Mel Gibson reportedly went nuts last night on a female college professor during an appearance at Cal State University at Northridge after she accused him of racially stereotyping Mayans in his film Apocalypto. TMZ reports:
…Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at CSUN, challenged Gibson, asking him if he had read about the Mayan culture before shooting the controversial film…Estrada persisted, stating that representations in the movie that the Mayans engaged in sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies were both wrong and racist…Gibson exploded in anger, responding, “Lady, Fuck off.”
The ancient Mayans routinely sacrificed animals and children. Mayan men and women offered blood to the gods by piercing their own tongues, earlobes and genitals with obsidian blades or stingray spines. “Chakba,” the art of Mayan self-decapitation, was performed when Mayans would stick their head through large, metal exercise wheels with sharp-edged support braces. Uh, I’m not sure how Mel Gibson could have made that look less barabaric. I guess he could’ve ended the movie with Mayans dancing around the kitchen table, singing into hairbrushes, and realizing that despite their differences, home is truly where the heart is.
Labels: apocalypto, mel gibson
