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27 de Diciembre, 2006
The Conquest, Cont.
Categorized under El Malestar Pálido , Hipnotismo , Historia , Latin America , Medios , Pelicula , Raza | Tags: False History, historia, hype, indigenous, Manifest Destiny, Mexico, propaganda, The Gibson, The White Lens
WHEN I FIRST WROTE ABOUT APOCALYPTO, it was in somewhat of a lull. The release of the film had been postponed, it was "somewhere out there," with some articles online and a very low level of conversation about the film in general. Of course, as "Mayan indian" was the only part of my Brownness that was named for me growing up (my mother offered this from info she had gleaned from my papá somehow, somewhere out in that vast unknown area where she once knew him, or perhaps still spoke to him through letters), I've always had the word sticking in the back of my head, and I've commented on related matters when they come to my attention. My father has even written a book on the Mayan people, and he traveled and chilled in their villages to do it. (I included a black and white shot of one in this video. It is the shot where the Indian is holding something over his head) I have pictures of this trip, pictures of the Indians, and while I am a different makeup than them, it was great to see those pictures, because when I was given those pictures, I recognized myself in these people, even if distantly. It was a warm feeling to see those pictures of them with their thick, dark hair, their broad noses, brown eyes and lithe bodies. I identified very much with them. I don't know which post will be finished first, but I am also writing a post on how Mexicanos were invisible in my childhood. So when I was given these pictures (at about 19), I felt one of the very first pieces of my ethnic self-identification begin to fill in to those spaces that had been empty; those spaces I had tried to fill with images of the world around me; the spaces I had only clogged up with falsity and unfair models of comparison.
Chances are good I am more Tarahumara and Nahautl than Mayan, but I am not sure, and while I'd love to know, it's not that important in terms of how I relate to a disgusting weapon like Mel "Messiah Boy" Gibson's latest piece of aggression against the indigenous people of this continent. Mostly, I give you this background so you know why and a bit of how my heart especially twinges at the slights done and the harm perpetuated against these people. Then again, I know many who read this blog know exactly how I feel.
There is a fantastic article here about what kind of harm this movie does:
...I am not a compulsively politically correct type who sees the Maya as the epitome of goodness and light. I know the Maya practiced brutal violence upon one another, and I have studied child sacrifice during the Classic period. But in “Apocalypto,” no mention is made of the achievements in science and art, the profound spirituality and connection to agricultural cycles, or the engineering feats of Maya cities. Instead, Gibson replays, in glorious big-budget technicolor, an offensive and racist notion that Maya people were brutal to one another long before the arrival of Europeans and thus they deserve, in fact they needed, rescue. This same idea was used for 500 years to justify the subjugation of Maya people and it has been thoroughly deconstructed and rejected by Maya intellectuals and community leaders throughout the Maya area today. In fact, Maya intellectuals have demonstrated convincingly that such ideas were manipulated by the Guatemalan army to justify the genocidal civil war of the 1970-1990s. To see this same trope about who indigenous people were (and are today?) used as the basis for entertainment (and I use the term loosely) is truly embarrassing. How can we continue to produce such one-sided and clearly exploitative messages about the indigenous people of the New World?
I loved Gibson’s film “Braveheart,” I really did. But there is something very different about portraying a group of people, who are now recovering from 500 years of colonization, as violent and brutal. These are people who are living with the very real effects of persistent racism that at its heart sees them as less than human. To think that a movie about the 1,000 ways a Maya can kill a Maya–when only 10 years ago Maya people were systematically being exterminated in Guatemala just for being Maya–is in any way okay, entertaining, or helpful is the epitome of a Western fantasy of supremacy that I find sad and ultimately pornographic. ...
—archeology.org
Of course, we also have plenty of racist morons and apologists for anything White Europeans did to the humans who stood in the way of bringing us all of today's lurvely "laws and legislatures, with libraries and hospitals, with colleges and police departments and TV talk shows and orthodontists and supermarkets and second-hand bookstores and gun clubs and lawns and swimming pools."
Because don't you know? Capitalism and comfort are their own justifications, and just the right amount of chlorine in a kidney-shaped in-ground pool dissolves all morals.
Personally, I have a clear and uncomplicated attitude to the whole business. The white man took North America from the Indians, by means frequently foul. As a result, we have a civilized nation here, with laws and legislatures, with libraries and hospitals, with colleges and police departments and TV talk shows and orthodontists and supermarkets and second-hand bookstores and gun clubs and lawns and swimming pools. If the thing had not happened, North America would be vegetating in barbarism, as it did for the previous several millennia, with none of the above. I like the above, all of them. I don’t want to live in a society with no law but blood revenge, with no medicine or sanitation, with no books or computers, with a 30-something median lifespan, with a famine every five years, with ritual public torture, human sacrifice and chronic tribal warfare. Far as I am concerned, civilization is the bee’s knees, and barbarism stinks. Yes, I know how it was done, and I can’t say I altogether approve. But it was done, and I am glad it was done.
—Commenter, Protien Wisdom Blog
Yeah, so hard to "altogether approve" of genocidal, greedy, murderous, arrogant, rapist behavior, isn't it? Tough, that, wot? Sticks in the craw a bit, guvna? Ya get the approve part down fine, but then that grainy, prickly "altogether" part comes slinking behind, and well—writing online sort of demands that you gag that one back up onto your plate. And I bet you don't "altogether approve" of the qualification, either.
I could take this person's statement apart and show you how he really wants a land he doesn't actually live in. But I'm not interested in getting excrement on my fingers at the moment (cream cheese bagel and all).
Our material-minded typist does not understand The Haunted Land, which I write of often.
Let's visit the post that inspired these comments. There's so much to enjoy, but I kind of get stuck right here:
It is axiomatic that any attempted social statement will have some people up in arms.
—White Typist
Words like "axiomatic" turn any sentence into a true one. DId you know that? It's a fact! For instance, it is axiomatic that dipshits with keyboards will try to create maxims to explain the shit they want to believe. True! And here's another: It is axiomatic that ignorance will rot off your genitals when you type junk that perpetuates harm upon so many people at once. Finally (as we all know) It is axiomatic that writers for sites called "Protein Wisdom" eschew coffee, and derive their daily fuel from chugging big mouthfuls of warm bull semen.
On the other hand, we expect such argument from these mainstream-fed, commonplace "thinkers" who can only, it seems, come up with arguments that would serve to echo the justifications in place which allow Murka to continue its Imperialist, racist agendas around the world. Swimming pools and all, you know.
What makes me sad when I see a "Latino site" that goes so far as to bill itself "Your Latino Socio-political Blog," yet the writer is vehemently—and in more than one post—spitting derision on the notion of there being any "racism" in Apocolypto. Why? By their oddly angry argument (none except "it's the past get over it", just emotion and volume and a White echo) it is clear they are not educated on the issues or their own ethnic history. So why speak so loud and with such tint? It seems that someone is reacting, and in a rather odd way, if you don't get the dynamics of Internal Colonization. I think it is the White Lens not wanting to budge, resisting, throwing up that last fight.
My friend, if you are here now, please know I mean you no harm or derision. But please chill. It is one thing to say you are a "Latino" blogger. But be careful representing so loudly without being fully educated on issues of Mexico or the issues you choose to blog on. At least put disclaimers that you have not read anything about the Maya, or the arguments against Mel Gibson's flick. To represent as a Latino Blog and to use the same, mindwiped logic of a White mainstream movie watcher is actually to work against what many of us are trying to do. I appreciate the permalink. Let's pull together and do good for our people.
Do you know why people have complaints with the movie? Do you know who has complaints? Perhaps it if is Mayan scholars you may want to hold off on defending the movie until you read them. Even see the blockquote above from archeology.com. Because the point is that Mel Gibson is using the Mayan people. And whether or not, as a "Latino," you feel any kinship with them, you ought not help a product that harms them, or that furthers a White man With a Grudge's agenda. Do not say to me "It is not a documentary" as you wrote. That is ignorant, I'm sorry. Nobody in America knows junk about the Mayan people. You and I know very well how Americans learn. Through the News and through the Movies. They will view it as a true history. And given the great production value (you say you saw it, so I assume you think it looked great?) they will believe they are seeing the real thing. But Mel is using the same memes already in use and slandering the Indians of this continent, don't you see? Are you getting it yet? He is calling them brutal, stupid (ignoring any of their achievements in the sciences or agriculture or maths), animal (exaggerating the blood-drenched rituals greatly), and deserving of the conquistador's blades and flames and torture racks due to their own barbarism. The same dull thoughts used to justify obliterating them and their history that are already in place. If you simply allow yourself to be bought by a pretty, well-scored film then you are eating propaganda, and will not yet escape the White Lens. Furthermore, judging from your slant against both people like myself who take issue with the accuracy and agenda of the film to your rant against Vivir Latino and the lack of any pro-Latino posts in your blog (just snippets of news items with no personal commentary really), I'm almost ready to accuse you of being a plant, a fake Latino, a fake blog. Forgive me if I'm wrong. And if I am, please educate yourself as many of us are doing now. It is a small corner of the blogosfero and it would be easy to do harm to the Latino community.
The film, like the immigration issue, is just a continuation of abuse and what so many people don't realize is that Mexican Americans can easily still feel connected to these people. Look at China, for example. They talk about a national or collective memory of a People. Those who identify as strict "Americans"—whether they be of European descent or just have completely rejected identification with their ethnic roots—have a collective memory of about 200 years. They carry a grand little story of, Oh, I don't know—righteous rebellion of the Brits who wanted to tax them to death, righteous "clearing out" of the Injuns in the "New Land," a pioneering spirit, and a grand, entreupenurial effort that was responsible for fireworks, flags, and lots of profit. But those of us who identify with Mexico, or the Indian blood that makes our eyes, hair, skin, nose or other features look the way they do have a longer memory. Like you would imagine China to have. One that spans thousands of years. Our education and thoughts and feelings may not begin in 1776. They may begin earlier. We may see in our minds the Spaniards who showed up in boats, arrogantly proclaiming that their moral system and greed was more important than considering the needs and humanity of the indigenous people. We may see a similar pattern in Iraq, one you may not see. You may look at Iraq and see swimming pools. We see a continuation of El Malestar Pálido, of Imperialism, of Colonization.
So I look down to what was once Tenochtitlán; to DF, to Mexico City. I see the roots of my family. I see the dusty streets where my Indian antepasados ran after friends, food, or a sunset. I look to the West, to Califas today, and see murals and other evidence of my family's contributions. I look into the past, and see the Mayan and the Tarahumara. I look at the present and see the same Indians. It is all one, if you do not curtail your memory and awareness as requested by mainstream propaganda. How am I to curtail my feelings or indignance when the land of my father—the land that so warmed mi abuelo y su abuelo as to make my skin still reflect that heat after all these years—has been aggressively attacked, robbed; when my Indian kin are slandered, lied about, and all after being slaughtered and decimated by the same ignorance and arrogance; when my "nonlegal" gente are being locked up and criminalized by that same agenda?
Finally, as we begin to (inexorably) repopulate this continent the Europeans tried so hard to cleanse of Indians, the conquerers' ignorant descendants (Because the not-ignorant descendants understand what I am saying here and are allies more often than not) are beginning to raise hell. Are we all to be unconscious then? Can we just come out and say what's going on, please? Or is that too scary?
I won't pretend not to see the bony, bleached fingers of Nativism creeping around the neck of my people. You can dress it up if you want, but I don't do that dance. To be prepared, one must fully accept the situation on the ground. So you can sublimate and deny and act as if you want my people jailed and walled and demonized because of blah or blah or blah, but I will receive your intent purely and without flinching.
In that spirit, I say this, then: you will not subtly continue your subjugation, spreading of lies, control, and degradation of the indigenous. This is where I stand. I don't care that we have pretended to forget, or ignore the truth. I don't care if I have college degrees and have been rewarded by this system, for I have been woefully smacked by it as well. I have been torn at the hands of your White supremacy—right up the middle and the division has hurt terribly—degraded and dominated and held down by my own adoptive father and his attitudes toward people of color, soaking up the dominant culture's memes and values, and in response, I have ducked my head and changed my fucking name trying to escape those long, pale gavel-gripping hands, those alabaster, spindly gun-holding hands—but that shit is over. That shit coughed up its last cheyne-stokes rattle the day I started this blog and if you wont call it out, I will: This conquest continues, this war continues, and you will not catch me napping, hombre. I will be here to call out ignorance (even if it floats pristine en la piscina). I will be right here to speak up proud and strong for mi gente and I will not tiptoe, I will not make it palatable, I will not hesitate to rise up, chin up, and meet you head on, if that is how it is going to be.
For and with mi antepasados, with the starving, strangled indian farmers, en solidaridad con el trabajadores in our meat plants and fields, for the little macacas Swiftly declared persona non grata; for mi familia, for my children, but most of all, for me.
So make your movies, spit your words, blur us all together and keep your crooked laws. We walk among you, we have for a long, long time, and we will not be stopped. We are tested, we are strong, and we are many.
¡Que Viva la Raza! La gente! Indígena!
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Comentarios (19)
luisa dijo:
i tried to post a comment but it wouldn't show up. damn net (and they call this technology in the 'west' advanced. if only i knew mayan math...).
anyways, i'm too lazy to type it out again but this is a great post, Tlamachtihquetl Nezua! (if it is okay that i call you that :)
Palabras por luisa spat forth on el 27 de Diciembre, 2006 at 10:35 AM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
I'm very sorry, Luisa. I think I made a change in the blog settings at the moment you did that. Lo siento. My loss, I lose out on one of your thoughtful comments. Which reminds me, I have to bring over that execution post thread from Halo. ..
You may!
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 27 de Diciembre, 2006 at 10:50 AM
Nanette dijo:
You know how sometimes when you look at a lake on a hot day, you see those tiny flies skimming busily on the surface of the still water? Buzzing here and there, scooping up little flecks of flotsam and pond scum before zooming off to the next thing - it's distracting, for a bit, watching them, imagining their little lives and if there is more to them. Mostly, though, it seems they are content to skim along the surface, barely aware there is even anything below that.
If look beyond them tho, peering intently into the depths of the water, sometimes you are rewarded with sights of various other creatures, some of quite substantial heft... they may at first seem to be gliding along in a slow and stately manner, until they catch the scent of danger or prey and then move with a burst of speed that would be the envy of competitive racers. Sometimes they even swallow up the flies.
To me, this is the difference between reading latino talk and this site (or Manny's or bfp's, so on).
I wouldn't see Apocalypto, because of the bloodiness for one thing, but also because I've read historian after historian comment on how inaccurate it is. And no, the "But it's a good, fun movie anyway!" stuff doesn't make any difference, especially when it's presenting people... living people whose descendent's exist on the margins to this day, as animalistic and violent and instinctive killers and all that... no, it's not something I would just dismiss as "just a movie".
As an aside, I saw one of the most beautiful women ever, not too long ago (your photos of the two young girls reminded me of her). She was probably in her early 20s, a little taller than I am (at 5'7) and she looked, literally, as if she could have stepped right off of the walls of a Mayan temple... the nose, just amazing... and the jet black hair, the bronze skin color, all of it (and all natural, she was not a well off person at all). I stood there, no doubt staring sort of rudely, just thinking "my godde, give me a sketchbook, canvas, paints, and more than that, talent! Or, at the very least, a camera!"
Unfortunately none of those things magically appeared, but I can at least fix one thing, and take to carrying a camera around with me from now on.
Palabras por Nanette spat forth on el 27 de Diciembre, 2006 at 05:27 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
what a beautiful analogy. thank you.
i won't see it either. which disappoints me. finally soemone makes a movie "about" the Mayan people...and I really wanted to be able to see it. but i cannot support that.
the picture that you paint of the woman you saw is lovely. i really live for those sorts of moments. whether it be a woman, a sky, a moon, or a river...
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 27 de Diciembre, 2006 at 05:49 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
the "two young girls" are (on the right) my nanita (Maria de la Luz (Lucha) Quintana) and her older sister (L) Aurelia Quintana. foto taken in 1917. Indian Girls at the Turn of the Century, my father has titled it. his uncle Roberto Quintana took it.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 28 de Diciembre, 2006 at 07:01 AM
That unrepentant gringo dijo:
Another good essay, but it'll take me a while to digest it. Tarahuma? Nah... they tend to be kinda stingy with words, so you can't be.
One small (singular, minor, pequiño) point -- it sounded as if you were saying (or, rather quoting) someone suggesting that Mayan society was a "fly in amber" -- by the time the Conquistadors showed up, the Mayans were no longer the architectural and engineering innovators they once were. All societies, even indigenous ones, change over time, and are influenced by -- or influence -- others.
We both seem to be thinking about Mayan society today... something in the phases of the moon (or the fifth sun?)
Palabras por That unrepentant gringo spat forth on el 28 de Diciembre, 2006 at 08:04 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
jeje. well, clearly regardless of my genetic makeup i am a long way from the villages of any tribe in mexico. that's for sure. born and bred american.
i dont know that i meant to say or imply what you point out, but i think the complaint against mel was that he made no reference in the narrative of his flick to those achievements, whether or not they were in flower at the time of his filming. oh wait, he didn't actually go back in time and film the Maya. he picked a certain representative version of them so he could make a point about america. yeah.
and yes, indigenous societies change. and affect others. as is natural and must be. i'm certainly not arguing for a static people or culture. it's pat buchanan who wants things not to change. change is all good and well. just stay on the fuckin boat if you're rollin up on shore for gold/oil/land, etc. and think you have a god given right to decide for other people how they ought to live, worship, disburse their gold/oil, etc.
that's all i'm saying. and as far as mel, well. i think i've said a lot and enough about him already! but i'm sure you'll hear more soon. :)
thanks for the comment, richard.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 28 de Diciembre, 2006 at 09:16 PM
Blackamazon dijo:
He is calling them brutal, stupid (ignoring any of their achievements in the sciences or agriculture or maths), animal (exaggerating the blood-drenched rituals greatly), and deserving of the conquistador's blades and flames and torture racks due to their own barbarism. The same dull thoughts used to justify obliterating them and their history that are already in place.
WHAT?!! REWIND! If the allowed me too I'd insert wild orgasmic clapping. tHe awesome is actually blinding.
Attention does not equal respect and too often the fact that it is shiny an d features violins is confused witha ctual consideration
Palabras por Blackamazon spat forth on el 29 de Diciembre, 2006 at 07:26 AM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
haha! word on that.
(and graz for the Wild Orgasmic Clapping...i thought i was waking up with the coffee, but that did it for sure)
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 29 de Diciembre, 2006 at 07:36 AM
mikefromtexas dijo:
One of the best books I read this year was 1491 by Charles Mann. A very interesting and well documented look at the Americas prior to contact with Europeans. I doubt if Mel read it, or even really cares if his movies reflect any truth of subject matter.
Palabras por mikefromtexas spat forth on el 29 de Diciembre, 2006 at 06:54 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
mikefromtexas: thanks for dropping that title. i have to jot that down right now.
okay, i wrote it down. man. so much to read. it's good. part of why i do this blog. it forces me to teach myself further. it helps to have your life experience, graz for the suggestion.
no, mel don't care. not a bit. he's got a Mission, you know? he'll use anyone who is in his way or in his reach.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 29 de Diciembre, 2006 at 06:59 PM
mikefromtexas dijo:
Apologies for those 2 books I've mentioned. They're both around 4-500 pgs and take awhile to get through, but well worth the effort. I'm new to your site, having found you when you posted over at the General's place. And I really love your banner.
Palabras por mikefromtexas spat forth on el 30 de Diciembre, 2006 at 01:17 AM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
no, i appreciate people coming here and offering books that they think are in line with the things this blog explores. in fact, there is a form on my book page ( http://www.theunapologeticmexican.org/libros.html ) which is linked on the sidebar behind the "Brown Pride" button where people can offer suggestions to add to the book list.
so you are only doing what i hoped people would do.
also, good to see you here, glad i could meet some new folks over at El General's place and thanks for the words on the banner! jeje. I've had some comments to the opposite effect, too. which i always find funny. funny when people take offense. gotta keep your sense of humor, or life is nothing but a threat. good to see ya again, lata!
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 30 de Diciembre, 2006 at 05:24 AM
Professor Zero dijo:
"I don’t want to live in a society with no law but blood revenge, with no medicine or sanitation, with no books or computers, with a 30-something median lifespan, with a famine every five years, with ritual public torture, human sacrifice and chronic tribal warfare."
But that basically describes EUROPE at the time of the Conquest!!!
Palabras por Professor Zero spat forth on el 1 de Enero, 2007 at 04:09 PM
John Thompson dijo:
After graduating at 21 from UC in Art History, I found myself in the center of the countercultural whirlpool there. In the early 1970s I knew Jose and Miriam Argules, and studied Mesoamericano mathematicas etc. From my studies into this realm of archeology, my conclusion is that we really dont know that much about this cultural history. Mel Gibson and his production crew really dont know that much about how the average Mayan saw life. Not much about the spirituality of the late Aztec.
The Spanish did a nearly complete job of destroying all of the indigenous culture and obliviating countless cultural clues - except the ones that they kept as "evidence" of Aztec bararity. In the final days of the Aztecs, their population may have grown faster than what their environment could provide for, Legions of teenage Azteca boys may have engaged in warfare, but the extent of that aggression is anyone's guess.
Historians certainly cant rely on the biased propoganda written by the Spanish. Depictions in the archeological record are mirrors that reflect the cultural biases of the viewer. Were old images and paintings that depict people suffering really scenes from Theatrical Festivals, actors playing victim and victimizer - with roles sometimes played by "royal" figures pretending to be villains, so that the viewers whould be thankful that they really werent like that offstage ?
My hunch is that the indigenous people of ancient Mexico were generally no more brutal that people on any other continent. My hunch is that their brightest minds were at least as illuminated as Buddhist sages, Taoist poets, Celtic Sages, and various shamans world wide.
When Cortez and his motley military unit landed on the east coast of Mexico they wandered north to Tlexcala. What they found there may have been an example of how most indigenous people lived in ancient Mexico: An insightful, creative, and deeply spiritual people with very little violence in their culture. In the Capital city (same name as the state; which today is Mexico's smalledt state), the Spanish teenagers and sea sick officers were no match for Tlexcala's martial artists.
Tlexcala leaders were masters of "Information Warfare" and saw the Spaniards as a possibly useful tool involving a "Misinformation Operation) against the Aztecs, because Aztec agression deeply troubled them. So they used Cortez and his small group as part of their PsyOps Strategy, which intially seemed very successful then evolved into unintended consequences (as wars have a way of doing)
Mel Gibson's depiction in Apocalypto shows a Mayan group as militarily very unsophisticated: An Aztec group just walks into their camp at dawn and decimates them. As if the Mayans had almost no Intelligence operations or securuty plan for their village. As if they knew nothing of Information Warfare or PsyOps. As if they didnt have moles in the Aztec leadership sending them warnings in advance.
The Mayans of each era of their mysterious history were more savy than anything I can imagine, and certainly more clever than Mr Gibson makes them out to be. My research papers from the early 1970s cites solid archeological evidence that can be interpreted in ways totally different than Mr Gibson's nightmarish world of Victim & Victimizer. The work of Jose Argueles is visionary and does not see the Late Mayan Period as Gibson presents it. His Azteca Warriros make Hitler's SS look like shy girl scouts.
My hunch is that what the Spanish did to native peoples on Hispanola, and to the Arwaks,etc was more thoroughly genocidal than anything and Aztec teenage boys did to other tribal peoples. What happened in the reign of Montezuma, had very little to do with day to day life in the days of the Olmecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Tlexcalas, and EARLY AZTECAS.
Yes, things were crazy during certain decades in the late Azteca Empire, but were they any crazier that World War 2 or the War In South East Asia, or the Bush Administration's Crazy Near Eastern Policy ?
Palabras por John Thompson spat forth on el 3 de Mayo, 2007 at 07:08 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
hey john, thanks for all your comments. don't know why i never replied, but i appreciate it.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 21 de Junio, 2007 at 09:50 PM
Trin dijo:
damn. that is fucked the hell up.
i still remember a summer camp for gifted kids i went to as a child. we studied the "ancient" Maya culture.
and yeah, we were what, twelve? so I don't remember much. and we were young so a lot of it was "age-adjusted." but yeah, seeing this grossness on the part of Mr. Mel... even twelve-year-old me who knew, comparatively, quite little knows that's complete bunk.
and yeah, white people who aren't educated about the whole culture: OMG BLOODLETTING. OMG SACRIFICE.
rather than, y'know: these people knew the concept of zero long before we did and pwned our asses at math. and stuff. nope. BLOODLETTING! SKULLSHAPING! OMG!
Palabras por Trin spat forth on el 17 de Julio, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Trin dijo:
it's an interesting kind of... fascination with others' violence on the part of whitey, i think. if we exaggerate and blow up the otherness of some other culture and do so specifically by stressing "violent" or bloody rituals, wars, etc. we can have the pleasure and dark excitement of violence while denying our own propensity for it. we embrace it by othering it.
Palabras por Trin spat forth on el 17 de Julio, 2007 at 12:12 PM
abw dijo:
Exactly. Professor Zero.With all the accomplishments of the modern era the same problems currently exist in a different form:
Blood Revenge-the ethos of street gangs and militaries(i.e.9/11 and our retaliation to it and constant remembrance of it)
no medicine/sanitation-(much of The Third World from stolen wealth, destruction of culture, and planned miseducation).
short life span- ours today ain't much highter because of our sedentary lifestyle- we don't work hard at jobs, we don't exercise much, we don't play.
famines- everywhere in the modern world-people are suffering/dying from starvation
ritual public torture-hate crimes,police brutality,COPS,BOUNTY HUNTER, etc..
brutality/human sacrifice-European atrocities on subjected populations throughout the world AFTER conquest up until today
chronic warfare-think U.S. low-intensity warfare in different countries in the present, U.S. conquest in the past, and the modern military-industrial conquest with bases throughout the world everywhere
Other people more intelligent than I am will find better examples. To all the justifications, whatever. These never-ending apologists never takes these things into account!
Palabras por abw spat forth on el 1 de Septiembre, 2007 at 12:57 PM