Mexico's new culture war: Did a pyramid light show 'decolonize' or rewrite history?
MEXICO CITY — A replica of the Great Temple of the Aztecs, about a third of the size of the original, rose from the floor of the central square of Mexico's capital this summer like a gargantuan child's toy, more than 50 feet high, a gleaming form smack in front of the baroque National Palace. At night, the pyramid's slanting white walls became a video-mapping screen that told a dramatic animated story of the rise and fall of the Mexica, or Aztec Empire — an event that took place 500 years ago, right on this spot in a city on a lake that was once called Tenochtitlan.
Throngs of locals and tourists showed up to watch the 15-minute history show. Vendors walked among the crowds selling Aztec-style souvenir headdresses with colored lights, filling the Zócalo with flashes of revelry.
"It's marvelous. Every kid should get a chance to see it," said Elizabeth Fuerte, a museum docent who watched one night while wearing one of the low-tech headdresses. "We've always had this 'bronze' history that the government has imposed upon us, and I think we're ready for this change."
It was a weird scenario in a country accustomed to contradictions. Mexico is at once rich and poor, tolerant and conservative, low-brow and refined. It is proud of its pre-Hispanic millenary history, yet still unable to reconcile with
