Apocalypto

[pnggrad79]

Did anyone see this movie? OMG! It was bloody, gory, intense, but very good despite the subtitles. It was so enthralling, I actually forgot it was subtitled. Very good movie.

My class just finished studying the ancient civilizations of the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca, and although I would never be able to show this movie to them (half of them have seen it already) at school, I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of life in that time period.

I was struck by the devotion to this pagan deity these people sacrificed to. I was awestruck by the similarities that have been repeated throughout history-the numerous and astounding times that absolute devotion to religion often brings destruction, death and pain!

[keltic63]

Did anyone see this movie? OMG! It was bloody, gory, intense, but very good despite the subtitles. It was so enthralling, I actually forgot it was subtitled. Very good movie.


haven't seen it. i'll have to look for it.


My class just finished studying the ancient civilizations of the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca, and although I would never be able to show this movie to them (half of them have seen it already) at school, I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of life in that time period.


Isn't that the worst part? If you, as the teacher showed a certain movie, you could lose your job. Yet, so many of these kids, even in elementary school, watch this stuff regularly. For instance, I sing a harmless halloween song and I've had 2 parents complain that it gave their first graders nightmares. "could you stop singing that song in their class?" yet these kids tell me that they've watched the Freddie Kruger movies. hello? it's not my song that's giving them nightmares, it's the stuff you let them watch that's inappropriate for a child their age!

the song? here it is:

There was an old woman all skin and bones, O-o-o-o!
She lived down by the old graveyard -o-o-o!
One night she thought she'd take a walk, -o-o-o!
She walked down by the old graveyard, o-o-o!
She saw the bones a-layin' around, O-o-o-o!
She went to the closet to get a broom, O-o-o-o!
She opened the door and BOO!

[andrewlittle]

There was an old woman all skin and bones, O-o-o-o!
She lived down by the old graveyard -o-o-o!
One night she thought she'd take a walk, -o-o-o!
She walked down by the old graveyard, o-o-o!
She saw the bones a-layin' around, O-o-o-o!
She went to the closet to get a broom, O-o-o-o!
She opened the door and BOO!

OMG! I had a nightmare last night. It was because of this song. It's gruesome, awful - the stuff of the most hideous kind of dreams. And that part about the beheading with the chainsaw was the crux of it.

Oh, hmmm. Perhaps I see your point.

[Pablo Rafael]

Apocalypto was one movie that I couldn't watch all the way through, and I'm not particularly squeemish, and I love movies with subtitles. (I had no nightmares from that scary song of Steve's. I'm tough I tell you.)

Apocalypto was just sheer brutality and violence from the start. After about 20 minutes I just couldn't handle any more. Maybe if it had shown some of the beauty and skill of the Maya culture, I could have handled the violence.

[paul]

Apocalypto was one movie that I couldn't watch all the way through, and I'm not particularly squeemish, and I love movies with subtitles. (I had no nightmares from that scary song of Steve's. I'm tough I tell you.)

:lol:...yes you are Pablo, and everyone knows it. ;)

I was struck by the devotion to this pagan deity these people sacrificed to. I was awestruck by the similarities that have been repeated throughout history-the numerous and astounding times that absolute devotion to religion often brings destruction, death and pain!

I to have been recently struck by the same thing. Have you read "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali? It's a fascinating autobiography by a person raised in fundamental Islam. I to was "awestruck by the similarities," in this case, between fundamental Christianity and fundamental Islam.

I think it's a very good point that you raise.

[scott snedeker]

Pagan refers to ancient pre-christian spiritual belief paradigms of the European continent not Ancient Central America.

In Ancient Central America the Toltecs were the philosophers engineers and archetects among the population.


Human sacrifices and wars were waged by "Royal families" closely sanctioned by Priests. It seems to me that both kept close proximity to one another to stay in power by use of fear. Sound Familiar?

[pnggrad79]

Another thing that jumped out at me was the artwork I saw seemed to look an awful lot like the totem poles of North American Natives and First Nations in Canada. Hmmm! What are we missing here?

I think it was pretty gory and bloody but not in the Freddie Krueger sense and it wasn't absolute slaughter, but it did show, I thought, a pretty accurate portrayal of how the sacrifice system of the Ancient Americans really worked. It was practiced by the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca.

If you weren't able to watch it all the way through, skip through the first 20 or so minutes and then it really gets past the blood and gore, to the chase and that is absolutely spellbinding.

[matthewspeed]

Keltic,

I remember as a kid sitting around campfires telling ghost stories. I never thought of that as violent! We have worse things to watch out for - school shootings, child molestation, etc.. I can't believe parents of these children waste their time calling the school to report on cute halloween stories. I'm sure many of these same children attend Halloween parties or trick or treat with other children dressed up as violent looking monsters. It's no different than some far right winged christians that I personally know, that are offended by having a Christimas tree, due to it's pagan origins.

Why can't we lighten up a bit! Amidst of all the terror in our world today, I think a few Ghost stories won't hurt us!! :)

[tymejumper]

Did anyone see this movie? OMG! It was bloody, gory, intense, but very good despite the subtitles. It was so enthralling, I actually forgot it was subtitled. Very good movie.

My class just finished studying the ancient civilizations of the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca, and although I would never be able to show this movie to them (half of them have seen it already) at school, I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of life in that time period.

I was struck by the devotion to this pagan deity these people sacrificed to. I was awestruck by the similarities that have been repeated throughout history-the numerous and astounding times that absolute devotion to religion often brings destruction, death and pain!



I LOVE horror, but this movie had a hugh 'ewwwww' factor for me. Ellies guy friend at work was so upset about the rape scene in it, he started to cry in front of his girlfriend. He was really upset and talked about it for weeks. He is a very sweet guy.

I would think it accurate for that time also. I just watched a history channel called "histories mysterys" and it was about the Incas and Aztecs.

[pnggrad79]

How about the song "Ring Around The Rosey? This bloody song (no pun intended) was about The Black Death!!!

There is so much about life that I would rather not show my kids, but you know most of them deal with things and have done or seen things, I will NEVER see, but Keltic's song would offend so many parents who regularly drink, leave their kids at home alone to fend for themselves, send them to school sick or hurt, and fight over them in divorce court as if they were pawns in a chess game!!! I don't advocate showing Halloween or such movies, but Apocalypto was historical fact , bloody as it was, hey, it happened! Who can argue with that? To pretend it didn't is why this crap reinvents itself and visits us time and again, in the form of The Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the Holocaust, etc... We don't learn our lesson, we like everything rosy and sweet and that is not reality.

I taught my kids about the bubonic plague and how it literally caused the end of feudalism in Europe as well as decimated the continent. I taught my kids about the the conquistadors and how Christopher Columbus was NOT a hero to millions of Native Americans whose whole civilization, culture and population was utterly destroyed by the conquests of this man and those after him. I taught my kids about why there is conflict in the Middle East, and how atrocities occur on both sides of this conflict. We studied the slave trade and Manifest Destiny. My kids will walk away having a clearer picture of where we come from and where we are going.

Some parents will bitch and complain about a harmless song, but not be mortified that Native Americans struggle daily with alcoholism caused by the greed and laziness of the American government, and astounded at the fact that there are a million children in foster homes because of abuse and neglect. That won't horrify them, but a little song will piss them off. Amazing.....:rolleyes:

[tymejumper]

Keltic,

I remember as a kid sitting around campfires telling ghost stories. I never thought of that as violent! We have worse things to watch out for - school shootings, child molestation, etc.. I can't believe parents of these children waste their time calling the school to report on cute halloween stories. I'm sure many of these same children attend Halloween parties or trick or treat with other children dressed up as violent looking monsters. It's no different than some far right winged christians that I personally know, that are offended by having a Christimas tree, due to it's pagan origins.

Why can't we lighten up a bit! Amidst of all the terror in our world today, I think a few Ghost stories won't hurt us!! :)


The traditions of Halloween and other scary tales really helped us deal with things we were scared of as kids. I mean, that is the reasons people have scary tales in the first place! My son is 11 and he was really scared of things(everything). Well, Ellie and I were beside ourselves and tried in vain to shield him from all things we saw as scary.

Finally, I hit on the idea of desensitizing him to fear by letting him read Stephen King short stories. (He reads at the high school level anyhow). I read through the stories in "The Night Shift" and selected the least offensive(sexual and graphic violence)stories for him to read. He read them and now he is not afraid to go downstairs with the light off, and he is not afraid of the things he was before.(monsters) It's like he read things that were so far out and fake that he feels safe. He's working on Cujo now.