15 years ago, Mel Gibson made an apocalyptic thriller with racist undertones
Given the director’s questionable legacy, how does Apocalypto hold up?
The beginning of Apocalypto opens with the quote, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”
The little girl prophesizes the end of the Mayan world as their society continues to fall apart as a result of corruption, poverty, and illness — not-so-subtly implying that the people are the root of their society’s demise. The raider who encounters the little girl is clearly unnerved and later expresses worry that the end is near.
Out of all the scenes in Apocalypto, this one encompasses the film the best. It’s not the most exciting, action-filled, or grotesquely violent like much of the movie is, but it sums up the underlying theme of the movie that feels particularly relevant in America today: A society will destroy itself from the inside long before any outside force can manage to conquer it.
Before we go any further, we need to address the anti-Semitic, racist, misogynistic elephant in the room. Apocalypto will be forever remembered as Mel Gibson’s last film before the world saw him for what he truly is, though that revelation has barely put a damper on his ability to make movies in Hollywood
Still, Apocalypto marks the end of the era where Gibson was universally considered a credible and respected director and actor. So knowing what we do now about the film’s director, how does this movie hold up fifteen years later?
