Viewing Apocalypto, 28 Days Later, and Children of Men (All for the second time, incidentally) and reading “The Days are Numbered,” I found it most difficult to wrap my head around Gibson’s film, mainly because of how it ends. I first saw each of these movies shortly after they were released in theaters and enjoyed them all, though something about Apocalypto didn’t sit right, even with 14-year-old me. Quinby articulates my formerly ineffable misgivings in her essay, stating how Apocalypto “is both pre-apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic. This doubled effect of pre-and post-apocalyptic action is part of what gives the film its contradictory set of messages” (8).
Jaguar Paw’s journey as a hero is compelling enough, but the arrival of the Spanish coming on its heels–to me, at least–devalues the story somewhat; it’s almost as if Gibson calls “take backs” on the tale he just presented to his audience. Can one really imagine that Jaguar Paw and his family will hide and somehow survive the Spanish decimation of the Mayans? I guess it could be argued that the ending is ambiguous, but knowing the history, even the most fervent of optimists would have to learn toward “no”. If that’s the case, then the “new beginning” Jaguar Paw and his family go back to the forest to find is nothing more than a deferral of their obliteration at the hands of a different violent, oppressive group. That strikes me as an incredibly Nihilistic ending, one that a devout man such as Gibson probably didn’t intend to place in his film.
The movie’s tag line is “No one can outrun their destiny” (Quinby 7). Does this mean that being struck down by a larger, violent group is the destiny for Jaguar Paw and his family, and their escape at the end is merely a futile attempt to outrun the inevitable? This seems to be in direct opposition with sentiment of finding a “new beginning”. Maybe the more pertinent question is one that’s a bit more metaphysical: if Jaguar Paw and his family are soon found and killed by the Spanish, does that truly diminish his escape and his and Seven’s heroics that make up much of the film?
