Planet
of the Apes creates many dualities about education, gender, species, and
other issues; but the most obvious one is civil liberties vs. slavery. The original film was made during the 1960’s,
which was the time that the African-American civil rights movement took
place. The film shows how apes dominated
the world and controlled humans as their personal slaves. The arrival of Leo
happened when he was on a space mission to stop a storm and the storm takes in
his best chimpanzee co-worker, Pericles. Leo goes after Pericles but instead of
finding him, he lands in future Earth. He sees that the apes have taken over
control and that the humans are being treated as their slaves. The apes live
and act like humans while they mistreat and abuse humans. Some apes view the
humans as dirty and uneducated. To them the humans were no good and they were
not going to allow for them to be a part of their society. The only ape that
actually sees potential and equality in humans is Ari. She’s the activist among
her society because she believes that the humans and apes can live together in
peace.
The film relates to the treatment
of African-Americans and other minorities when they were oppressed by society
because they were unwanted and different. They were treated badly and used for
domestic service just like in Planet of
the Apes: humans were used for domestic service. America had a segregation
system where African-Americans and other colored people were not allowed to use
same public spaces with the whites. The humans in Planet of the Apes did not have any rights just like minorities
didn’t. In the film the humans can speak and they are able to communicate but
they choose not to in fear of being punished. Back then slaves were probably
better off not speaking in order to make it through with minimal punishment. During
the 1960’s Martin Luther King Jr. made a
speech saying that he believed that African-Americans and whites could someday
get along in peace. He’s much like Ari in the film; both were activist pushing
towards equality for all. 
Natasha Martinez
ReplyDeleteI think this movie says a lot more about civil liberties than viewers realize. I thought it was interesting that you brought up Martin Luther King Jr. and his speech on equality between whites and African-Americans because Ari emulates his values in the movie. The concept of equality is something this world is still struggling with today. The duality of civil liberties and slavery in the movie is a very powerful message because it makes the viewers think about why does one group of people get to control another.