February 15, 2007
Mexicans and Apocalypto
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, about life in Mayan times, generated a torrent of criticism for alleged racism, mainly because it depicted the brutality of human sacrifice as practiced by that civilization. Many of the critics also cited historical inaccuracies.
Allan Wall, an Iraq veteran who resides in Mexico, writes an interesting column in Mexidata.info about the film's opening in Mexico, where it is breaking box office records:
Apocalypto focuses on a family, and the struggle of a man to return to his wife and children. That's a universal theme, at least as old as Homer's Odyssey.Mexicans are avid moviegoers, and they choose movies based on the appeal of a movie itself, not "politically correct" notions of what movies they should see. [....]As for Apocalypto, Mexican movie viewers don't care much about what the critics and activists say about it, and they have been flocking to see Apocalypto. In fact, the first weekend established a box office record for Mexico, beating out "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings." Apocalypto has done well at Mexican cinemas.