"Sometimes I feel like if you watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you - sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever."
~ Delirium By Lauren Oliver

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Planet of the Apes!

Well, as we know xenophobia means the fear of someone who is different, an outsider. In the first Planet of the Apes movie with Charlton Heston, the apes were scared of him because he was different, he could talk. He had knowledge of things outside of their experience. Also the leaders, who were the Orangutans, knew that before them man was the dominate species, so when they found Taylor (Charlton Heston) they got scared. 
This movie also has a lot to say about class warfare and discrimination. In the movie, they were talking about how all apes are created equal, and it almost mirrors our culture and how we say all men are created equal. However, we know some are put unfairly before others and that's how it was with their society. The Gorillas were the warrior class, the Orangutans controlled the government and the religion (convenient), the Chimpanzees were the thinkers and the scientists; they also were more compassionate, more humane. The apes considered the humans as a sub-standard species, and the appearance of Taylor threatened the "natural order" of things. 
I know that our government hides a lot from us, so it didn't surprise me when in the movie we saw that the Orangutans hid stuff from the other apes. When they found the baby doll at the end and it started crying, they blew it up. The only evidence they had that questioned their power they blew up, so that no one would ever find it and wonder. No, ignorance may seem bliss for the ape society at the beginning but throughout the movie it unravels. I truly believe that everyone should know the truth no matter what the cost is. I wouldn't say that there is no hope for the future of the ape society. It's just that if they keep hiding big things like that and someone does find out about it, they could have an uprising on their hands.   When a society is based on fear, ignorance and deception, it's only a matter of time.

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