Perspective on the Movie "2012"

This is an editorial that recently appeared in the Boston Globe on the subject of the movie “2012”:

"The disaster flick “2012’’ swamped all competitors when it opened last weekend with ticket sales of $65 million domestically and $225 million worldwide, proving once again what soothsayers, prophets, and various other con men have always known - that doomsday does boffo at the box office. The premise of director Roland Emmerich’s computer-graphic action picture is that the end of a long cycle in the Mayan calendar, on Dec. 21, 2012, will usher in volcanoes, tidal waves, and a general freak-out by Mother Nature. So many folks take seriously this sort of apocalyptic paranoia that NASA felt compelled to post assurances on its website that the world will last awhile longer. Even so, some dire trends demand attention right away: Glaciers and the Greenland ice cap are melting, the permafrost in Siberia is thawing, and rainforests are vanishing from the map. Yet the leaders of nations go on dawdling about climate change. Perhaps they should spend more time at the multiplex. They are not paranoid enough about the fragility of life on earth.”

Here’s a letter that we sent to the Boston Globe in response:

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial (11/20) is rightly critical of the 2012 movie which purports to represent the notion of what the 2012 phenomenon is all about. We agree with your assessment that an apocalyptic view is not a useful or accurate framing. However, we feel it’s important to distinguish between a Hollywood oversimplification of complex material and the deeper research and explorations that underlie the popular idea. Mayan historical information represents an interpretative challenge that needs to be approached with balanced thinking and an open mind.

The 2012 phenomenon, which our nonprofit is working to provide greater clarity and balance about, is now getting increased mainstream attention including a recent television program from National Geographic and an article in Archaeology magazine, published by the Archaeological Institute of America. But because 2012 research is complex and highly nuanced, it will invariably lend itself to misinterpretations, the most common of which is the notion that the 2012 end-date is about the end of the world or an apocalyptic reckoning of some sort. There are, of course, some interpreters who offer this view but many others -- including contemporary Mayan elders, well-regarded scholars like John Major Jenkins, and our own organization the Emergence Project -- view this time as a major window of opportunity for an extraordinary and positive transformation in human culture.