Introduction There has been an explosion of issues related to the representation of history by modern means of communication and especially art. It was previously believed that representation was where an object was depicted or portrayed through another subject or medium (Williams 72). However, this was disputed as there was the suggestion that the depiction of an object through another medium could not be held as evidence of the original existence of the object, and this led to the conflict of representation. This paper seeks to explore how the Maya people are depicted by the movie ‘Apocalypto’ in the quest to understand how modern forms of communication have preserved or chanced the way we understand history, and more so the Maya people. Crisis of Representation As far as the movie ‘Apocalypto’ is concerned, the depiction of Mayan history through film has also been disputed as being flawed, as it represents some out of context facts about the original Mayan history. Though some might argue that the medium chosen, that is film, created a representation of the Mayan as they were in history cannot possibly capture the true picture as intended by its original creators, others may say that the use of film leaves out the sense of accurateness that was previously captured well by traditional forms of representation such as books. This is because film doesn’t give the exact description of a subject, but a vague idea for the viewer to interpret as the original. Considering that the scenes in the film will be interpreted differently by different people depending on their beliefs, gender, educational background and their general perception especially of the violent and barbaric scenes, then, it is obvious that there cannot be a definite depiction of the Mayan tradition, but rather many depictions for any viewer to choose from. There has also been the issue of which takes preference, the production of the media used to represent history or the history itself. It is often the case especially in films that the producers concentrate on scenes, and especially the ones that will interest viewers more than telling the story in its original form (Kuiper 172). This is usually followed by selective concentration by the viewer, which renders the whole concept of explaining historical content useless. This means that producers and viewers alike will concentrate on specific scenes such as violent ones or sex scenes. This ends up distorting the information as is in this case. The film has been used to depict a barbaric Mayan nation that has no shred of humanity. Ethnographic Present The depiction by modern modes of communication of the Mayan people is that of a cosmopolitan nation like any other, and they struggle with the same challenges of differentiation that other nations have. It is important to note that the difference in tribes is often the catalyst behind the many conflicts that they struggle with. On the other hand, there is also the sense of pride that forces a group of people anywhere on earth to assert themselves as being the dominant group among their neighbors. This often leads to even more conflict as the different groups struggle for superiority, often with brutal means of dominating others. There is also intra-tribe dominance as those who have not been blessed with children or