first contact between the Spaniards and Mayas that took place in 1511 when Pedro de Alvarado arrived on the coast of the Yucatán and Guatemala, and also during the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1502. The arrival of the Europeans in Apocalypto and its thematic meaning is a subject of disagreement. Traci Ardren, anthropologist, wrote that the arrival of the Spanish as Christian missionaries had a "blatantly colonial message that the Mayas needed saving because they were 'rotten at the core.'" According to Ardren, Apocalypto "replays, in glorious big-budget technicolor, an offensive and racist notion that Maya people were brutal to one another long before the arrival of Europeans and thus they deserved, in fact, they needed, rescue. This same idea was used for 500 years to justify the subjugation of Maya people." David van Biema, in an article written for Time magazine, questions whether the Spaniards are portrayed as saviors of the Mayas since they are depicted ominously with Jaguar Paw acknowledging their arrival as a threat and deciding to return to the woods. Awards and nominations See also List of films featuring eclipses Survival film References External links AFI Catalog of Feature Films 2000s American films 2000s action adventure films 2000s chase films 2000s historical adventure films 2006 action films 2006 films American action adventure films American adventure drama films American chase films American epic films American historical adventure films American survival films Films about kidnapping Films about human sacrifice Films directed by Mel Gibson Films produced by Bruce Davey Films produced by Mel Gibson Films scored by James Horner Films set in Guatemala Films set in Mesoamerica Films set in jungles Films set in pre-Columbian America Films set in the 1500s Films shot in Mexico Films with screenplays by Farhad Safinia Films with screenplays by Mel Gibson Icon Productions films Indigenous cinema in Latin America Indigenous films Jungle adventure films Mayan-language films Scanbox Entertainment films Touchstone Pictures films Yucatec Maya language