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Indiana Jones Meets the Mayans

Adam Elenbaas
indiana-jones-kingdom-srystal-skull.jpg

 

The highly anticipated release of the new Indiana Jones film is almost here. Masses of people are downloading the teaser on the official film website.

Following in the tradition of the spiritual themes of the first three films in the series, this Indy adventure features the quest for Mayan crystal skulls.

The apocalyptic crystal skulls are thought to be imbued with powers given to the Mayans from an alien civilization, and Indiana is on a quest to capture them before they fall into the wrong hands.

This Mayan twist should be juicy. Also, Indy's old love interest from Raiders, Karen Allen, is back, as well as a new sidekick, Shia LaBeouf (Transformers). Indy's new adult male counterpart is played by bad-ass Ray Winstone, and the evil protagonist is played by Cate Blanchett.

 

 

 

Comments

the ruins

Submitted by psychonaut on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 15:53.
there is also a film set to release soon about a group of you guessed it, a bunch of twenty-something kids go down to Maya town and unkowingly unlock an evil force upon the world. trailer can be seen here http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/theruins/trailer1a/

Twisting

Submitted by sati on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 20:48.
I heard about that. It is very interesting that things we view in such a positive way are being tossed out in such a negitive manner. I am waiting for Newline to come out with something like: 2012 The Return  Quetzalcoatl, and the trailer is this Mayan Mummy 30 stories tall wielding an angry vine of ayuhuaska that spues fire destroying all of the Western world... Oh well... I suppose that's what happens when the dark becomes more fearful of the light... :)

apocalypto

Submitted by Adam Elenbaas on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 21:37.
I found the recent Mel Gibson flick, "Apocalypto," to be particularly interesting (speaking of dark Mayan portrayals in film). While working with Ayahuasca in Peru several years ago I was kindly reminded that the Mayans put heads on stakes and ripped hearts out. I think it's easy to paint the Mayans as dark given the ritualistic sacrifice. But I'm sure there is more than meets the eye when it comes to:--- who they were as a people. Adam Elenbaas

Flawed Depiction

Submitted by Martin D. Anderson on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 01:34.

I followed the press on the movie after "Apocalypto" was released and I found some archaelogists and anthropologists specializing in ancient mesoamerica spoke out against the film and revealed its many inaccuracies, among them that Gibson conflated aspects of Aztec sacrifice with his depiction of the Mayans. Other errors dealing with characterization of Mayan culture and the timeframe amount to a movie that a fairly gross distortion of the historical record.

interesting

Submitted by Adam Elenbaas on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 02:35.
Yea, I don't doubt that some of that stuff was conflated. Still--human sacrifice seems dark to me any way you put it. Maybe the participants were more willing than Gibson made them look? I certainly wouldn't be, and even Christ said, "if it is possible, lord, take this cup." But... I'd like to read some of these articles. Get the scoop. Sounds fascinating. Any links? Adam Elenbaas

Wise Old Man

Submitted by Wabi Sabi Wookie on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 13:49.

I love the older, grizzlier, grumpier Indy. He's perfect for the Wise Old Man archetype, and I'm sure Spielberg and Lucas gave that some thought considering they were good friends with the late Joseph Campbell. It's good to have my childhood hero back.

~ www.dailygrail.com ~

Linkage

Submitted by Martin D. Anderson on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 13:49.

I'm referencing one article in particular, but here is a site I found recently that consolidates both criticism and support in one place.  

 

Maya experts can't agree to disagree

Submitted by Wabi Sabi Wookie on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 14:04.

In the 1800s, people believed that the Maya lived in a peaceful utopia, free of violence. When murals depicting bloody fights and gruesome sacrifices were discovered, no one believed the archaeologists and it was quite a controversy.

 

It's no different to today really, many Maya experts argue and bicker and disagree with each others' theories and opinions, and no one can agree on what happened to the Maya. I have a few academic books with very different versions of Maya history. Gibson's Apocalypto might not be historically accurate in parts, but it's accurate in others, and the Maya expert he consulted has a good reputation (and more importantly, he realised that it was a dramatic film and didn't mind the truth being bent a little to service the story).

 

The critics forget it's a movie, not a documentary. Gibson's an auteur with his themes of Catholicism, and he took a lot of dramatic license with the narrative to express that. But I think most people recognise that Apocalypto is just a dramatisation with heavy Catholic themes, and is not a historical documentary, so the critics needn't worry. And to Gibson's credit, he filmed Apocalypto entirely on location in southern Mexico, entirely in the Maya language! He deserves credit for that.

Mastodon

Submitted by peacefulobserver on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 17:51.
Has anyone heard mastodon's album blood mountain? The content of the songs deals with the band climbing this mountain and fighting with birchmen and being given entheogens and all sorts of crazy things along their way. But their objective is to find a CRYSTAL SKULL that would shed our reptilian consciousness when placed in our head. Bringing about a new divine consciousness for all. There is more to find in the music but thats just the basics. I thought this might interest some of you.