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25
March 2007
Mel
Gibson In Apocalypto
College
Row
Mel
Gibson
was at the centre of
uproar after a heated
exchange at a screening
of his controversial
film
Apocalypto.
The
director was taking
questions at a Los
Angeles university when
he swore at an academic
who accused him of
misrepresenting Mayan
culture.
Assistant
professor of central
American studies Alicia
Estrada was ejected from
the event at California
State University,
Northridge.
But
she has denied
accusations that she was
being
disruptive.
"In
no way was my question
aggressive in the way
that he responded to
it," Ms Estrada said.
"These are questions
that my peers, my
colleagues, ask me every
time I make a
presentation. These are
questions I pose to my
students in the
classroom."
Apocalypto
depicts the decline of a
Mayan kingdom and
features brutal scenes
of human
sacrifice.
It
was Mel Gibson's first
outing behind the camera
since his 2004 religious
epic, The Passion of the
Christ, and earned three
Oscar
nominations.
Critics
say the film depicts
Mayans as
savages.
His
spokesman, Alan Nierob,
said the professor was a
"heckler" and was "rude
and
disruptive".
"It
was a brief disruption
to an otherwise
interesting, stimulating
event from our students'
perspective," university
spokesman John Chandler
said, adding that Gibson
had expressed regret
that "things had gotten
out of hand".
He
said the interruption
occurred 20 minutes into
the event, when two
audience members refused
to give up the
microphone after asking
questions.
But
Ms Estrada is demanding
an apology, "not only to
me, but to the Central
American programme at
CSUN, to the university
and most importantly to
the Mayan people and the
Mayan
community".
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