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Editorial
See other Editorial Articles

Title: Anthropologist Defends Apocalypto
Source: Prison Planet
URL Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/121206defends.htm
Published: Dec 13, 2006
Author: Dr. Barbara MacLeod
Post Date: 2006-12-13 11:05:21 by richard9151
Keywords: None
Views: 67
Comments: 3

Anthropologist Defends Apocalypto

Scholar who worked on Gibson's film says he got it right

Prison Planet

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

We welcome Dr. Barbara MacLeod's passionate defense of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto based on sound research and evidence, rather than emotional hyperbole and the mental illness of the PC crowd. Alex Jones just considers himself somewhat of a buff on this subject and was questioned by some for defending the film as historically accurate. His argument is expertly supported by the following comments.

We consider Dr. MacLeod's rebuttal an excellent counter to the ravings of Julia Guernsey, who, in an interview with the Austin-American Statesman, excused human sacrifice as a "valid" and "pious act" done "with solemnity."

We are now contacting Dr. MacLeod in the hope of having her appear on The Alex Jones Show.

RELATED: Apocalypto: The Most Powerful Film Of All Time

I am an academic (Ph.D., Anthropology, UT/Austin 1990, specializing in Mayan languages and hieroglyphic writing) and an expert on Yucatec Maya, the language in Apocalypto. I was hired by Mel Gibson to assist with post-production ADR for this movie in Los Angeles during the fall of 2006. This involved a lot of overdubbing and addition of off-camera lines over two months. I coached nearly all the principal actors and many others, got to know many of the Icon staff and had a lot of personal interaction with Mel.

I would like to forward a response I wrote to the the detractors--the film critics and the unhappy academics--and posted on another online board.

I am pasting it below. I'd be happy to have parts or all of it publicized by Alex if he's interested.

Dr. Barbara MacLeod

**

On Dissin' Mel...

I haven't seen the finished product yet, though during post-production I saw some scenes 20+ times, and over many work days saw most of it 5-6 times. I have some of the Yucatec dialogue memorized--the high priest's speech especially. I also saw the rough cut (minus the score and the special effects) at a secret screening in October. Apocalypto is a thrill ride, and that was its core premise--a high-adrenaline Precolumbian Native American foot chase. Mel said it was originally going to be a northern North America setting, but then he decided upon the Maya. The allegory developed as the story evolved.

Some of the academic Mayanists are offended that *their* view of the Maya (historically accurate, intellectually superior, politically correct) is not represented by someone else's fictional narrative. And the offense is exacerbated by the appearance of authenticity (to which yours truly contributed), so that the "unsuspecting public" (that is, you!!) will be suckered in. Horrors!!! We academics should instead shepherd you along the path to righteousness! And the issue of Maya blood sacrifice may still be a bit embarrassing to these folks (not to mention ancient Maya ritual torture--ripping off lower jaws from living captives, breaking fingers, binding alive in a ball and kicking down steps, etc.--none of which appears in the movie) and they would rather set up the Aztec straw man ("THEY did mass sacrifices, not OUR guys!") than face the truth of it...and then mask their own personal intolerance for gore with professional indignation at Mel Gibson's indulgence of it--which w!

As to be expected; that's part of his artistic palette. If they can't stomach it, fair enough, but let's be honest about it.

And of course the press eats this scorn up with titles like 'Bungle in the Jungle':

http://www.sfgate.com/

Dang. Didn't them ivy-covered types ever read comic books when they were kids?

I saw the heart-ripping-out scene a dozen or more times as we did the overdubs. One habituates quickly. Mel's personal haircutter was there cutting his hair (before the Diane Sawyer interview) while that scene repeated and repeated and she didn't faint or vomit, or gasp in horror. As she left, she was sworn to secrecy, tongue-in-cheek, by both Mel and myself. We were all laughing, believe it or not. But I still have my reality coordinates about me.

I am acutely aware of the parts of Apocalypto that are not authentic (five-minute eclipse, for example, and the merging of Preclassic mural art and Classic architecture into a Postclassic setting, the innocent forest-dwellers who have never heard of the big city, the high-rainforest mountainous landscape, and more), but I accept it and suspend disbelief just as I shrug off the incomplete representation of, say, American culture in a movie like The Firm, which makes all lawyers and law firms look utterly sleazy (heh, er, surely they aren't *all* that bad??).

So, in defense of Apocalypto, it is a visually stunning action-adventure film in an exotic setting, with blood aplenty, but it's far less gratuitous than the violence in many Hollywood films. Apart from the sheer numbers of victims (a real exaggeration), the violence is itself pretty authentic. That the Maya were far more than violent, that they were intellectually advanced with astonishing art, science, math and literature (which I can read in the original) and complex social organization--is indisputable. But when a filmmaker has two-plus hours to tell a story, there's a lot that has to be left out. And yes, the image of the Maya in the film is distorted so as to make the ponderous aristocracy into warlike villains who are themselves at the mercy of bloodthirsty gods. I am not so sure that's fiction, and I know a lot about them.

The final scene is, I think, what rankles all the PC advocates the most: the Spanish are coming! The Spanish are coming! --ah, to save the Maya from themselves.

The plague seen in the movie suggests that they have already brought smallpox. That's hardly salvation. In fact, smallpox reached Yucatan from Central Mexico before the white man arrived in Yucatan .

I see that final scene as a deliberate and wrenching twist of irony, recalling the lyrics of The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again:

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around

Pick up my guitar and play

Just like yesterday

Then I'll get on my knees and pray

We don't get fooled again

I'll move myself and my family aside

If we happen to be left half alive

I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky

For I know that the hypnotized never lie

***

Forget the critics looking over their shoulders, and look at all the rave reviews Apocalypto is getting from viewers on Yahoo!. If you want a really unique and arousing experience and don't have a blood phobia, go see this movie.

For the following links, go here;

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/121206defends.htm

Dr. Barbara MacLeod's AV Web profile

Dr. Barbara MacLeod's research used by Duke University

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.

#1. To: richard9151 (#0)

With all respect to Mel Gibson, some other respected academicians have photographed on-site South-American stone statues of people in arabian style turban hats. They were very surprised that mainstream history textbooks never mentioned that, because it sort of hints of a link between arabian culture and South America. A link never followed by the official history. Why do people accept everything so easily? A spoon-fed crowd...

_ru  posted on  2006-12-13   13:18:36 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

respected academicians have photographed on-site South-American stone statues of people in arabian style turban hats.

Oh, absolutely! But not everything can be covered in one movie, and not everyone is aware of everything, including Mr. Gibson.

Try this;

Lost 10 Tribes of Israel

http://www.giveshare.or g/israel/lost10tribes.html

THE "LOST" TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL...FOUND!

by Steven M. Collins.

Revised Edition 1995. CPA Books, Boring, Oregon. 436 pages, paperback. Retail price: $19.95 plus shipping. Suggested donation: $18.00 plus $2 shipping (USA) or $5 shipping International, from:

Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849

INTRODUCTION:

The ancient Israelites were composed of twelve tribes, which eventually split into two kingdoms. The largest kingdom, Israel, was composed of ten tribes. The smaller kingdom, Judah, was composed of two tribes. Judah was "Jewish," Israel was not.

Many assume that the history of the ten tribes of Israel ended when Samaria, Israel’s capital, fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. Both the Bible and secular history assert otherwise. Approximately 100 years after Samaria’s fall, God told the prophet Jeremiah to proclaim a message to the ten tribes of Israel (Jeremiah 3:11-12). Interestingly, God told Jeremiah the Israelites lived not to the east (where the Assyrians carried the captives of Samaria) but "to the north" of Jerusalem and Palestine. After the time of Christ, the Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that the ten tribes of Israel had become extremely numerous and he even revealed one of their national borders. Neither the Bible nor Josephus regarded the Israelites as ever being "lost."

Many Christians believe we are living in "the latter days," a prophetic time preceding the return of Jesus Christ (a view shared by the author). The Bible has many prophecies about the role of the ten tribes of Israel in the latter days, calling them "Israel" or "the house of Israel" while the Jews are called "Judah" or "the house of Judah." The Bible contains many clues about the national traits of each tribe in the latter days. Because the Bible states the ten tribes of Israel will be prominent and identifiable in the latter days, those Christians who say the ten tribes of Israel disappeared or "died out" are unwittingly at odds with the Bible. This book examines the victories, defeats, empires and migrations of the ten tribes of Israel throughout history and offers identifications for each tribe in the modern world. This book has been professionally edited and reviewed for accuracy of Hebrew and Greek translations. It presents strong evidence that the Bible’s historical accounts and prophecies about the ten tribes of Israel are completely accurate. A brief discussion of each chapter’s content is listed below.

CHAPTER 1: "KING DAVID AND ISRAEL’S RISE TO GREATNESS"

King David’s rule and influence was much wider than commonly assumed. The Bible records that a major war occurred between David’s Israelites and an Assyrian- led coalition from Mesopotamia. The Bible asserts David won that war, and secular history confirms that the Assyrians and Mesopotamians were conquered by Semites from the west during that time. David became the greatest earthly king of his time. The Bible also records David accumulated copper items "beyond calculation" for the Temple of God. Where did this weight of copper come from? Interestingly, ancient copper mines in the North American Great Lakes region were worked to exhaustion during David’s time, but the copper was not used in the New World.

CHAPTER 2: "KING SOLOMON AND THE ’GOLDEN AGE’ OF ISRAEL"

Kings David and Solomon were allied to the Phoenicians who had massive fleets which sailed the globe. From Phoenician artifacts found in North America, it is now known that their ports-of-call included ancient America. The Bible asserts that Solomon had a global impact, and that ancient kings travelled to Israel to witness Solomon’s wealth and wisdom. The Bible records Solomon was the wisest man on earth, and secular history records that many inventions (including the forerunner of many modern alphabets) date to the Phoenician world in the time of Solomon. This book describes the global "golden age" under King Solomon.

CHAPTER 3: "ISRAEL — THE FORGOTTEN WORLD EMPIRE"

Via the widespread sailing routes of the Phoenicians, the Israelites established a large network of colonies. The Israelites were the "covenant" people, and they attached the Hebrew word for "covenant" (B-R-T) to some of their colonies (i.e. Britain). As evidence of their global impact, the 10 Commandments (in ancient Hebrew) have been found written on rocks in New Mexico and on an unearthed tablet in Ohio. Also, the "Phoenicians" never called themselves by that name (it was a Greek term and the Greeks included Israel in their definition of "Phoenicia."). The city-states of Sidon and Tyre were rather small but are credited with building a great empire from 1000-700 B.C. However, it was actually the much larger nation of Israel which was responsible for the "Phoenician" Empire. The Israelites, Tyrians and Sidonians were a related people who spoke dialects of the same language. After the division of the Hebrew tribes, it was virtually impossible to distinguish between the ten tribes and the "Phoenician" city- states as the ten tribes drifted away from Judah and became closely integrated with Tyre and Sidon.

CHAPTER 4: "ISRAELITE AND JEWISH MIGRATIONS FROM PALESTINE

The ten tribes migrated out of Palestine in several waves, some were voluntary and others involuntary. When Samaria fell, the Bible and Assyrian records agree that very few people were taken into captivity. Many Israelites escaped Assyria by relocating to one of Israel’s many colonies via the large Phoenician/Israelite navy. Secular history also records the main body of Israelites fled voluntarily to a new location, supplanting an old kingdom with a new Israelite one. The Bible implicitly confirms the above by declaring the Assyrians found the land and cities of Israel abandoned at the time of their final invasion. This chapter reveals where the Israelites migrated and when they did so.

CHAPTER 5: "CARTHAGE — THE COLONY THAT BECAME AN EMPIRE"

It has long been known that Carthage was founded by the "Phoenicians." We know it as Carthage because of the Greco-Roman term for it. Its original name was Hebrew. Many historians have commented on the Hebrew nature of Carthage’s "Punic" language and customs. Carthage began as an Israelite colony, and received numerous Israelite refugees when Israel fell. The Greeks wrote that Carthage had a secret colony west of the Atlantic to which they sent large expeditions of colonists, and many Carthaginian inscriptions and artifacts have been found in North America. This chapter examines connections between the Carthaginians and the civilizations of ancient America (including the pyramids and human sacrifices of the Mayans). Carthage was very rich and almost destroyed Rome under Hannibal, but moral degeneracy led to its collapse.

CHAPTER 6: "THE SCYTHIAN ’SACAE,’ — THE ASIAN SONS OF ISAAC"

"Scythian" was a term describing many people who lived in ancient Asia near the Black and Caspian Seas. Many Scythian tribes, the "Sacae," were named after the biblical patriarch, Isaac. The Sacae appear in this region soon after the fall of the kingdom of Israel. The Greeks record the Black Sea Scythians were very civilized people who eschewed foreign religions and had such Hebrew customs as banning the consumption of pork. The Scythians renamed all the major rivers flowing into the Black Sea, giving them their modern names (Danube, Don, etc.) which preserve the name of the Israelite tribe of Dan. The Sacae lived directly north of Palestine (by the Black Sea) when the prophet Jeremiah was told to send a message to the ten tribes of Israel living "north" of Palestine. Few realize that Scythian tribes twice defeated large invasions by the Persian Empire and that they briefly conquered the entire Middle East from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The Greeks recorded much about the Scythians and regarded them as a major power in the ancient world, but modern history almost totally ignores them. Why?

CHAPTER 7: "AN ISRAELITE EMPIRE RISES IN ASIA"

In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., the Parthians defeated the Seleucid Greek Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and established their own empire from the Euphrates River to the western borders of India. They were fellow tribesman of the Scythian Sacae, and several Parthian cities had Hebrew names. One Parthian city, Asaak, was named after Isaac. The name "Parthia" comes from Greek historians, who gave the name "Pretanic" to the Brittanic Isles. When Parthia’s "P" is also changed to a "B," Parthia’s consonants become "B-R-TH," the Hebrew word for "covenant." This chapter lists much evidence that the Parthians were Asian descendants of the ten tribes of Israel.

CHAPTER 8: "PARTHIA — THE FORGOTTEN ANCIENT SUPERPOWER"

Greek and Roman historians regarded Parthia as an equal rival to the Roman Empire, an opinion shared by the famous British historian George Rawlinson. Parthia regularly defeated the Roman Empire in many wars. Many kings of the Sacae Scythians and Parthians bore the name of the royal bloodline of King David, fulfilling God’s promise in Jeremiah 33:17. Even as the Israelites had a hereditary priesthood (the Levites), so did the Parthians (the Magi). The Parthian empire had mounted "knights," a feudal government system, and a bicameral "parliament" which elected their kings. In the apostolic period, many Parthians became Christians. In the 3rd century A.D. the Parthians were overthrown by the Persians and fled to the Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea region. Classical Greek and Roman writers preserved much information about the Parthians, but modern history texts almost completely ignore them. Why?

CHAPTER 9: "JESUS CHRIST — THE UNTOLD STORY"

Jesus Christ was born during a period of "detente" between Rome and Parthia in which travel and trade flourished. The "Magi" or "Wise Men" who visited Jesus were representatives of the Parthian ruling class who came offering gifts to Jesus, who was "born a king." Why were Parthians interested in Jesus’ royal bloodline? What was the "star" which led the Magi to Jesus? How large was the delegation of Parthian royalty that visited Jesus Christ? Why did Rome permit Jesus Christ unlimited freedom of travel and speech during a time of often harsh repression of other Jews? Where did Jesus go during the "missing 18 years" of his life from age 12 to age 30? This chapter provides compelling (and surprising) answers for all the above questions, and offers new perspectives on Jesus’ life in light of the geopolitical context of Roman-Parthian relations.

CHAPTER 10: "ISRAELITE MIGRATIONS FROM ASIA AFTER PARTHIA’S FALL"

Vast numbers of Parthians fled to the Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea region after Parthia fell, joining their Scythian cousins who were called "Goths" by the Romans. These armies of refugees needed new homelands, and they sought them by invading the European and Balkan provinces of their historic enemy, the Roman Empire. While some tribes were pagan, others (under Alaric and Theodoric) were more civilized and Christianized than the Romans. As large numbers of refugees poured out of Asia into Europe in search of new homelands, they fought both the Romans and each other. These tribes of Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Germans, etc. overwhelmed Rome and provided the population bases for the modern nations of Europe. These new arrivals brought many aspects of Scythian/Parthian culture with them, including Parthia’s feudal system of government. This chapter examines the role of the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel in these massive migrations.

CHAPTER 11: "THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL IN THE MODERN WORLD"

After tracing the Israelites’ migrations throughout their history, the final chapter seeks to identify each of the tribes of Israel in the modern world. Because God promises that each tribe will be present in the latter days, they must be located among the nations of the modern world if the Bible is truly the infallible Word of God. Using many clues from biblical and secular history as well as a specific prophecy in Genesis 49 about the Israelite tribes in the latter days, specific identifications are offered for all the tribes of Israel in our contemporary world.

THE "LOST" TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL...FOUND!, by Steven M. Collins, Revised Edition 1995. CPA Books, Boring, Oregon,439 pages, paperback. Retail price: $19.95 plus shipping. Suggested donation: $16.00 from: Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849

This is great!; "THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL IN THE MODERN WORLD"

And in the book, the author covers many examples of evidence found in the New World, i.e., the Americas, that show the people from Europe and the Middle East were here LONG before Columbus.

richard9151  posted on  2006-12-13   13:41:40 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

#3. To: richard9151 (#2)

Thank you! Many of the same "inconvenient" questions which pop up every now and then.

There are also hints that Jesus Christ was crucified in the city of "Troy/Constantinople/Istanbul" but later Khazarian mindcontrol decided that Christ better be a jew and moved the location to Jerusalem.

_ru  posted on  2006-12-13 14:42:37 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  

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