Planet of the Apes, the original movie with Charlton Heston, was made in 1968 when I was just a kid of five. At the time, I was happy when this sci-fi movie would be broadcast on TV because I was also excited about the future of space exploration and the possibility of encountering aliens on another planet. However, it all looked very surreal. Moreover, I thought it was impossible for monkeys to be able to lead the world. Fifty-three years later, and having watched the film again, I can interpret the text in a different, mature light while also appreciating the prophetic capacity of the plot, which included poignant imagery and metaphors. I don’t intend to give away everything that happens in this sci-fi movie. However, I aim to point out some parallels with events that take place in the early 2000s. As readers know, science fiction sometimes predicts the future and gives viewers ideas about improving technology and lifestyle. In this respect, Planet of the Apes is exemplary.
At the time of filming, viewers of the movie may have wondered what the outcome of space exploration would be because the United States was in a race with the Soviet Union to reach the moon. In 1967, three astronauts died in a fire while testing a launch pad, demonstrating the danger of such exploration, which raised questions about safety. At school, we were kids reading books about how we would one day travel to space, and by July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 had taken three American astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon on a journey that took eight days, 3 hours, and 18 minutes. Thus, there has been a lot of impetus for creating sci-fi movies that explore many possibilities!
At the start of the movie, four astronauts, three men and a woman, are in the middle of a journey into an unknown frontier, space. First, Charlton Heston, who wonderfully plays Captain George Taylor, sets the stage with his dictation of a memoir, detailing how he and his crew pursued the mission’s goals. Then, finally, he settled into a long nap, with the spaceship put on autopilot. It is not surprising that these guys landed somewhere in the middle of a lake, on a planet unknown to them. After discovering that their female crewmate has died, the three remaining men know that they won’t have long to live if they can’t find food. So, they embarked on this quest to find out their whereabouts as well as how to survive.
Surprisingly, the spaceship had three men but only one woman on board. At one point in the film, Taylor says that a female crewmate has been sent to repopulate the planet. One would consider it odd that one woman, rather than two, be sent on the voyage, raising doubts about the ability of humans to benefit from prescience. However, they did not think about the possibility of her dying along the way. The fact that the crew didn’t believe the woman’s death was a possibility represents the idea that people often prepare for the future without thinking about everything that could go wrong.. In real life, people tend to be optimists who think their lives will be better elsewhere, when in fact life could be much worse on another planet or in the future. Thus, human progress is not always guaranteed, especially when attention is not paid to detail.
First and foremost, Taylor’s crew discovers that the mysterious planet in the movie is ruled by monkeys, making viewers imagine that in real life, animals could run the world if humans were no longer on the planet. These advanced apes speak English and have human characteristics as well, repeating immoral mistakes like those made by humans. The apes in the film clearly mistreat humans, including a tribe of Neanderthals who do not understand the language of the astronauts. Additionally, powerful primates use humans for scientific experiments, often stuffing their bodies for display in museums, enabling George Taylor to question such practices. While he wasn’t satisfied with life on Earth years before his flight into space, Taylor now discovers that this new world is far worse than he ever imagined.
Taylor reads the ship’s almanac to indicate that their arrival on the planet is on November 25, 3978, years after their departure in 1972. Taylor encounters Nova, a mute woman who represents the simplicity and kindness of pre-language tribes without technology, incapable at that point of threatening the planet. She is unlike many of the female volunteers he met in the ancient world from which he came. She follows him, trusts him, and does whatever he indicates with his expressions that she should. She also embodies the simple beauty of a woman who asks no questions and does what she’s told.
Cornelius and Zira are two thinking chimpanzees concerned with finding scientific truth no matter where it takes them. Zira, a chimpanzee, has a mind of her own and follows her sense of logic despite what male chimps dictate to her. Its main desire is to understand scientific truth wherever it takes it, without the religious dogma of a chimpanzee. Her mind is really open and willing to try and understand the relationship between primates and humans. Cornelius, her husband, is an absolute pacifist, supportive of his wife, and intellectual genius well versed in history, representing both the embodied primate and the open-minded male.
However, Dr. Zeus, their overseer, is an orangutan who uses religious primate doctrine to protect the world from scientific truth. Although he is well educated, the film does not reveal exactly where he and the other primates completed their studies.
The pursuit of scientific truth versus covering it up for the sake of politics in this film parallels governments denying the discoveries of objective scientists who are willing to present facts. Many scientific facts are ignored because they will harm the economy. Moreover, influential individuals and companies have denied climate change, claiming that it is just a natural process, and remain in denial. The film is alarming, warning that humans can still try to save the planet.
George Taylor eventually finds himself not far from home in a place where life is turned upside down, where humans are the lowest link. While Dr. Zeus believes that man will destroy everything, he sees nothing wrong with covering up the truth, editing it as he pleases for what he sees as a greater good. As a result, both people and monkeys seem self-serving, even if they are a little “different.” The result is a lot of dry, barren land, and the ape population is going down the same path as the humans, perhaps ignoring the fact. Persuasive knowledge in Fake fact To satisfy the needs of power, which is as harmful as sheer ignorance. Planet of the Apes makes for great classroom discussion! This movie is worth watching because of its story, exceptional acting, and compelling costumes. Most importantly, it encourages viewers to ask many relevant social and scientific questions – no doubt, intellectually stimulating!