Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is an entertaining film, but I have some issues with it. It doesn't paint a very flattering picture of the Mayans. The human sacrifice part is authentic, but Gibson doesn't stop there. He shows them as ugly, cruel and uncivilised. It can almost be read as a justification of the Spanish conquest. There is no mention of the Mayans' achievements in mathematics, astronomy, art and architecture.
Btw, the film begins with a quote from Will Durant: "A great civilisation is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." Something to think about...
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2 comments:
Well, I'm glad that Will Durant has put it into words.
My theory has been that at a time, there was Akhand Bharat. And the reason was that we were a giving civilization. We gave scientific knowledge, wealth, open mindedness, spirituality etc to the world from gandhara to ang kor in a direct way.
The reason we are diminished and have to fight among ourselves is probably because we have lost that spirit from within.
As a title of an Arun Shourie book proclaims, "Will an iron fence save a tree hollowed by termites?"
Kaddi
Yes, Will Durant's words can apply to India in the 8th century.
That was the past. Now we must work for a new dawn.
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