Human vs. Animals - Who Has The Power - Research Paper Example

Planet of the Apes – a lesson in manners & humanity Planet of the Apes is a classic movie of 1968, based on the concept of a planet ruled by the Apes and humans are their servants. The movie is based on the ruling class which is further divided into sub-class and presents a sketch of a wee-knit society. Where humans are hunted for sport, used for manual labor, used for scientific experimentation or executed out rightly. The sociological and physiological interpretations used in the movie reflect various incidents through which the West was going through. And these facts were sated in specific state of mind as is proved by the movies of The Apes series. Racial discrimination is still present and prevalent, and Planet of the Apes is a lesson for all that real measures and solid laws need to made if we want to make this world a place free of racism. The storyline adopted in movie presents the shadow of some historic events going on in the sixties and seventies. Such Civil Rights Movement, racial and ethical unrest in the West, psychological effects of Cold and Vietnam wars. The class difference presented in the movie actually depicts the norms and culture of that era, in which there were racial riots, racially discriminating laws, inequitable distribution of wealth and income. In a very subtle style movie discusses about the end of times and Day of Judgment for the primitives and complete supremacy of a better class. There were also various myths involved and evolved as the plot moves forward which represent American psychology, this research focuses to answer the questions raised by this American myth. 1) Class Difference Presented in the Movie: As discussed in the introductory paragraph, the planet of apes is divided into various sub-classes. Chimpanzees are considered suitable for research due to their intelligence, orangutans could take part in the administrative and religious affairs of the planet and gorillas were presented as the defenders. This segregation of class and roles is strictly observed by the inhabitants of the planet. This situation refers to the first segment of the movie where the astronauts were caught by the apes and were brutally treated. The captain of the flying shuttle was used for experimental purpose by a doctor. This segment defines the difference of class presented in the movie, as apes were dived into sub-classes and were allocated tasks according to their capabilities, while on the other hand humans were treated as sword fodders or lab rats. This could be referred to the turmoil situations of the early twentieth century, when a law relating to racial discrimination had been passed. By the virtue of which the white population of the country was segregated from the Afro-Americans of the country, referred to as Jim Crow’s law. It prohibited the black people to enter into any type of transaction with the white population, the taps for drinking water, toilets, hotels, restaurants, passenger seats and anything that could prove white superiority over the black had been segregated. The black population was considered to untouchable and the most down trodden part of the society, only jobs available for them were manual labor, as was the case with the humans in the movie. Law enforcement agencies treat convict of different races and castes differently, there was favoritism, nepotism, violence and hate by the supreme part of the society for the under-class, as the apes used to treat the humans in the movie (Van, 2001, pp. 6). 2) Absence of any Rights for the Servants/Slaves Class: In the second segment of the movie when the captain of the shuttle Taylor was encaged along with the other human captives, he tries to communicate with the doctor who is performing research on him by writing something on the sand with his finger, which was erased by an cleric from the planet. Later on when Taylor was presented in front of the court he came to knew that humans had no right to speak in front of the court. And when could not do anything he tried to write a note to the doctor, that too was considered illegal, as anything of human writings were considered inferior as compared with the knowledge of the apes. This represents the repression and oppression of the conqueror’s society, as the apes were now in control of the humans despite the fact that humans were more intelligent as compared to the apes they were not even allowed to speak in their defense. The courts which were expected to provide in-discriminatory justice are totally discriminating against the race which is not of their origin. In fact the law of the land could be made, bent or even revoked in order to provide and save the superior class of the society. American history bears various cases where people of color specifically the black people were being persecuted and pinned down by the law enforcement agencies just on the bases of their color. The rights granted to any white citizen of the country were not available to the black minority. Though officially slavery had been abolished but the black minority remained servants and slaves of the white aristocracy. The resentment, rebellion, hate and helplessness felt by the black minority was nothing but natural. These injustices gave rise to riots which were named as Watts’s riots, took place in the southern Los angles in the year 1965. During six days of riots many innocent people were killed, injured and arrested. Property worth millions of dollars had been destroyed and the black minority which already was scratching the meat of their gums to survive was destroyed economically in the respective neighborhood. There were various reasons of the riot; inequitable income allocation, improper social standing and marginalized living standards. But the main incident due to which the whole neighborhood rebelled against the state was improper behavior of an officer with the 21 year old young man. Officer under prejudice while passing through the neighborhood stopped the boy and radioed that his vehicle should be impounded, it was complete injustice the officer not only impounded the vehicle but also arrested the boy under the account of driving while intoxicated. This incident infuriated the neighborhood and riots broke out and the state had to impose curfew to bring the situation back to peace (Dawsey, 1990). It was the time when the protagonists of the civil rights movement were on the streets and demanding their rights. Demanding for their constitutional rights, for which there were sit-ins, processions, mobilization and protests to get the minorities of America the rights of an equal citizenship. During the mid-sixties the minorities of America were about to bust and the country was feared to move into another civil war. As the racial discrimination increased so much that not deserving white students were given priority over able and deserving student of the minorities. Percentages of minorities in general and black people in particular, in white collar job were minimal, the aristocracy did not want them to get themselves educated and sit beside them because of their god gifted talents. As was the case in the movie where the judge refused Taylor to present and plead his case in front of the court, as he had learned from the Doctor Zira that he was an intelligent human and she nick named him “Bright Eyes”. The minorities of America were disfranchised from the main stream politics, they were exploited and the law enforcing agencies were violent with them (Perman, 2001, pp.1-30). 3) Fear of the Unknown: After Taylor’s interrogation the judge Zaius called him in his private chambers and asks about his whereabouts, route and means which had enable Taylor to the travel to the Apes planet, threatens him of the dire consequences if Taylor did not cooperate with the ape city ministry. Taylor told him the truth that he came to this plant named earth that is at a distance of 320 light years from Planet of Apes. Zaius told him that he knew it for a fact that his “tribe” had inhibited on the other side of the forbidden zone (desert), by doing lobotomy of Landan (another Human in the Ape city). The only thing about which Zaius was curious was that, he wants Taylor to admit that he came from tribe of intelligent humans. But Taylor kept to its point that he came from planet earth and were in space for 2,000 years and the reason why he and his crew did not age was because of the fact that they have crossed the hyperspace wormhole. That was also evident from the growth of their hair and beards. Zaius realized that Taylor won’t break, so he sends him back to the laboratory. Here there was curiosity in interrogation of the judge, he was afraid of the fact some tribe mightier than his own still exists. Knowledge and intelligence possessed by them is stronger than its own. There was fear simulated in this interrogation, fear to loss the superiority, fear to be slave again and fear to be primitives once again. The desert which they used to denote as the forbidden land was actually a desert which they had never exploited. Knowledge is power and Zaius knows it better than anyone, he snubs Taylor and his theory because he could as he knows that the oppressed can regain the humanity and overcome their condition to be treated as inferiors to the apes. That is why the balance of power hangs with the Apes, who now control the humans, though there was a kind of coerciveness in their status, which is normal with the conqueror. As he who conquers makes others respects only his policies. The apes not only use power to control the humans but also to keep balance and status quo in their sub-dived society, and in order to prove it as a fact the courts presided by the orangutans (rules of the Ape city) ordered that Doctor Zira and Cornelius (her fiancé) had to be tried of heresy for their traitorous act of supporting the theory purposed by the human (Taylor). Though later in the movie audience came to know that Zaius knows for a fact that planet y the name of earth existed across the forbidden land, but was reluctant to accept as it would be a constant and permanent threat to their sacred temple of superiority. This part of the movie too had similarity with American racial segregation, as the doors of higher education were closed to the black people of the society. There were two main reasons, one was the higher cost of education which these poor people could not afford and second was the discrimination through which these students had to pass during the session of their education. As the white population of the country had the major share of the resources, they got good jobs, better bank balance, and inheritance and social security benefits. They could afford to send their children to these expensive colleges, where these students could not bear the presence of any person of color, specifically the black people (Pieterse, 1995, pp. 14-18). The Jim Crow law proved to more disastrous for these black people. As most of the south of America where majority of black population resides had to divide their school among white and black student. The distribution of resources here too was injudicious and the schools where the blacks used to study were over populated and under staff. It is here when the minority decided to take the majority in to the court of law and five cases in total were filed against the state’s board of education, on the grounds that this segregation of the school on racial terms was unconstitutional which the Supreme court in its 1954 decision of the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in favor of the black minority (Klarman, 2007, pp. 55). All these obstacles were made just to stop the entrance of these minorities in the educational institutes design to train the superior class of the country i.e., the white part of the population. It was intolerable that a subordinate came and sit just next to the superior. After the generations of slavery the white elite had become used to of provoking and insulting the black minority. The cultural stereo type of a black person was of a barbarian who was fit for labor and thus could not be intelligent enough to sit and study with these elite students of white race those were the archetype of intelligence. The oppressor always fears the future as it is uncertain, and this uncertainty could affect its hegemony. Same was the case her the white class created such a social status for the minorities, specifically the blacks that they could not afford to grow up till a certain level, they ensured that blacks must remain illiterate and keep doing what they order them to do. But there are always some exceptions Du Bois, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. were among these exceptions. They created such an environment, which the elite had feared of, through their non-violent acts of protest that the government had to focus and consider the miserable situation of the black people as an actual problem for the state. 4) Representation of Apocalypticism: In the last two segments of the movie where the court verdicts to kill Taylor and the Doctor along with her fiancé, they all ran away from the ape city with help of doctor Zira’s cousin and in the meanwhile, Cornelius (Zira’s fiancé) was sent to bring some horses and supplies. They had planned to move to the remnants of the shuttle through which Taylor arriver here at the planet. They encounter some gorilla and along with the judge Zaius, took the judge captive and told the gorillas that they will only release the judge when they would bring them horse and supplies. As guards set off to bring the supplies and in the meanwhile they negotiated with the judge that if Cornelius proved his theory that there was a planet across the forbidden area then the judge would set all of them free, Zaius agreed, resultantly Cornelius proved the point and all of them were free. During the conversation Zaius confessed that he knew about the planet earth, that he knew humans are more intelligent than the apes and he hates and fears the human race. Taylor said farewell to Zaius as he was setting off to cross the forbidden zone, which Zaius warned him to not to do as it’s worth nothing. Later at the end audience realize that what Zaius said was true as human had destroyed their own land because of their un-fulfilling need of war. At the end of the movie Apocalypticism had been discussed, and described in a format which describes the Apes as the saviors of the universe, as Zaius opines that the forbidden land was once a paradise that humans destroyed. The symbolism used here though is fictional but had a very powerful affect on the minds of the audience, as here apes were presented as the alternate of humans supporting the social Darwinism. This final part of movie had a very strong affiliation with the concept of social Darwinism that prevails in the West. In which Darwin predicts that there would be a time when the black race would become extinct and the world would evolve into a more civilized and progressive society. It depicts the racial extremism of Darwin; he further stares that white race would successful against the black in racial war because strongest lives and the weakest die (Darwin, pp. 63-70). It was due the researches of such extremist intellectuals that led the world to world war 2 in which millions of people were killed in the madness of superiority of one race over the other. The consequences of which were so drastic that it took decades for the countries involved in the war to revive their economies. Again during the Vietnam war this racial extremism came into use, when Vietnamese were depicted a pale, weak and coward. And how could they defends themselves against the all open attack of the American army, which result proved to be a graveyard for the army. This racial segregation had touched its limit when during the cold war, Cuban missile crisis emerge and the world was the verge of an atomic war and the Day of Judgment seemed to be at hand, people were so afraid that they view American space mission as a waste of time and money, because after an atomic war everything would be over. There was another fear that the elite among the elite after putting the lives of a common American, were planning to leave planet earth to settle on another planet. Lack of trust, harmony, solidarity and peace in the society leads to such thought where one could not think of anybody else but of its own self, its own interest, that provides stepping stone for the ultimate destruction as the humans had destroyed the paradise in the movies and turned it into a desert (Eric, 1998, pp.163-168). Conclusion: Racial segregation can be removed by proper education about humanity. The basic knowledge that we are all humans and the color of skin can never be a qualification or disqualification for anything. Although racism is prevalent throughout the world but the way black community has been treated in the past in the United States has gotten more media exposure. In the US, there are still many schools that are filled with Hispanics, then there are schools that have over ninety percent of African Americans. These “arrangements” of school systems puts a seed of hatred and different complexities at a very early stage in the heart of the child. Making laws that would help alleviate the saturation of one race can be a step forward toward reducing racial segregation. The more the people communicate, study, play and hang out together, the better friends they become, and start understanding each other. There are many voices already being raised at this issue plus Hollywood itself is full of movie producers and directors that give stereotypical roles to specific races and that only magnifies their negative image in the public. Solid enforceable laws can be made to make things better before they get any worse. Keeping in view the above discussion I would conclude that there is/were strong correlation between the segments of the movie and American cultural norms. In the movie, it was evident that the ruling class there too, was also uncomfortable when someone of their own race purposed a threat to their sacred knowledge received the same treatment as one of inferior classes would have received. This is contemplated by the strong presence of racial segregation and extremism in the American society, still the people of color and minorities are being persecuted. There is still injustice carried out while dividing the resources, jobs, education and means of living with the minorities. The violence against the people of color is still present and law enforcing agencies, too take part in exhibiting it. Though its impact might have temporarily reduced by the election of first black president of American history, but the roots of this segregation are yet to completely disappear. List of References: 1. Green, Eric. Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture. N.p.: Wesleyan UP., 1998. Print. (Pp 163-168). 2. Perman, Michael. "Introduction." Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888–1908. 2001.: n.p., n.d. 1-30. University of North Carolina Press. Http://books.google.ch/books/about/Struggle_for_Mastery.html?hl=de&id=y3VF4yxrEAkC. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 3. Van, C. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. N.p.: n.p., 2001. 6. Http://books.google.com.pk/books/about/The_Strange_Career_of_Jim_Crow.html?id=u6Eirru04cgC&redir_esc=y. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 4. Darwin, Charles. On the Races of Man: Sub-species. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 63-70. On the Races of Man: Sub-species. Http://www.nazi.org.uk/darwin-race.htm. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 5. Klarman, Michael. J.,Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. 55. Jim Crow to Civil Rights : The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 6. Dawsey, Darrell. "To CHP Officer Who Sparked Riots, It Was Just Another Arrest." Los Angles Times. Http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-19/local/me-2790_1_chp-officer, 19 Aug. 1990. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. 7. Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture. N.p.: Yale UP, 1995. Http://books.google.com.pk/books/about/White_on_Black.html?id=XWL8QVcSlO4C&redir_esc=y. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. Read More