"The Planet of the Apes"

Paper Summary:

Audience reaction to the first of a series of five films, derived from Pierre Boulle's novel, "La Planete des Singes", was a solid indicator of a new kind of consciousness. The paper shows that, despite the repulsiveness of the mere possibility of man's reversing roles with apes, movie and television audiences accepted that suggestion or entertainment. It terrified, repelled, but stretched their imagination as to what the future could be. The threat of nuclear destruction, the implications of the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, and the consequences of the Vietnam War were the torrents and setting when Boulle wrote his novel. By the time the first film was produced and shown in 1968, there were other threats to human security. This paper looks at each of the five films and discusses them in relation to human intelligence and consciousness.

From the Paper:

"Apes, therefore, thrive on nature as their sole guide. On the other hand, man is equipped with the responsibility, duty as well as privilege to use his intelligence, judgment and will to choose his good or evil, survival or destruction. Apes are on the safe side, which is far from error and destruction, but their capacity for happiness and the determination of that level of happiness are both limited. In man, it is virtually without limits, because he has what is called a soul."

More papers on "The Planet of the Apes":

• Analytical Essay # 46159 : "The Planet of the Apes" and Popularity"
• Analytical Essay # 27121 : "The Trajectory of the Novel: 1719-1960"
• Film Review # 66407 : "The Movie Remake"

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