![]() However, the film doesn't support this conclusion. One could argue that this is just an updated version of white fears with the apes now standing in for the Black Power movement. Planet of the Apes turns the trope on its head by having the apes stand in for racist whites while white men and women are treated as the lesser species. a less-evolved species than whites) sexually assaulting white women. ![]() The 1933 film is terrific, but it also contains the disturbing subtext of white fears of black men (African-Americans have been the target of racist stereotypes depicting them as simian, i.e. The movie provides a strong contrast against another famous picture featuring primates, or rather, a single big one: King Kong. Planet of the Apes is filled with social commentary, and arguably its most notable subtext is its exploration of the civil rights movement. One of our most noble symbols lies in ruin, one of the movie's many pointed examinations of our country's failings in 1968. Using the Statue of Liberty doesn't just provide an instantly recognizable landmark. Mankind used its technology not to reach outward (beyond Taylor and his crew leaving Earth with a plan to see how the world had changed over the course of 1,000 years), but to destroy the planet. Instead, we get a much darker conclusion. We had lofty ambitions, but they didn't pan out. Perhaps mankind colonized a new planet, but ultimately perished. Even as new hints are revealed, those hints can be couched in hope. I can only imagine how audiences felt when they saw it in 1968 and how many viewers were able to predict that Taylor was on Earth the whole time. To begin with the ending, I'll never know the power of the film's famous twist. The reason I've provided an extended synopsis is that there's so much to unpack with this movie. "We finally really did it." Then he falls to his knees and screams "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!" Then it pans across gigantic metal spikes. Planet of the Apes is constantly dropping clues, and in its final scene, it starts in on a close-up of twisted metal. The scene is perfectly played and condenses everything we've seen hinted at throughout the picture. And then we come to the iconic ending, one of cinema's most memorable moments. ![]()
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