I sympathize. I just finished reading a back issue of Archeology where they=
savaged Mel Gibson's Apocalypto for hijacking Meso American culture to mak=
e a Hollywood movie. But I think those of us who care about the accuracy of=
what we're seeing or hearing miss the point a little. The essential part o=
f most Hollywood stories is some retelling of an archetypical hero myth. Mo=
re in keeping with Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces than biolog=
y or archeology. In that context anything that makes the struggles of the h=
ero seem most true are what works. In Apocolypto Gibson went out of his way=
to be accurate in the dress but entirely failed to reflect what's known ab=
out the culture.
Using the most familiar "jungle" sounds might not only have been the easies=
t, it probably provides an auditory shortcut so that most of the audience u=
nderstands instantly the context of what they're watching and hearing. More=
like hanging a cardboard moon over the set so we all know it's night.
Darn little forest left in West Africa incidentally. I'm working with satel=
lite maps at the moment. Pretty depressing.
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