Here is a great story about Mel Gibson’s upcoming Apocalypto. It makes the mistake of focusing on some Mayans’ — who haven’t seen the film — wariness of the movie, but it has some excellent analysis.

Regarding the wariness, I’d like to point out that while Gibson certainly has his problems, and tends to broadcast them when he’s drunk, he directs sober and thinks through his movies. Braveheart, for example, portrays Scots as fighters against British oppression. So I suspect this movie shows Mayans in a sympathetic light.

Some are worried about the violence, but:

“Until the 1950s, academics often depicted the ancient Mayas as an idyllic, peaceful culture devoted to astronomy and mathematics. Evidence has since emerged that, even at their height, the Mayas fought bloody and sometimes apocalyptic wars among themselves, lending somewhat more credence to Gibson’s approach.”

One thing I’ve been interested in for awhile, also, is the attempt to revive the Mayan language. Gibson is encouraging people to “speak it with pride,” and of course the film is recorded in the tongue.

Now, to be clear: If someone wants to, on their own time, learn another language, I don’t think it’s harmful to anyone in any way. As long as people retain the ability to communicate with the vast majority of their country, there is no point in discouraging their ancestors’ culture. (Political scientist Samuel Huntington disagrees, saying that maintaining one’s language is a sign of unwillingness to adjust to a new society, particularly in Hispanic immigrants to the U.S.)

But what I wonder is (A) how successful such a move can be, given how small the surviving Mayan population is (there are fewer than a million left, though there is a radio station in 90 percent Mayan) and (B) whether that effort would be better spent preserving a different aspect of the culture. If non-Mayans can embrace genuine Mayan culture — not the “Mayan” resorts the article speaks of — I think that would be a worthwhile accomplishment.

Some interesting demographic facts from the story:

“Still, the percentage of Maya speakers in Yucatan state fell from 37 percent in 2000 to 33.9 percent by 2005. Paradoxically, for a state that advertises the glories of the Mayan culture for tourists, it is having a hard time keeping the present-day Maya there; many are migrating to the United States.”

I also blogged about Apocalypto here.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://www.therationale.com and Robert’s Rationale.