Reaction Paper:

“Apocalypto”

Submitted by :

Maria Angela H. Mariano2010-33374

BS Business Administration and Accountancy

Submitted to:

Ms. Lou Angeli Austria OcampoGeography 1 Professor

1. Compare the forest and city dwellers by filling in the matrix below.

  FOREST CITY

LIVELIHOOD Hunting, depend largely on forest resources

 Slaves- builders of temples (men); sold to middle or upper class Mayas (women)

POPULATION

 Less populated- one of the practices for couples is to make babies so their tribe will grow in number

 Densely populated- natives from different tribes are being sent to city to either be sacrifices or slaves

GEOGRAPHY AND

AVAILABILITYOF RESOURCES

 Since tribes people live in forests, there is abundance in resources; as such, excessive consumption that leads to environmental degradation is realized.

 In the city, food was scarce- bountiful meals are only served for the upper class Maya as contrasted with the sickly, the extremely poor, and the enslaved; no trees are seen anywhere around the city.

KNOWLEDGE AND

TECHNOLOGY

 Natives are able to devise tools to hunt and kill animals for food. They are knowledgeable when it comes to producing fire, building houses, and making tools for hunting and protecting their tribe from foreign invaders.

 City dwellers know complex strategies and techniques in technology- they are able to build high and structurally sound temples, made sharpened more effective weapons and tools when engaging in battles.

RELIGION/ GODSAND BELIEFS

 They believe in the concepts of heaven and hell. They also recognize one superior being watching over their tribe (when they were caught and made captive prisoners by the city dwellers, adults were sending messages to some god to protect them).

 They develop concrete beliefs based on natural phenomena. E.g. The eclipse somehow warns them about their sun god’s need for human sacrifices; they recognize a sun god- Kukulkan. High priests are also appointed for consultations and interpretations.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

 A leader (Flint Sky) was appointed to manage the whole tribe. The leader’s family (Jaguar Paw- son) inherits power. Men were usually the hunters and gatherers of food for their families, while women are tasked to take care of their children and do household work. Slavery

 There are leaders that manipulate the activities of the city dwellers. High priests play a major role in their offerings and other religious ceremonies. Soldiers/ raiders invade tribes, and slaves are left with either building temples (men) or selling themselves to others (women).

among their people is not practiced.

2. Were good and evil clearly defined in the film? Would you consider the practice of the city dwellers evil? Explain. If your answer is yes, what could have been done to prevent such “evil” act?

No. No. At present, we are already dictated by society by what its perceptions of good and evil are. But during the Mayan civilization depicted in the Apocalypto film, there were several practices done by the natives then that are not already exercised these days- one such explanation is our notions of what is moral or humane in nature or not. These contradicting notions now lead to the vagueness in judgment- whether we can clearly differentiate good from evil. For instance, the film emphasized one aspect of the Mayan culture- the rampant and massive killings of foreign dwellers as they are offered sacrifices for the city dwellers’ recognized sun god. In their minds’ thinking, these offerings are just a natural event that they are somewhat required to do for their religious beliefs. But for us living in the modern generation, these customs and practices show immorality and are considered mortal sins (murder). Obviously, there is the ‘leader manipulation’ by upper class Maya who dictates what to do with captives or prisoners, and basically take full control of all his people. Now, we know the word ‘democracy’ which allows citizens to voice out their insights and opinions to the administration, as it implies a government ‘by the people, for the people.’ Another point of comparison is the tribesmen’s excessive consumption of natural resources. During their time, resources were readily available and they seem to find no harm if they overuse them. But now, food is regarded precious as gold and only people in middle or upper classes can afford to have it. Lastly, the treatment of women during the Mayan civilization were viewed as fair and just, but now, we consider this ‘selling of women’ as unethical and merciless.

3. Explain this: Nature is powerful on shaping cultures, cultural practices, and beliefs.

Nature, defined in its broadest sense as either the physical world (which includes humans) or a social creation (essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized), encompasses almost all aspects pertaining to shaping our culture, cultural practices, and beliefs both in the past and present. Nature, specifically natural phenomena, is what early peoples interpret and give significance in their lives. This is because nature is what they earlier observe in their habitats, and thus got accustomed to it. Example of this would be the predator-prey relationship, wherein the saying ‘the strong shall live, and the weak must die’ implies. It is this natural event done among organisms, where we humans are also part of, and this may be one explanation to citizens appointing people in high positions and why there are slaves who suffer- to have representations of both extremes in the society. We can also add here the importance of women in society. Women were judged as norms that could not function, thus only selling them for men’s pleasure. We can say that nature paved the way for many civilizations that share a little or no common ideals and perceptions of the world.