The blindness of faith.

There are not many movies that can express both the ignorance and tyranny of opressive religious practices as well as their underlying humanistic concern. As was the case with Friar Diego's life long goal of converting Topiltzin to the Christian faith. On one hand was his inablity to make any associations between Topiltzin's Mother Goddess and his own motherly icon; his inability to associate the barbaric practice of secularly murdering those that will not convert with that of the human sacrifices in which he feared so much (which were performed with sacrosanctity) and the imposition of his faith upon those that already had faith. On the other hand was the ingorant belief that he was actually helping Topiltzin; his unquestionable concern for Topiltzins well being and his fatherly methods of instilling his faith.

While the movie is about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, and the slaughter and assimilation of a massive indeginous population; it is also about the human spirit. You would think that with the overlying theme, after watching this you would become a little angry at the Spanish barbarism that was so socially acceptable back then. However Carrasco does a very nice job of making said barbarism ambiguous. History cannot be changed but it's interpretation can never stops teaching. We are left with a since of sorrow for both the misguided actions of the Spanish colonists and the fate of a vibrantly developed culture. What we take with us is a broader perspective on our own beliefs and an introspective peak at their integrity. One thing I can never do after experiencing this movie is refer to the Mexican people as hispanic (in fact I can't understand why I ever did anymore). The people of Mexico are mexican. The dark skinned people they deny to this day, are my kindred spirits.