WebCT post: 10/02: Planet of the Apes

I enjoyed Planet of the Apes. It might be because I have an overactive imagination, but when I read a story that I enjoy, I like to immerse myself fully into that world. It’s how I get a feel for the story, the setting, the surroundings, the characters, the action, and the plot. I saw the ape society described in the novel and it was actually frightening to me. I didn’t want to see a world where humans are low-class heathens, whose intelligence is undermined. I didn’t want a world where someone was discriminated against because of blood, genetics, or species, as we saw in the Heston film, Gattaca, and even the snippet from Harry Potter. :P I think, had the apes lived harmoniously with the humans and accepted them as intellectual equals, then I wouldn’t be so hung up about it. Then again, we wouldn’t have much of a story, would we? Even so, the fact that I was so immersed and so horrified at the close-mindedness of the apes, I think that’s a good thing because it shows just how affecting the novel is.

It may play into my own insecurities because I somehow don’t want to believe that humanity is fragile—but we are. Here is an allegory for what we can become if we crumble and fall apart as a society. There could be an uprising during vulnerable times. Maybe not by apes, per se, but by anything: dictatorships, anarchy, what have you.