SHJIHM :: Passion of The Christ :: Apocalypto ~ Runboard
"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing." -Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
Placating terrorists, meeting with dictators, compassion for murderers... but no humanity for the unborn... incredible.
OOT
When St. Augustine wrote his masterwork, 'The City of God', he struggled with the problem of evil. He saw the destruction of the Roman empire as an evil of immense proportion but he considered that God would bring good even out of this great evil.
He did. Medieval Europe rose from the ashes. I have faith that God will turn even these events for the eventual and greater good of all.
Re: I saw it... and I am not sure what to say about it. It basically was broken down into three acts. The first was showing the idyllic life of the jungle people. The second was their capture and exposure to the city and sacrifices. The third was the jungle chase. The Mayan urban society is clearly shown as something awful that is doomed.
The coming Spaniards are also presented as what is eventually going to eliminate that society. Seeing Europeans at the end of the film was calming for me after the tenor of the rest of the film. My thoughts were something like, 'finally...civilization'. I am not sure if that was the purpose or not.
Finally, there were indeed some extremely disturbing images in the film. Some did seem almost demonic in nature and I turned my eyes at some of the worst moments of sacrifice. I simply did not want those images in my mind.
It was amazing how well that Gibson created a believable neolithic mesoamerican atmosphere with this medium. He makes you think you are there.
Apocalypto "The Mayan urban society is clearly shown as something awful that is doomed."
I bet the wrong suburbs are even worse - yet it's not PC to call a democracy "doomed" .
"and I turned by eyes at some of the worst moments"
The moment comes when only death will allow us not to look at the corruption that eats our world . But of course , private security and electronic surveillance will delay that moment for some of us .
"He makes you think you are there."
The illusion is not perfect , because of a racially mixed cast above all others ( see Jaguar Paw african features for example ) - but it's impressive non the less .
In advance I downloaded a working print , and I plan to buy the DVD in order to appease my conscience .
Really Michael , I don't know why you are so horrified by reality - after all , violence is a part of american life . Maybe that's because you live in the Midwest with few people around ...
I don't know why you are so horrified by reality - after all , violence is a part of american life .
I am not sure what this means. I recognize the reality of violence and what it does. But you are correct in that I have been directly exposed to very little of it, other than some fists being exchanged when I was a youth. Personally, I have studied some martial arts and am competent with fire arms. I have managed to avoid most fights by appearing to be unafraid.
What I am horrified by the most is evil. I have lived long enough to recognize how it works on the human mind. I simply did not need to see the mayan priest plunge a knife into the abdomen of his victim. I could avert my eyes and still get the jist of the scene.
Apocalypto "other than some fists being exchanged when I was a youth."
We all exchanged that
"I have studied some martial arts and am competent with fire arms."
Since you don't live near a bad suburb , this knowledge is less useful . For my part , I never used a firearm - not even for training , and I'm not interested in studying martial arts . I think Opus Dei should organise survival classes - it will be useful in the near future .
"What I am horrified by the most is evil."
You cannot run Michael . Eventuall , the evil will come near you , and you will confront your fear then , no matter if you wish so or not .
I downloaded a working print , and I plan to buy the DVD in order to appease my conscience .
