if you sort out the intentional "liberties" the producers and writers took, it is an incredible accounting of Meso-America before the arrival of the Europeans. Other themes that were similar was the conquest of the rather peaceful Arawak by the canniblistic Caribs. The Europeans were actually putting an end to genocide when small pox inadvertantly finished what the Caribs had started.
The movie 1492: Conquest of Paradise got it so wrong in the way that the producers sought to blame everything on the Europeans. That is one film that actually stands out as racist propaganda.
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pelathais- Wow! Do you teach history? All I know is that I was stunned by the movie and the brutality of tribal warfare and survival from long ago. It helped me see the OT in a new light.
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