Nay A Time Of Plenty

JOMANIA BRACES AS THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECESSION BEGINS

"Expect dire straits ahead," Finance Minister Solviky warns the public.


Mugen City - After months of categorically denying the existence of a looming financial crisis, the Jomanian Finance Minister has finally admitted today that the empire is in dire need "to strap up" its remaining financial resources.

"The Recession is severely affecting the flow of money into our treasury," the teary-eyed Solviky laments in front of TV cameras "With half of our monthly national budget going to paying the empire's credit debts, we are slowly sinking and its effects maybe felt by the general populace very soon."

"We at the government are working hard to keep the economy stable, but with external conditions threatening to thwart our attempts to keep the empire afloat, our task is daunting," the minister explains. "Therefore, we call on the citizens to help us address the looming financial crisis. We need to cut losses by asking everyone to save money and to spend only for essential expenses."

Asked to elaborate on what are essential expenses, the Finance Minister mumbled for a few seconds and then proceeded to explain that his ministry "is still drawing up a list of expenses to avoid until the crisis is over."

"Upon our consultation with the emperor, we will reveal to the public the programs that the government will still support."

Meanwhile stocks tumbled for the fifth consecutive trading day after the Finance Minister's revelation shook investors' confidence at the resiliency of the Jomanian market. The Hak Ken index drops 400 points before closing at 2.5% lower than yesterday's trading...

---

Paid two credit card bills this afternoon and there's another big one due before the 10th. Phone bill remains unchanged and so is the cable bill. With the threats of Global Recession being reported on CNN everyday, a sister who stopped working and instead, focusing her attention toward her tibak leanings, and with the output at work getting lesser and lesser as the year comes to an end, I cannot help but feel worried.

Will my earnings keep up with the difficult times ahead?

Apocalypto

History tells that every great empire crumbles from within. Rome was overran by the great hordes of Germania after a string of incompetent emperors failed to secure its frontiers. Genghis Khan expanded his borders too quickly, his death triggers internal divisions that lead to his empire's decline. Great Britain, once dubbed as Invincible Britannia had an empire that spanned a quarter of the world's land area. Two global wars and a new world order later and it was forced to cede its colonial possessions back to its original inhabitants.

Time conquers immortality and in the words of Will Durant, "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."

Apocalypto is an epic film set in the jungles of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula during the declining period of the Maya Civilization. It tells the story of Jaguar Paw, (Rudy Youngblood) a young tribesman whose village was attacked and burned to the ground by Mayan soldiers. Their aim is to capture as many villagers as possible, which are not subjects of the Maya empire. They are to be sold as slaves or for human sacrifices that are performed atop the Sun Pyramids at the heart of Mayan cities.

Jaguar Paw escapes death through some astronomical event that occurred the day he was about to become a Mayan human sacrifice. He must race back to his village in order to save his son and his pregnant wife who is trapped inside a cave that was suppose to serve as their place of refuge. Meanwhile, he must also evade the same Mayan Soldiers who destroyed his village earlier. Being chased through dense jungles and trackless swamps, Jaguar Paw and the remaining Mayan soldiers who survived the elements will discover at the end of the film that their petty squabbles prove meaningless in the face of a more serious threat: the arrival of their future masters from the West.

Apocalypto explores different subjects which include civilizations and the underlying reasons for their decline and the abuse of the environment. It also shows the contrast between a sophisticated society that relies on material wealth for satisfaction and a hunter-gatherer society that takes only what the community needs. A scene where a tribal elder sings of a legend about man's unyielding desire for resources struck a chord in me. The passage where the owl speaks "No. I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'" reflects the current place of humanity in the world today.

The film is not for the faint of heart. When I watched it at 3 in the morning, my biggest fear is that the gory scenes where still-beating hearts are being pulled out from the body of a human sacrifice and decapitated heads rolling down the Sun Pyramid might be replayed in my head long after I fall asleep. There were also scenes were suspension of disbelief is necessary especially during the chasing moments. I will let you see for yourself these scenes so you will understand what I mean. As for me, human endurance in the face of a death-defying struggle is something I still need to appreciate.

Overall, I find the film deeply profound and very refreshing. Mel Gibson is truly an artist who explores themes that Hollywood rarely finds interesting. The use of the Maya Language enabled me to be immersed in Jaguar Paw's world like as if I am part of the time frame. Finally, the use of characters who serve as omen-givers gave depth and color to an action flick that deserves more recognition for recreating a Maya World that is close to its anthropological setting.

The film is alive and pulsating, and for that it deserves to be written.