As the science fiction movie 2012 opens Friday, a science writer challenges the idea that it’s harmless “disaster porn”.
The film’s writers are arguing that millions of people believe the final day of the Mayan calendar — December 21, 2012 — will bring “some kind of shift in society, or a shift in spirit,” which this article calls “blithe cultural arrogance and staggering anthropological ignorance.”
And it interviews BoingBoing blogger Xeni Jardin, who knows Mayans through her work with a Guatemalan nonprofit. She calls it a parody of Mayan culture, and describes explaining to a laughing Mayan priest what the movie cost to film. (The priest’s response? “Well, that’s gringos for you…”)
The author suggests a better response — “that we step up to our social responsibilities and engage passionately with the issues of our age” — but he ends with a warning for 2012 of his own.
“Placing our faith in wet-brained ravings about a ‘multidimensional realm of hyperspace triggered by mass activation of the pineal gland’ or ‘a dispensation of consciousness thats more intuitive, mystical, and shamanic’ is a luxury we can no longer afford.
“We’re out of time.”
