planet of the apes:behind the scenes

Planet of the Apes, directed by Franklin J. Schaffer, is about an astronaut by the name of George Taylor, who has crash landed on to this mysterious planet and is in search any sign of life. Not long after finding a group of mute humans he and another astronaut was captured by apes on horseback. The guy captured with him becomes a mute after having had brain surgery done by the apes once they were taken back to Ape City. Initially it is up to Taylor to put a stop to the torment the apes have been inflicting on the mute humans and show his true abilities. There are issues portrayed throughout these scenes which can relate to modern day. The issues include racism, the fear of technology and science versus religion. Even though the original Planet of the Apes was made nearly fifty years ago it still relates to todays modernized societies.

Racism is a major issue throughout this movie. After being captured, Taylor is automatically discriminated against. Taylor’s purpose is to represent the treatment of African Americans throughout America’s history. The ape society constantly belittles Taylor and will not give him the opportunity to show his true abilities. Taylor befriends Zira the animal psychologist. He steals her notebook and pen one day to show her he is not illiterate. We are able to see the racism clearer in the scene where the ape is spraying Taylor with a fire hose and while laughing shouts “Shut up you freak!”(Planet). On the contrary Taylor’s treatment of them is not any better. Taylor and the other mute humans are being kept in cages. He escapes the cages but is caught in a net. While hanging, the apes within the area are making numerous remarks. After recuperating Taylor has gained the ability to talk again and shouts...

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...ng that man had already discovered. Dr. Zaius saw science as unnecessary and evil so he knew from the beginning everything. Taylor had hoped that he would return home and the war would be over when all along he was on earth and it was the war which had caused this mysterious island he was on. Since there is such a contradiction between science and religion and Dr. Zaius represents both there is reason to believe that that to could turn into another war.

Although Planet of the Apes is an older movie it still portrays the issues that we still struggle with today. Therefore racism, the fear of technology and science versus religion are all addressed throughout the movie Planet of the Apes.

Works Cited

1. Planet of the Apes. Dr. Franklin J. Schaffer. Perf. Charlton Heston, Roddy McDonall and Kim Hunter. Twentieth Century Fox, 1968. Netflix. Web. 3 February 2014.