Savages and Saviors: The Treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Apocalypto and Royal Hunt of the SunMary DeLucaMichigan State University

Introduction•Hollywood portrays indigenous peoples as naïve and savage-like•Case studies: Apocalypto and Royal Hunt of the Sun•Royal Hunt of the Sun depicts indigenous peoples as children when compared with the Spanish conquistadores.•In Apocalypto the director portrays the indigenous peoples as savages.

Mannerisms of Atahualpa:

•The Spaniards hand Atahualpa a bible and the movie shows him scratching it, observing it, and smelling it much like a child with a new toy.

•Atahualpa throws the bible on the ground in distaste while the Spaniards watch peacefully.

•Immediately after Atahualpa tosses the book on the ground the Spaniards attack, similar to a child being punished immediately after doing a “bad” thing.

•In another scene a translator attempts to tell Atahualpa about God and Atahualpa struggles to pronounce “God” and understand this new concept.

Costumery of Atahualpa:

•Straight, dark hair in the style of the 1960’s rather than traditional Inca style of dark hair long in the back with a fringe of bangs across the forehead.

•Simple wardrobe consisting of a white robe occasionally complemented with splashes of red.

•White symbolizes re-birth within the Catholic Church convincing viewers of Atahualpa’s need for salvation through baptism.

•The Splashes of red symbolize Atahualpa’s sacrifice of his own blood for the good of his people. In Catholicism Red represents both the presence of God and commemorates martyrs.

Thesis:

Due to the misrepresentation of indigenous peoples in Apocalypto and Royal Hunt of the Sun, Hollywood leads viewers of these movies to perceive indigenous peoples as childlike and in need of salvation by Christians.

The Maya as Savages in Apocalypto:(Mel Gibson’s Version of History)

Falsified Rituals of Sacrifice:

•The movie shows the Maya capturing forest dwelling tribes and taking the tribe captive for sacrifice, but the sacrifice victims of the Maya were usually nobles.

•The sacrifice victim lays on a table while the high priest mercilessly cuts out his beating heart to place on a decorated plate. This type of sacrifice was more of an Aztec practice than Maya. The Maya most often practiced bloodletting where the sacrificial victim was only cut and allowed to drip blood into the ceremonial bowl.

Violent Scenes without Historical Proof:

•Post-sacrifice the Maya (in the movie) took their remaining captives to a type of archery range where the living captives were the target of the arrows. They were told if they could outrun the arrows they were free. The victims are shot down like rabbits as they try to run to freedom.

•One captive, Jaguar Paw, outruns the arrows and on his way to the forest he encounters a huge pit of dead bodies that the Maya had presumably tortured and killed. Mass pits such as this most likely did not exist. The Maya were agricultural people and would never have allowed rotting corpses next to their crops.

The Final Salvation:

•During the final scenes of the movie, Jaguar Paw continues to be chased by the warriors wanting to kill him, but as they approach a beach they are faced with a foreign sight…the arrival of the Spaniards. Thereby the death of Jaguar Paw is prevented implying the beginning of redemption for the Maya through the Spanish conquest.

•Apocalypto doesn’t mention any of the achievements in science and art, the spirituality, or the agricultural and engineering feats of the Maya. The movie only seeks to justify the subjugation and torture of the Maya.

Atahualpa as a Child in Royal Hunt of the Sun