Apocalypto, a film directed by Mel Gibson and released in 2006, is a fierce allegory of modern Earth. One of it’s most disturbing themes is the connection between the dangers of acquiring knowledge and the consequent transformation of the world and its peoples. Gibson and fellow writer Farhad Safinia chose to frame their story in ancient Yucatec Mayan, a poetic language that lends well to their symbolic treatment.
One scene in particular utilizes the Mayan oral tradition to launch the audience past the superficial Action/Chase movie and into the essence of something greater. A successful tapir hunt is cause for celebration in the village. Jaguar Paw, played by Rudy Youngblood, sits with his family beside a bonfire and listens to a parable spoken by one of the elders.
The Hole in Man and Earth
The fireside was often where the tribesmen learned the philosophies of their people. According to the songstory, early Man first acquired power from the animal spirits. The Serpent was charged with the secrets of the Earth; the Man coveted these most hungrily. Man’s metamorphosis was quick and ominous. Another spirit-witness, Owl, admits that he is finally afraid of Man who is now powerful, armed with destiny.
Jaguar Paw is particularly disturbed by what the elder says next. “There is a hole in Man that will never fill.” It is “what makes him sad. What makes him want.” He will continue to take from the Earth until at last the Earth will speak and admit that she has “nothing left to give,” that she has herself become nothing.
The writers are forthcoming in their message. The world will be ravaged and stripped by Man’s terrifying hunger to know and dominate it. The City sequence illustrates this perversion of the society. As the slave caravan approaches the City, they witness fields of jagged tree stumps, torn earth and slaves twisted into lime-stucco phantoms. The Mayan city people have squeezed life and material from the land and left only plague, drought and famine. There is a sharp contradiction: the enlightened and the powerful teeter between accomplishment and decline.
A Savage Theater: Subjugating the Poor to Deify the Wise
The Enlightened who rule the city are inhuman and excessive creatures, dressed flamboyantly, heavily tattooed and scarred. They have ordered the mass sacrifice to appease the god Kukulkan. This tragic and unbearable process is an elaborate ruse. The ancient Maya are well known to be advanced mathematicians and astronomers. They were aware of eclipses and when to expect them. Gibson portrays the leaders as puppet-masters who masquerade as demi-gods and pretend to commune with and influence heaven. This is how they maintain their power, by filling the hole in man with fear.
A disgusting circus is made of the sacrifice. Direct parallels are drawn to television and movie violence and its distractive and revelatory effects. The desperate audience at the foot of the temple are held in thrall as blood is spilled and heads are tossed. Their dependency on the wisdom of their elders has murdered their individuality and self-sufficiency. Their civilization is in decline, a torch burnt excessively, consuming itself to ash.
Once he has escaped and defeated his captors, Jaguar Paw draws his family away from the encompassing new worlds--represented by both the invading Conquistadors and the self-destructive city-folk-- and heads back to the forest. He requires nothing from the world save the freedom to live and love. This is an urgent call to return to the roots of humanity, to live simpler, within our means and respect the responsibility connected with wisdom.
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