How Does Barbara Westernize The Aztec Culture?

Through her interference with the Aztec’s way of life, Barbara represents the modern European/American culture in opposition to the Aztecs. She feels the need to save the Aztecs from themselves — to intervene and correct their ways through enlightening them of the flaws in their religion. Yet, every time she interferes and tries to essentially westernize the Aztecs, she makes her own situation, and that of her fellow travelers, more dangerous. By objecting to the various elements of the Aztec’s way of life, Barbara raises eyebrows regarding her status as the reincarnation of a high priest, and ends up putting her own life at risk. Despite her claimed “Aztec specialty” in her history education, Barbara repeatedly focuses on what she views as
The characters repeatedly emphasize the mispronunciation of Ian’s name, exaggerating their otherness. Aside from the clear focus of the plot on the act of human sacrifice, there is also an emphasis on the militaristic aspect of Aztec culture. This focus on the negative and violent aspects of Aztec society can clearly be seen in the names of the episodes of this serial: The Temple of Evil; The Warriors of Death; The Bride of Sacrifice; and The Day of Darkness. Throughout the four episodes, several remarks are made by the Aztecs about the desire for inciting fear in others — either the fear of the Aztecs by other peoples or the fear of individuals by other Aztecs. Moreover, the Aztec characters are portrayed as not simply clever, but manipulatively so, controlling others as a means to reach their own goals. In an attempt to prove that Barbara, impersonating Yetaxa, is a false goddess, Tlotoxl, the High Priest of Sacrifice, initiates an arranged marriage to Susan, anticipating that she would speak out in shock regarding this, and would thus be physically punished, causing Barbara to again interfere with Aztec practices. Furthermore, Ixta, the great warrior, manipulates the Doctor into helping him defeat Ian in combat by falsely promising him access to plans of the temple, which he does not have access
However, they are still represented as the other, and ultimately become the villain. Despite the actions of the time travelers, the Aztecs cannot be changed — a point which the Doctor makes clear by stating, “Human sacrifice is their tradition, their religion, there’s nothing we can do about it.” The one exception is Autloc, The High Priest of Knowledge, and arguably the most civilized of the Aztecs, who ends up abandoning his faith and going into the woods to solitarily “seek his truth.” Furthermore, the peaceful elements of Aztec society are presented as entirely discrete from ritual sacrifice and warring tendencies, failing to illustrate how two elements of a culture could coexist in a society. This demonstrates how we as a modern western society cannot fully understand the subtleties of the Aztec people. Above all, the focus on the plot around the act of ritual human sacrifice, with the culmination being the time travelers fleeing from the Aztec people, stresses violence as the most prominent element of Aztec society, throwing all other characteristics into the background, much as western history has done for