Biggs and the Apes

By | Published Friday, March 22, 2013


From DBCOVERS
From DBCOVERS
Burton's Planet of the Apes pays homage to the original film of 1968. The makeup, messages, and setting suspend reality for the viewer in an extraordinary way. The world in which Davidson lands completely flips his own perception of the reality he knows. He crash-lands onto a planet where apes rule all and humans are reduced to mere slavery. There are a number of dualities created in this film that enable viewers to have a greater sense for symbolism and meaning within the film. The most obvious form of duality in the film is that of the battle of ruling species. The role of species is obviously a very prominent part of the film, but it is important to notice how it plays along with the ideas of slavery and civil liberties. Throughout the opening of the movie, Davidson is seen training Pericles to fly the space pod. There is an air of obvious superiority as Davidson can speak, Pericles cannot, and Davidson clearly controls the monkey by giving him commands and rewarding him with treats. However, we also notices that Pericles is treated with the same respect the humans are, even though he does sleep in a cage. It is recognized by the astronauts that Pericles and the other apes on board have intelligence, but they are still ruled over by the humans. Davidson is aware that he is the dominant species. It is important to note that, though the apes live in cages on the spacecraft, they are not whipped and treated as slaves, rather they are almost on the same level to the trained astronauts on board. The life Davidson lives on board the spacecraft is one of clear superiority to the apes, though as soon as he crashes onto a different Earth, his reality is flipped on its head. The other scene that brings species and slavery to our attention occurs when Davidson is captured on the "new" Earth where the apes rule over the humans. Again, his reality is turned upside down as the apes can speak and have taken control over the humans. He is taken to a human slave cell where apes come in and purchase humans to perform household chores. Though this is a more extreme version of what the humans were doing with the apes on the spacecraft, the planet where apes rule mirrors the situation. These two scenes give the viewers a perfect sense of how the two worlds are different from each other, but also how they are closely related. It is easy to be distracted by the fact that there are apes ruling over humans, but it is important to look beyond the surface plot twist and find the underlying commentary on slavery and human (or ape) rights.

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One Response to Biggs and the Apes

  1. AnonymousApril 9, 2013 at 1:57 PM

    Akeem,
    There are obvious similarities and differences between the two worlds. The humans do treat the apes with more respect on the ship but I believe that there is a deeper statement being made about how the human world, not just astronauts and NASA treat animals as a whole. Animals are killed everyday and caged, often sold for pets. The harshness of the reality, however, is not seen until the roles of human and ape are switched. Aside from the topic of animals, slavery is an underlying tone. Blacks, Jews etc are groups of humans that have in history been known to endure slavery as well. It seems horrid that humans are caged by apes but many neglect the fact that the movie is an accurate portrayal of how humans have treated other humans in the past.

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