Yes, the film Apocalypto does do a disservice to history, not just world history, but the history of an entire civilization. To allow over 3000 years of history and social advancement to be crammed into two hours of blood, gore, and aerial shots would ignites riots in many of the world’s countries. Yet, we as viewers and consumers have allowed it to be done to the history of the indigenous people of Meso-America. Along with being entertained by these falsities, we have allowed ourselves to become the next generation of perpetuators of colonial stereotypes; the same damaging stereotypes that allowed Europeans to conquer north, south, and Central America in order to “save the savages from themselves”. We have all heard the stories of the human…show more content… To focus on the negatives of a culture and its salvation at the behest European Judeo-Christian imperialization, gives history and its learners a one-sided portrait of an extremely complex and brutal story that couldn’t possibly be told in 138 minutes of screen time. Aside from the obviously false and dramatized history portrayed in Apocalypto, Mel Gibson attempted to provide the film actual merit by allowing all speaking roles to be done in Mayan Yucatec language, a variety that is still widely spoken throughout Central America. Along with the language, Gibson also incorporated living descendants of the Maya into the film in minor roles. Yet, an interesting fact to be noted is that Rudy Youngblood, the actor that portrays Jaguar Paw is not of Mayan descent. The actor who plays his father, Flint Sky, is also not of Mayan descent either.On top of these, most of the sacrificial rituals shown in the film are actually Aztec based, not Mayan based. Here, Gibson’s mistake is homogenizing Native American culture to fit the physical and cultural ideals his audience would anticipate all indigenous groups to share. Native American culture is not so monolithic that ethnologies can be ignored or fitted in with another groups just to make the story line look…show more content… Another aspect of Apocalypto that cannot be excused is its condensing of hundreds of years of history into a visually and emotionally appealing end scene that has nothing to do with the reality of both the Mayan collapse and the Spanish arrival in the Americas. Most historians agree that the collapse of the classical Mayan civilization began around the 8th century AD. Another aspect of Apocalypto that cannot be excused is its condensing of hundreds of years of history into a visually and emotionally appealing end scene that has nothing to do with the reality of both the Mayan collapse and the Spanish arrival in the Americas. Most historians agree that the collapse of the classical Mayan civilization began around the 8th century AD. Even then, parts of the Mayan empire were still thriving and continued to thrive well after the landing of the conquistadors. When Jaguar Paw and the other captives were lead to the big city, one could see the general despair that it looked to be in: illness, failed crops, starving people, crumbling temples and other things. Jaguar Paw and his fellow villagers were meant to be sacrifices to the gods in hope of reversing the agricultural and social decline the city had fallen