Well yeah that's definitely true, regardless if religion or technology is in play. And the only part of history you have to know about is what we did to the native americans soon after, it's the same time period.
That's kind of what I was getting at: I was wondering if there was something historical or specific I was forgetting, or if it was just a general assumption that, because they're Europeans landing in a new place, they're necessarily going to destroy everything.
I think you contradicted yourself with your first and second sentence, unless I'm reading it wrong. Either way, I agree with your second sentence..I think
I phrased the second one a bit awkwardly; I don't mean that there's no change at all, just not a fundamental change in human nature. IE: even progress is going to have lots of problems, and people will still do messed up things to each other even if they're more civilized. I don't think this means there
is no progress, just that something can be a step forward even if it has a ton of problems on its own. Heck, I'd say almost all societal progress is like this.
I see where you're coming from here, but I just don't see it that way. Especially knowing the type of person Mel is
Well, what type is that? We know he has a temper, some anti-Semitic thoughts, and a drinking problem, but I'm not sure if we can use that as a catch-all to assume that everything he thinks is extreme, or objectionable.
And of course he's not going to publicly state his personal feelings about what he thinks about Christianity reaching the shores, no one would see the movie. He knows better than that..sober
Oh, I dunno; saying that Christianity is a net force for good still isn't a terribly controversial opinion, knock on wood (sadly, it's getting there). He's publicly stated a lot of things sober more controversial than "hey, bringing Christianity to remote parts of the world is a good thing."
Anyway, we might have to agree to disagree. My basic position is that everything he's said about the film indicates that its about why civilizations rise and fall, and everything we see on screen is consistent with what he's said, so it's pretty much entirely speculation to go much further. Moreover, even if he
was implying that Christianity coming to that part of the world was ultimately a form of progress, I think he's right.
The only untenable position here is first making the speculation that he wanted to say a lot more than he actually did, and then making the second speculation that he also wanted to portray the visitors as some kind of unmitigated good, rather than a more nuanced good.