In Planet of the Apes, Burton shows many dualities and in
his Burton way twists the typical perception of how we view and have grown to
accept these dualities. Burton does this
with species, gender,
civil liberties vs slavery, education vs illiteracy, bellicosity vs passivity,
science/technology vs primitivism. By
switching the roles of humans and apes, Burton forces the viewer to think not
only about what it means to be human but what it means to be anything but
human. We all might be more animalistic
then we want to believe. Out of all of
the dualities mentioned above, I think that science/technology vs primitivism
is the most important especially after watching the original film. In the original Planet of the Apes, the movie
came out in the midst of racial tensions and the fear of the atom bomb so the
film was very relevant for many reasons.
The movie concludes with the Ape doctor basically promoting a plateau of
knowledge because he knows what can and will happen when technology reaches a
point where mass destruction is possible and plausible. Charlton Heston’s character, believing he is
above the apes rides along the coast to find the Statue of Liberty and says,
“You blew it up!” This is important
because it is a direct commentary on the world of technology and how the end of
human dominance was because of advanced technology with the atom bomb. Burton, although not focused on the atom
bomb, focuses on technology and how with technology comes power. This is shown with Captain Leo’s flare gun
and pistol. Whoever is in control of
these advanced weapons has control of the situation and when the evil Ape is
trapped in the bulletproof communications room and fires off rounds of the gun,
it absolutely petrifies him, further showing the damaging power of advanced
technology. Another element that Burton
shows is human faith in technology.
Captain Leo has faith in his spaceship to save him from the trouble that
he has gotten into. He trusts his ship
and his human skill to get his monkey and return back to command safely, he was
very wrong. He then believes that
getting to the marker will get him back in contact with his team and therefore
a salvation back to earth. He was
wrong. He then believes that his ship
will bring him back in time and everything will be okay. Once again, he was wrong. It isn’t until the very end of the film where
Captain Leo goes even further in time that he gives up on everything he has
believed to be true and faces the harsh reality that he is stuck in an upside
down world.
I like the ideas you brought up about the making of the movie in a time when there was much fear of technology. It truly is direct commentary to how life was like back when the idea of the atom bomb was introduced and fear of the end of the world was evident. The old film showcases the event where the apes have superior logic to even the smartest human there, and the new one shows how the technology constantly fails on Davidson. He gains ground and power every time he gets a hold of technology but again and again it fails him. This is direct commentary to how in 2001 we are dependent on all this technology that once frightened us. We get accustomed to it and its unpredictable ways, but you show that Planet of the Apes warns us that this trust we put in technology will bring upon our doom.
ReplyDeleteI like how you referred to the original film and how it "came out in the midst of racial tensions and the fear of the atom bomb" I agree with you on how that film has many relevant dualities. I also enjoyed the scene in the original where the Ape doctor basically says that he knows "what can and will happen when technology reaches a point where mass destruction is possible and plausible" It really brings the film full circle. Great blog- Gabby Buzaid
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