How does The Planet Of The Apes movie make us contemplate and wrestle with the concept of xenophobia? Does it pertain to the Science Fiction we have read? Please add to this blog during and after each viewing of the movie.
This movie is largely representative of xenophobia in that the astronauts assume that humans are the superior race upon landing, and upon seeing the behavior of the apes against the humans are appalled by how wrong it is, despite human treatment of apes back on Earth.
With Planet of the apes the film isn't really banking on the xenophobia of an alien life form but the idea of enslavement of mankind by and animal most humans feel are lesser than human beings, the apes. The film also plays on controversies over inter-species relationships but that is another story for a later blog topic. I'm sure when they put Charlton Heston in that world his reactions were true due to his at first unwillingness to accept the idea of mankind not being the tops dogs, or I mean top species on Earth. The end is SPOILERS great with this idea because even though Charlton Heston (in a career defining role as Charlton Heston) eventually accepts that on this planet humans are just pets. But when he sees that it is really Earth he flips out with a big scream in the sand. END SPOILERS And the part with the American flag is the first thing that one character (I think his name was Lazarus Sullivan) thinks about when on the beach is interesting since it is like he has to rock an unknown place as a familiar place. And the Goldsmith score gets a top score from me! And I will now leave after the lame joke. I am deeply sorry for typing it. This is Jason by the way.
I think this video is a good comparison to the other things we have read. Planet of the Apes is a good example of xenophobia. It shows the thoughts we have about different people. People discriminate against a certain race because of difference and change. Some of us dont like change so that can create problems.
Planet of the Apes makes us contemplate and wrestle with the concept of xenophobia because it is frightening for us to grasp the idea that apes are the master race on this planet and humans are slaves to them. We are afraid of these foreigners because they are alot like the apes on earth and the humans on this planet are a lot like the humans on earth, and to see that the apes enslave the humans really add to xenophobia.
Xenophobia comes from ignorance and a closed mind. If we are able to see life from another perspective, then it is hard to be xenophobic. Planet of the Apes lets us look on a whole other reality where Monkeys are the dominate specie. Seeing this helps us realize that it is hard to think we are the best and not accept others when we have no idea who they are and what they are capable of. It also helps us see what it is like being enslaved and oppressed as a whole. It gives me insight especially on animal cruelty. I don't believe animals are secondary to humans. They have senses and abilities that we do not. All we have on them is the capability to emote. They can think, communicate, breathe underwater, see via sonar, sense storms, fly, see ghosts(I believe) and have immense strength, brute force and massive body mass. To think we are superior is a flaw. We are of a higher intelligence and a have more evolved brain but they have abilities we can only dream of. This and "The Silk and the Song" gives insight to this similar type of xenophobia and false superiority by role reversal by an unknown species.
the planet of the apes movie relates to the concept of xenophonia because when they land they are unsure of what to expect of this new planet that they crashed on. while they are on this new planet they see people in the grasses and start to judge them before even meeting them.
They have no idea what planet they are on and are scared of where they are? what happened on earth? and what else might be on this planet? that relates to xenephobia in they are scared of what strangers might be their. This also looks like The silk and the Song, where humans are the inferior race or slaves under something else.
I think that planet of the apes is alot like your storys because these humans in the movie are scared of the apes that hunt them. In most storys humans are scared of the alienns that come from other planets but its differant in this movie cause the apes live with the humans.
The Planet of the Apes relates to xenophobia because the astronauts are on an alien planet more than two thousand years in the future so it is very foreign to them. Also they are on a planet where the suppior race is apes that treat humans like pets. Like in the story "The Silk and the Song" the humans are treated like horses. How can they be over twenty centuries away from earth but have not aged more then a year or so? Is the planet like Earth only aged a long time? People in this movie act as if they don't have opposable thumbs. The roles of humans and apes are reversed.
One of the main characters of Planet Of the Apes left earth and took the mission because he hates people. He later explained that he didnt hate man, he just thought there was something better out there. One of the main ideas of zenophobia is fear of people because of their differences. The fact that he thought there was something different out there implied that he wanted something different. When i heard that, I thought about the idea of him being zenophobic. Most people that are zenophobic, always wish for something different and always want people to change. This, being strictly stereotypical, isnt always true and sometimes is the opposite of real life zenophobic people. Maybe i will see more examples later.
For being on a new planet, the exploration team doesn't seem that fearful. Maybe this is something they've done many times before, but I would think there would still be a little bit of fear at exploring a new land. And what do they think they're going to do once they find these life forms they're looking for? They could be primative, and the earthlings would be stuck on this planet forever. And, they'd be the only humans on that planet with no hope of colonizing it.
Could the butt-naked-ness by symbolizm for their arrival on a new planet? Perhaps it symbolizes their new start in a different world, or it could represent their vulnerability.
Humans are treated like animals, but also not. They're getting medical treatment from the dominant race.
The "Planet of the Apes" movie makes us contemplate and wrestle with the concept of xenophobia because the three men who have landed their air craft have aged approximately 2000 and some years and are now on a totally different land or planet trying to not only discover where they are, but when they are. This can relate to xenophobia because they are almost "foreigners" of this planet. They do not know who lives on the planet and whether or not there is a master race. If so, the concept of xenophobia would occur again because the three men (humans) would probably be foreigners or even aliens to the master race(Apes) living on the planet. This can compare to the story "The Silk and the Song" because in both cases, humans are not the master race.
So far in The Planet Of the Apes, the space officials have crash landed on an unfmailiar planet which so far, seems to be much like Earth that contains water and life forms. The unidentified life forms have stolen the humans clothes and suppy cases. I could imagine that the life forms are xenephobic toward the humans because they are different and alien. The life forms on this mysterious planet surprizingly look alot like humans, but definatly act more like animals.However,they are not the only life forms on the planet. There are ape-like creatures that act more like humans and ride horses and shoot guns! The humans that unexpectedly landed on this planet are probably freaked out right now about what is going on... apes on horses...shooting, killing, and capturing people! XENOPHOBIA.
The men are suprisingly calm about their situation because they have a sense of comfor and of superiority over people of their own kind. It doesn't occur to them that their joourney may be hindered by the presence of a more superior race and therefor they proceed without caution. This puts them at risk and they are soon cpatured for "testing".
In most stories we have read, humans are the master race and usually show xenophobia towards other life forms. But in The Planent of the Apes movie it is reversed because the Apes are the master race and discriminate against the humans and treat them as pests, trophies, science experiments. In the movie the humans are confronted by the fact that they are not dominate species therefore they show xenophobia towards the apes because of the reverse role. In The King of the Beasts it says that "It is worse than elephants, tigers, and bears....Yes. It is a man."
The Planet of the Apes doesn't seem to connect with xenophobia as much as the Science Fiction that we have read in class. When the apes capture the human, they seem more intrigued, rather than xenophobic. The human, however, does seem more xenophobic because he is not used to the planet and was chased and captured by the apes.
I can't remember whether or not I actually entered my other blog comment, so here it goes again:
The most valuable factor of The Planet of the Apes we have experienced so far is how the apes deal with the human from Earth. They think the white man is very peculiar, and are interested to know why he is so different than others. It deals with other Science Fiction we have read by showing how different each species is viewed depending on where they are from. Also, though they are on the same planet, the dark humans are deathly afraid of the apes because the apes are very superior. This is also a factor of xenophobia, in relation to its specific definition of fear in foreigners or strangers.
The Planet Of The Apes movie makes us wrestle with the concept of xenophobia in many ways. From what we have seen in this movie so far, it closely relates the The Silk And The Song. I believe this because in Planet Of The Apes, three men crash onto a planet where humans are not the master race, so they are considered 'foreigners'. In The Silk and The Song, humans are not considered the master race,they are slaves. What I have picked up in most Science Fiction is that there is a fear of not just humans, but foreigners.
This movie has a lot of connections to many of the stories we read about xenophobia. The one that has the most connection I think would probably be The King of the Beasts. The superior beings in The King of the Beasts put the human in a cage just like the apes in Planet of the Apes put humans in cages and treat them just like animals.
"The Planet of The Apes" has a lot of xenophobia in it. From the beginning the people are skeptical about where they have landed and what they have gotten them selfs into. The Apes aren't as afraid of the people as I think the people are afraid of the Apes. I think this is because in this new world the Apes are the almighty and are stronger than the people, thus boosting their confidence when its time to capture the people.
There is a complete turn around from the beginning of the movie when the apes first found the humans, to when they discover who the man really is. At first, they were interested in him, but later on they try and destroy him and do not believe that he is actually human. They find it ludicrous that a man is actually able to talk and communicate with them, because it is so different from what they are familiar with. This is a perfect example of xenophobia, because they are almost afraid that he is a different human. They can't understand that he is truly harmless and similar to the apes.
The apes think that the humans cannot talk. Why don't they think that humans are smart? Out of all of the languages to survive why is English the only one. How come none of the other humans can talk? The apes called the main character a freak when he finally talked. They are probably afraid that he will teach the other humans how to act like actual humans. They have xenophobia towards Taylor because he is completely different from the other people. They have only one kind of person which doesn't even know how to speak.
Xenophobia is displayed when the men land on this new planet and they do not recognize that they could be the inferior being. They just think that they will come into the new society and take charge because they think they are the superior race regardless of where they are. The apes and Taylor have this certain conflict going that keeps them from realizing who the true master race is or that the master race is not necessarily set in stone.
Xenophobia is again displayed with the monkeys' fear of the humans and so they implement a power over the humans in order to handle their fear. The monkey-guy who seems to be in charge of everything seems to know that the humans are smarter than the credit that they are given. Because of this, he does not want everyone else to know that they are intelligent because that could throw off the illusion that the apes are the superior race. He chooses not to recognize this intelligence in order to keep his power where it has been established. Xenophobia implies fear and this is exactly what is being desplayed by the apes.
This movie is sort of... humbling for me. I've aspired to be something of an "animal psychologist" for as long as I can remember. Is this how certain animals like dogs or monkeys view us as we run tests on them? They aren't as gifted with language as a human would be, but do they have the same feelings of inadequicy or frustration? It's a humbling experience for humans as a species, I guess, to be viewed as anything less than the master race. Maybe there's a lesson in here somewhere about treated the other species on this planet with the same respect we treat other humans.
The apes begin to show their superiority, both physical and through their advancement of technology. The doctors are weary of the humans, treating them like incompetent and unadvanced creatures. The captured humans show a crude savagry that is equivalent to our view of apes. The roles are reversed, like in the Silk and the Song. The female doctor is compassionate and curious about the humans, especially after she learns of their ability to write. The other apes, however, remain fearful and untrusting of the humans.
Cornelius, one of the apes, hypothesised that apes developed from human man. Now that he has proof to confirm his hypothesis, he is very unwilling to use it as support. He is scared of punishment that he may recieve for his thinking. This punishment is rooted in the apes' xenophobia.
When Taylor regians his ability to talk, the apes become frightened. His ability to talk lessens the apes' feeling of superiority.
The trial format that occurs when after Taylor poses a threat to the apes is very earth like, and the set up represses any opportunity Taylopr may have to speak. The apes turn all Taylor's statements against him, making his lack of knowledge seem like an inability to think. This ensures that the apes remain in cotrol of the trial. The judges are unwilling to accept foreign ideas and are very closed-minded.
The apes in the movie are the master race. They are afraid of the humans who are like animals. Taylor is something totally new to the apes because he is the only human who has talked. All of the apes are very scared because he is a stranger. The apes feel that Taylor is a scientific experiment. The apes can only argue amongst themselves to determine who and why Taylor is different.
In "The Planet of the Apes," xenephobia is strongly portrayed through the way the apes treat the humans. They treat them as if they are animals; locking them in cages, leading them around on leashes, and beating them. Taylor, the one human that can speak the apes language is treated especially poor becasue the apes have never heard of any "animal" (human) to speak english. I think that most the apes are afraid of him because he may have more knowledge than any of them. He has done things that are unspoken of on the planet of the apes, such as flying, crossing the desert, and "falling" from the sky into the water. All the apes, except for one, are absolutely xenephobic towrads Taylor.
It is very interesting when the main ape talks about creation, but how "god made ape in his image:. This jeopardizes the idea of religion. The director is questioning creation and religion and authority and equality. "All apes are created equal" when they are obviously shown unequal, as in our society. Men do not have rights. Ignorance is encouraged so the apes can remain in their superior place over humans. When you do not give a race a chance to be equal, they never will. If you never teach a baby how to talk, it will never learn. This is what they have done with humans. I think the teacher ape in tan clothing knows the truth about humans. I think he knows that men were once superior, before some sort of war they had where apes overcame them. This is why he gave Landon a lobotomy. He wants to keep the lower species below him.
"Planet of the Apes" contains the concept of xenophobia because once the men crash and escape from their ship, they find themselves to be on a foreign planet. There are no traces of life and they are worried about how long their food will last. They figured out that they are in the year 3978 and they are thousands of light years from Earth. They realize that there is life on this planet because they saw something steal their clothes while they were swimming. They still don't really know where they are or what is going on when the group of "apes" starts to attack. The apes have taken the men and they are locking them up in cages with the rest of the people that were captured. I think the people are worried because these apes are foreign to them and they do not know what is going to happen. This ties in xenophobia because it relates to its actual definition of fear in strangers or foreigners.
In the movie the roles are switched and it doesn't seem like the apes are scared of the humans but they just wont to study them or kill them. The humans to most of the apes are useless except to the ones who want to study them.
They treat the humans like very dumb animals. Taylor is actually smarter then these apes but the Cornelius wont except that. I wonder if Taylor starts to talk what they will do. Like the silk and the song the roles are switched but and the humans are animals this is a hard thing to rap your heads around it would be weird to think of ourself as animals. But humans in history have treated each other like animals. I wonder why in this movie they chose to make the humans mute because in our world apes communicate just like almost all animals.
After the first two watching sorry Mr. Trotter didnt do the first day but, the idea of xenophobia is thrown on its head by making humans the subject of fear and not the one who is afraid. This whole role reversal shows i believe was meant to attack society as being ignorant and Xenophobic with animals or beasts but for strictly science fiction purposes it just ilistrates the idea of fear of something that challenges ideas that we percieve as concrete. It follows the same basic ideas of the silk and the song in which humans are the subordanant race, but Planet takes it to the extreme saying that humans should be held and exterminated.
As the movie moves on, we can clearly see that the apes believe that they are superior to humans and also that they cannot think themselves. We can also see that the apes may be up to something because of the discovery of the captain whose brain had been messed with. The apes are curious to know if there is anything beyond the forbidden zone and think Taylor may know something of it.
The white monkey is afraid of Taylor because he knows that if there is one human like Taylor there are others. Taylor is afraid of the monkey race because it is backwards from ours, he calls it upside down I feel like the white monkey is also afraid of Taylor because he knows Taylor is telling the truth, and the truth is too much for him to handle.
This chunk of the film has less to do with general xenophobia, and more to do with corruption of power due to xenophobia. It has been established that the government is afraid of it slipping that a human can speak, but at this point when he offers to reason with "The mutant" he is less afraid of the creature itself than what could happen to his power when the secret slips.
In the eyes of the apes, Taylor is a mutant. None of the apes believe that he could have come from the forbidden zone because that kind of land can't sustain any life. They think that Taylor is a freak. This is because he is different and the apes have never seen anything like him. They are scared because he can talk and no other human can. The apes are intimidated.
When Taylor shaves his beard the monkeys are startled, they have never seen that before. They say it makes him look less intelligent. They criticize it because it is foreign to them, which is something they do a lot in this film.
in the movie planet of the apes has an old doctor that refuses to accept the truth of man. all the facts are in front of him and will never accept it. this is an expample of exenophobia because he didnt want any part of the truth and was probably scared of how man was there first before the apes.
The doctor called the human a mutant. What would people think if a talking ape came to earth? The doctor doesn't believe Taylor when he is telling the truth. He probably knows that he is telling the truth and he just wants him to admit that he is lying so that he doesn't have to think that he actually came from a different planet where apes are not the supirior race. The apes thought that it is ok to treat humans like dogs but when one of their own was tied up they did not approve. The scroll that the monkey reads aloud is not about the humans being the killers but about the apes being the insupirior to humans.
In Planet of The Apes, there are different types of Apes-meaning their personalities differ, just like in human beings. The three apes that save the man are like people who save dogs and other animals from animal testing. Atlough they are still puzzled with some of the things he does, like saving the girl and shaving his beard.
The Planet of the Apes doesn't seem to connect with xenophobia as much as the Science Fiction that we have read in class does. When the apes capture Taylor, they seem more intrigued, rather than xenophobic. The apes that don't deal with the humans and are just townspeople do seem to be afraid when Taylor escapes, though. Taylor, however, does seem more xenophobic because he is not used to the planet and as a human doesn't think that apes are as competent as they are on this planet. This movie pertains to the short story Puppet Master because at the end of the story the question asked is, "what is the master race?" This movie shows that humans are not the master race, at least I do not think humans are the master race. There is the possibility of other species we do not know of that are just as smart, if not smarter than us.
It seems like the ape who crumpled the paper airplane knows how it works, but doesn't want anyone else to know about it. I think that is the same ape who messed up Taylor's writing when he was trying to communicate to them through writing in the dirt with a stick. He knows about humans and just wants to keep them in captivity and inferior, just like we had done to them. This ape is afraid of being made the animal once again.
The Dr. in the planet of the apes is a good example of xenophobia. He is scared of something beyond his borders, of mutants like Taylor. But little does the dr. know that Taylor is from further away than he thinks. The Dr is afraid of people beyond his border, but there are people, that look like his stupid human slaves, that are even more advanced than the apes and were thought to be inferior. His fear hid the truth of the humans, and was afraid of them. this planet is what our own could look like in thousands or millions of years, where we were wiped out by ourself. the Dr does not want this to happen to his own civilization, so he hides it
The elder ape refuses to believe that Taylor comes form another planet, calling him a mutant. He is verbally superior to Taylor, but does not attempt to be physically superior. This shows that the head ape is fearful of being overpowered by Taylor. He knows that taylor is able to dominnate him if the situation became physical, and therefore had Taylor shackled and guards nearby.
The apes are so hesitant to let Taylor into the "wild" because they fear his ability to overthrow or disrupt their society. If any of the wild humans had escaped from the testing facility, the apes would nto have been overly concerned. Buyt because Taylor has hte abiliyt ot talk, and appears to be just as smart as the apes, they panic and go out of their way to make sure he is recaptured.
When the young ape, the nephew, states that "you cannot trust the older generation", he acknowledges a form of xenaphobia within one's own species. there is a fear of the older generation's corruption and a corresponding fear of the younger generation's independence.
The apes that aren't scientist seem to be very ignorant and single minded. I don't completely understand why the apes don't like or are scared of Taylor he is not too foreign to them he can just can talk unlike the other humans. If an ape started talk I would be shocked but I would not want to kill it.
If there where humans there before and they where like Taylor how did the humans become ape like and apes the dominate like humans?
The definition of xenophobia can be stretched many different directions - and is easily shown in The Planet of the Apes. Not only are the apes afraid of Taylor, but they are also afraid of certain unspoken lands. They do not dare to explore these areas, because they base their beliefs off fear and what they have been told. Also. the ape (priest?) has a very difficult time believing anything that Taylor has told him about Earth, because he thinks flying is impossible.
Much of this movie ties into disbelief in extrapolation, because the apes do not understand there can be survival on certain land masses, or travel other than land. Though it is very easy for Taylor to explain how he traveled from a different planet, no ape can expand their imagination towards extrapolation. They are incapable of determining where he truly came from, because they are afraid of the truth.
The Apes in this movie are showing that they are superior because of how they capture humans and have them as their slaves and prisoners. Their ability to speak english also shows that they are more superior than the others, but when Taylor proves to the Apes that he can write and also speak english, it frightens the Apes because it weakens their superiority. When Taylor tied up the Ape, the other Apes were very angry and said that it was inhuman. But then Taylor challenged them by saying they did the exact same thing to him, which is a very good point. And they did that because Taylor was inferior to him at the time which relates to the concept of xenophobia once again.
The Planet of the Apes makes us think about the things that we most fear and just how xenophobic our society has become. Humans are typically afraid of those who are foreign and different than what they are used to. The apes in the movie created a society that fears humans and in order to ease their fears they try to control the humans as though they are beasts. I think the apes are aware of the fact that man is intelligent and can compete with the intelligence of the ape race, so they do everything they can to prevent the humans from rising above them. This shows that xenophobia isn't just humans fearing other humans who are foreign, but it can mean a fear of other beings, as well as fear of having to compete with races once thought to be incapable of rising above all others.
And then there is the whole, "We finally did it!" thing which is kind of weird to think because in a way our brutishness as humans SPOILERS did start the whole thing as seen in the second to last and last of the sequels. even though there are quite a few good people who are humans enslaving all of humanity was a little extreme for the apes. Also if I recall correctly the apes were taught to use weapons by another ape who was the son of the ones who traveled back in time to escape the planet blowing up. So this shows that whoever is the one with the most fight and the most greed or want for power will be on top of the species chain. I have a dream where man and ape can live equally.
Xenophobia ties into the end of this movie because the apes are starting to wonder if the men from earth have brought other people "of their kind" to this planet. They are worried because they don't know who the main man is or where he is from. He is obviously foreign to the planet and continues to try to escape. After the apes help him escape, they watch him and they find it weird that he shaves. Shaving is not something that they do so it seemed very foreign and surprising to them. Its interesting that the Statue of Liberty was on the foreign planet at the end but it just contributes more to xenophobia in the movie.
The movie uses the same conflict we have in our lives which is the conflict between religion and science. The apes refuse to except that they are not the most advanced civilization. When the head ape learned that they were not the master race he covered it up so the other apes will not lose faith.
At the end of the movie, Taylor found out that his journey to find rut how to get home was over the whole time. over the 2000 something years he was gone, the earth had completely changed and apes became more dominant. I think he is disapointed in the end because now that he is home, he has no where to go.
The "Forbidden Zone" represents another element of xenophobia. This is because they have created a fear for all of the apes from entering this area. It is only because they have not even tried to explore the area due to the previous fear that they cannot even survive there. The 'doctor' who is in charge of everything seems to be scared to discover another race of superior beings or that his beliefs be proven wrong or even questioned.
Taylor recognizes that there was something or someone on the planet before the apes that was more advanced than them.
Through the religious teachings by the apes, they have developed a fear of mankind based on illusions of their behaviors which have been misinterpreted prior to their existence.
Appearantly, the writers and producers are trying to tell us that mankind is leading itself to its own destruction and evolution is on its way to restarting itself from the beginning.
Its interesting that the captured humans are being sold to the labs and being experimented on. It kind of reminds me of the holocaust where Jewish people were captured and sold to camps to be harshly tested on. The reasons why in the movie and in real life are the same. Xenophobia. Hitler wanted everyone to be the same and only wanted blonde hair blue eyed white people. The idea of zenophobia is rejecting others who are different. Thats what hitler did; and its ironic that he was part Jewish.
Connections: Simpsons "u have finally made a monkey out of me..." Spaceballs mega maid scene
I think this movie makes us confront the flaws in our society. We have no choice but to compare the ape's society to our own. I think it tackles how humans would have to react to a society where those of the hominid persuasion aren't the most intelligent species. Humans are vain in thinking that they are the most advanced organism on this planet. There are animals that far out class us in certain areas.
This movie is largely representative of xenophobia in that the astronauts assume that humans are the superior race upon landing, and upon seeing the behavior of the apes against the humans are appalled by how wrong it is, despite human treatment of apes back on Earth.
ReplyDeleteWith Planet of the apes the film isn't really banking on the xenophobia of an alien life form but the idea of enslavement of mankind by and animal most humans feel are lesser than human beings, the apes. The film also plays on controversies over inter-species relationships but that is another story for a later blog topic.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure when they put Charlton Heston in that world his reactions were true due to his at first unwillingness to accept the idea of mankind not being the tops dogs, or I mean top species on Earth. The end is
SPOILERS
great with this idea because even though Charlton Heston (in a career defining role as Charlton Heston) eventually accepts that on this planet humans are just pets. But when he sees that it is really Earth he flips out with a big scream in the sand.
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And the part with the American flag is the first thing that one character (I think his name was Lazarus Sullivan) thinks about when on the beach is interesting since it is like he has to rock an unknown place as a familiar place.
And the Goldsmith score gets a top score from me!
And I will now leave after the lame joke. I am deeply sorry for typing it. This is Jason by the way.
I think this video is a good comparison to the other things we have read. Planet of the Apes is a good example of xenophobia. It shows the thoughts we have about different people. People discriminate against a certain race because of difference and change. Some of us dont like change so that can create problems.
ReplyDeletePlanet of the Apes makes us contemplate and wrestle with the concept of xenophobia because it is frightening for us to grasp the idea that apes are the master race on this planet and humans are slaves to them. We are afraid of these foreigners because they are alot like the apes on earth and the humans on this planet are a lot like the humans on earth, and to see that the apes enslave the humans really add to xenophobia.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia comes from ignorance and a closed mind. If we are able to see life from another perspective, then it is hard to be xenophobic. Planet of the Apes lets us look on a whole other reality where Monkeys are the dominate specie. Seeing this helps us realize that it is hard to think we are the best and not accept others when we have no idea who they are and what they are capable of. It also helps us see what it is like being enslaved and oppressed as a whole. It gives me insight especially on animal cruelty. I don't believe animals are secondary to humans. They have senses and abilities that we do not. All we have on them is the capability to emote. They can think, communicate, breathe underwater, see via sonar, sense storms, fly, see ghosts(I believe) and have immense strength, brute force and massive body mass. To think we are superior is a flaw. We are of a higher intelligence and a have more evolved brain but they have abilities we can only dream of. This and "The Silk and the Song" gives insight to this similar type of xenophobia and false superiority by role reversal by an unknown species.
ReplyDeletethe planet of the apes movie relates to the concept of xenophonia because when they land they are unsure of what to expect of this new planet that they crashed on. while they are on this new planet they see people in the grasses and start to judge them before even meeting them.
ReplyDeleteThey have no idea what planet they are on and are scared of where they are? what happened on earth? and what else might be on this planet? that relates to xenephobia in they are scared of what strangers might be their. This also looks like The silk and the Song, where humans are the inferior race or slaves under something else.
ReplyDeleteI think that planet of the apes is alot like your storys because these humans in the movie are scared of the apes that hunt them. In most storys humans are scared of the alienns that come from other planets but its differant in this movie cause the apes live with the humans.
ReplyDeleteThe Planet of the Apes relates to xenophobia because the astronauts are on an alien planet more than two thousand years in the future so it is very foreign to them. Also they are on a planet where the suppior race is apes that treat humans like pets. Like in the story "The Silk and the Song" the humans are treated like horses. How can they be over twenty centuries away from earth but have not aged more then a year or so? Is the planet like Earth only aged a long time? People in this movie act as if they don't have opposable thumbs. The roles of humans and apes are reversed.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the main characters of Planet Of the Apes left earth and took the mission because he hates people. He later explained that he didnt hate man, he just thought there was something better out there. One of the main ideas of zenophobia is fear of people because of their differences. The fact that he thought there was something different out there implied that he wanted something different. When i heard that, I thought about the idea of him being zenophobic. Most people that are zenophobic, always wish for something different and always want people to change. This, being strictly stereotypical, isnt always true and sometimes is the opposite of real life zenophobic people. Maybe i will see more examples later.
ReplyDeleteFor being on a new planet, the exploration team doesn't seem that fearful. Maybe this is something they've done many times before, but I would think there would still be a little bit of fear at exploring a new land. And what do they think they're going to do once they find these life forms they're looking for? They could be primative, and the earthlings would be stuck on this planet forever. And, they'd be the only humans on that planet with no hope of colonizing it.
ReplyDeleteCould the butt-naked-ness by symbolizm for their arrival on a new planet? Perhaps it symbolizes their new start in a different world, or it could represent their vulnerability.
Humans are treated like animals, but also not. They're getting medical treatment from the dominant race.
The "Planet of the Apes" movie makes us contemplate and wrestle with the concept of xenophobia because the three men who have landed their air craft have aged approximately 2000 and some years and are now on a totally different land or planet trying to not only discover where they are, but when they are. This can relate to xenophobia because they are almost "foreigners" of this planet. They do not know who lives on the planet and whether or not there is a master race. If so, the concept of xenophobia would occur again because the three men (humans) would probably be foreigners or even aliens to the master race(Apes) living on the planet. This can compare to the story "The Silk and the Song" because in both cases, humans are not the master race.
ReplyDeleteSo far in The Planet Of the Apes, the space officials have crash landed on an unfmailiar planet which so far, seems to be much like Earth that contains water and life forms. The unidentified life forms have stolen the humans clothes and suppy cases. I could imagine that the life forms are xenephobic toward the humans because they are different and alien. The life forms on this mysterious planet surprizingly look alot like humans, but definatly act more like animals.However,they are not the only life forms on the planet. There are ape-like creatures that act more like humans and ride horses and shoot guns! The humans that unexpectedly landed on this planet are probably freaked out right now about what is going on... apes on horses...shooting, killing, and capturing people! XENOPHOBIA.
ReplyDeleteThe men are suprisingly calm about their situation because they have a sense of comfor and of superiority over people of their own kind. It doesn't occur to them that their joourney may be hindered by the presence of a more superior race and therefor they proceed without caution. This puts them at risk and they are soon cpatured for "testing".
ReplyDeleteIn most stories we have read, humans are the master race and usually show xenophobia towards other life forms. But in The Planent of the Apes movie it is reversed because the Apes are the master race and discriminate against the humans and treat them as pests, trophies, science experiments. In the movie the humans are confronted by the fact that they are not dominate species therefore they show xenophobia towards the apes because of the reverse role. In The King of the Beasts it says that "It is worse than elephants, tigers, and bears....Yes. It is a man."
ReplyDeleteThe Planet of the Apes doesn't seem to connect with xenophobia as much as the Science Fiction that we have read in class. When the apes capture the human, they seem more intrigued, rather than xenophobic. The human, however, does seem more xenophobic because he is not used to the planet and was chased and captured by the apes.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember whether or not I actually entered my other blog comment, so here it goes again:
ReplyDeleteThe most valuable factor of The Planet of the Apes we have experienced so far is how the apes deal with the human from Earth. They think the white man is very peculiar, and are interested to know why he is so different than others. It deals with other Science Fiction we have read by showing how different each species is viewed depending on where they are from.
Also, though they are on the same planet, the dark humans are deathly afraid of the apes because the apes are very superior. This is also a factor of xenophobia, in relation to its specific definition of fear in foreigners or strangers.
The Planet Of The Apes movie makes us wrestle with the concept of xenophobia in many ways. From what we have seen in this movie so far, it closely relates the The Silk And The Song. I believe this because in Planet Of The Apes, three men crash onto a planet where humans are not the master race, so they are considered 'foreigners'. In The Silk and The Song, humans are not considered the master race,they are slaves. What I have picked up in most Science Fiction is that there is a fear of not just humans, but foreigners.
ReplyDeleteThis movie has a lot of connections to many of the stories we read about xenophobia. The one that has the most connection I think would probably be The King of the Beasts. The superior beings in The King of the Beasts put the human in a cage just like the apes in Planet of the Apes put humans in cages and treat them just like animals.
ReplyDelete"The Planet of The Apes" has a lot of xenophobia in it. From the beginning the people are skeptical about where they have landed and what they have gotten them selfs into. The Apes aren't as afraid of the people as I think the people are afraid of the Apes. I think this is because in this new world the Apes are the almighty and are stronger than the people, thus boosting their confidence when its time to capture the people.
ReplyDeleteThere is a complete turn around from the beginning of the movie when the apes first found the humans, to when they discover who the man really is. At first, they were interested in him, but later on they try and destroy him and do not believe that he is actually human. They find it ludicrous that a man is actually able to talk and communicate with them, because it is so different from what they are familiar with.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of xenophobia, because they are almost afraid that he is a different human. They can't understand that he is truly harmless and similar to the apes.
The apes think that the humans cannot talk. Why don't they think that humans are smart? Out of all of the languages to survive why is English the only one. How come none of the other humans can talk? The apes called the main character a freak when he finally talked. They are probably afraid that he will teach the other humans how to act like actual humans. They have xenophobia towards Taylor because he is completely different from the other people. They have only one kind of person which doesn't even know how to speak.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is displayed when the men land on this new planet and they do not recognize that they could be the inferior being. They just think that they will come into the new society and take charge because they think they are the superior race regardless of where they are. The apes and Taylor have this certain conflict going that keeps them from realizing who the true master race is or that the master race is not necessarily set in stone.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is again displayed with the monkeys' fear of the humans and so they implement a power over the humans in order to handle their fear. The monkey-guy who seems to be in charge of everything seems to know that the humans are smarter than the credit that they are given. Because of this, he does not want everyone else to know that they are intelligent because that could throw off the illusion that the apes are the superior race. He chooses not to recognize this intelligence in order to keep his power where it has been established. Xenophobia implies fear and this is exactly what is being desplayed by the apes.
This movie is sort of... humbling for me. I've aspired to be something of an "animal psychologist" for as long as I can remember. Is this how certain animals like dogs or monkeys view us as we run tests on them? They aren't as gifted with language as a human would be, but do they have the same feelings of inadequicy or frustration? It's a humbling experience for humans as a species, I guess, to be viewed as anything less than the master race. Maybe there's a lesson in here somewhere about treated the other species on this planet with the same respect we treat other humans.
ReplyDeleteThe apes begin to show their superiority, both physical and through their advancement of technology. The doctors are weary of the humans, treating them like incompetent and unadvanced creatures. The captured humans show a crude savagry that is equivalent to our view of apes. The roles are reversed, like in the Silk and the Song. The female doctor is compassionate and curious about the humans, especially after she learns of their ability to write. The other apes, however, remain fearful and untrusting of the humans.
ReplyDeleteCornelius, one of the apes, hypothesised that apes developed from human man. Now that he has proof to confirm his hypothesis, he is very unwilling to use it as support. He is scared of punishment that he may recieve for his thinking. This punishment is rooted in the apes' xenophobia.
When Taylor regians his ability to talk, the apes become frightened. His ability to talk lessens the apes' feeling of superiority.
The trial format that occurs when after Taylor poses a threat to the apes is very earth like, and the set up represses any opportunity Taylopr may have to speak. The apes turn all Taylor's statements against him, making his lack of knowledge seem like an inability to think. This ensures that the apes remain in cotrol of the trial. The judges are unwilling to accept foreign ideas and are very closed-minded.
The apes in the movie are the master race. They are afraid of the humans who are like animals. Taylor is something totally new to the apes because he is the only human who has talked. All of the apes are very scared because he is a stranger. The apes feel that Taylor is a scientific experiment. The apes can only argue amongst themselves to determine who and why Taylor is different.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Planet of the Apes," xenephobia is strongly portrayed through the way the apes treat the humans. They treat them as if they are animals; locking them in cages, leading them around on leashes, and beating them. Taylor, the one human that can speak the apes language is treated especially poor becasue the apes have never heard of any "animal" (human) to speak english. I think that most the apes are afraid of him because he may have more knowledge than any of them. He has done things that are unspoken of on the planet of the apes, such as flying, crossing the desert, and "falling" from the sky into the water. All the apes, except for one, are absolutely xenephobic towrads Taylor.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting when the main ape talks about creation, but how "god made ape in his image:. This jeopardizes the idea of religion. The director is questioning creation and religion and authority and equality. "All apes are created equal" when they are obviously shown unequal, as in our society. Men do not have rights. Ignorance is encouraged so the apes can remain in their superior place over humans. When you do not give a race a chance to be equal, they never will. If you never teach a baby how to talk, it will never learn. This is what they have done with humans. I think the teacher ape in tan clothing knows the truth about humans. I think he knows that men were once superior, before some sort of war they had where apes overcame them. This is why he gave Landon a lobotomy. He wants to keep the lower species below him.
ReplyDelete"Planet of the Apes" contains the concept of xenophobia because once the men crash and escape from their ship, they find themselves to be on a foreign planet. There are no traces of life and they are worried about how long their food will last. They figured out that they are in the year 3978 and they are thousands of light years from Earth. They realize that there is life on this planet because they saw something steal their clothes while they were swimming. They still don't really know where they are or what is going on when the group of "apes" starts to attack. The apes have taken the men and they are locking them up in cages with the rest of the people that were captured. I think the people are worried because these apes are foreign to them and they do not know what is going to happen. This ties in xenophobia because it relates to its actual definition of fear in strangers or foreigners.
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ReplyDeleteIn the movie the roles are switched and it doesn't seem like the apes are scared of the humans but they just wont to study them or kill them. The humans to most of the apes are useless except to the ones who want to study them.
ReplyDeleteThey treat the humans like very dumb animals. Taylor is actually smarter then these apes but the Cornelius wont except that. I wonder if Taylor starts to talk what they will do. Like the silk and the song the roles are switched but and the humans are animals this is a hard thing to rap your heads around it would be weird to think of ourself as animals. But humans in history have treated each other like animals. I wonder why in this movie they chose to make the humans mute because in our world apes communicate just like almost all animals.
After the first two watching sorry Mr. Trotter didnt do the first day but, the idea of xenophobia is thrown on its head by making humans the subject of fear and not the one who is afraid. This whole role reversal shows i believe was meant to attack society as being ignorant and Xenophobic with animals or beasts but for strictly science fiction purposes it just ilistrates the idea of fear of something that challenges ideas that we percieve as concrete. It follows the same basic ideas of the silk and the song in which humans are the subordanant race, but Planet takes it to the extreme saying that humans should be held and exterminated.
ReplyDeleteAs the movie moves on, we can clearly see that the apes believe that they are superior to humans and also that they cannot think themselves. We can also see that the apes may be up to something because of the discovery of the captain whose brain had been messed with. The apes are curious to know if there is anything beyond the forbidden zone and think Taylor may know something of it.
ReplyDeleteThe white monkey is afraid of Taylor because he knows that if there is one human like Taylor there are others. Taylor is afraid of the monkey race because it is backwards from ours, he calls it upside down I feel like the white monkey is also afraid of Taylor because he knows Taylor is telling the truth, and the truth is too much for him to handle.
ReplyDeleteThis chunk of the film has less to do with general xenophobia, and more to do with corruption of power due to xenophobia. It has been established that the government is afraid of it slipping that a human can speak, but at this point when he offers to reason with "The mutant" he is less afraid of the creature itself than what could happen to his power when the secret slips.
ReplyDeleteIn the eyes of the apes, Taylor is a mutant. None of the apes believe that he could have come from the forbidden zone because that kind of land can't sustain any life. They think that Taylor is a freak. This is because he is different and the apes have never seen anything like him. They are scared because he can talk and no other human can. The apes are intimidated.
ReplyDeleteWhen Taylor shaves his beard the monkeys are startled, they have never seen that before. They say it makes him look less intelligent. They criticize it because it is foreign to them, which is something they do a lot in this film.
ReplyDeletein the movie planet of the apes has an old doctor that refuses to accept the truth of man. all the facts are in front of him and will never accept it. this is an expample of exenophobia because he didnt want any part of the truth and was probably scared of how man was there first before the apes.
ReplyDeleteThe doctor called the human a mutant. What would people think if a talking ape came to earth? The doctor doesn't believe Taylor when he is telling the truth. He probably knows that he is telling the truth and he just wants him to admit that he is lying so that he doesn't have to think that he actually came from a different planet where apes are not the supirior race. The apes thought that it is ok to treat humans like dogs but when one of their own was tied up they did not approve. The scroll that the monkey reads aloud is not about the humans being the killers but about the apes being the insupirior to humans.
ReplyDeleteIn Planet of The Apes, there are different types of Apes-meaning their personalities differ, just like in human beings. The three apes that save the man are like people who save dogs and other animals from animal testing. Atlough they are still puzzled with some of the things he does, like saving the girl and shaving his beard.
ReplyDeleteThe Planet of the Apes doesn't seem to connect with xenophobia as much as the Science Fiction that we have read in class does. When the apes capture Taylor, they seem more intrigued, rather than xenophobic. The apes that don't deal with the humans and are just townspeople do seem to be afraid when Taylor escapes, though. Taylor, however, does seem more xenophobic because he is not used to the planet and as a human doesn't think that apes are as competent as they are on this planet. This movie pertains to the short story Puppet Master because at the end of the story the question asked is, "what is the master race?" This movie shows that humans are not the master race, at least I do not think humans are the master race. There is the possibility of other species we do not know of that are just as smart, if not smarter than us.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the ape who crumpled the paper airplane knows how it works, but doesn't want anyone else to know about it. I think that is the same ape who messed up Taylor's writing when he was trying to communicate to them through writing in the dirt with a stick. He knows about humans and just wants to keep them in captivity and inferior, just like we had done to them. This ape is afraid of being made the animal once again.
The Dr. in the planet of the apes is a good example of xenophobia. He is scared of something beyond his borders, of mutants like Taylor. But little does the dr. know that Taylor is from further away than he thinks. The Dr is afraid of people beyond his border, but there are people, that look like his stupid human slaves, that are even more advanced than the apes and were thought to be inferior. His fear hid the truth of the humans, and was afraid of them. this planet is what our own could look like in thousands or millions of years, where we were wiped out by ourself. the Dr does not want this to happen to his own civilization, so he hides it
ReplyDeleteThe elder ape refuses to believe that Taylor comes form another planet, calling him a mutant. He is verbally superior to Taylor, but does not attempt to be physically superior. This shows that the head ape is fearful of being overpowered by Taylor. He knows that taylor is able to dominnate him if the situation became physical, and therefore had Taylor shackled and guards nearby.
ReplyDeleteThe apes are so hesitant to let Taylor into the "wild" because they fear his ability to overthrow or disrupt their society. If any of the wild humans had escaped from the testing facility, the apes would nto have been overly concerned. Buyt because Taylor has hte abiliyt ot talk, and appears to be just as smart as the apes, they panic and go out of their way to make sure he is recaptured.
When the young ape, the nephew, states that "you cannot trust the older generation", he acknowledges a form of xenaphobia within one's own species. there is a fear of the older generation's corruption and a corresponding fear of the younger generation's independence.
The apes that aren't scientist seem to be very ignorant and single minded. I don't completely understand why the apes don't like or are scared of Taylor he is not too foreign to them he can just can talk unlike the other humans. If an ape started talk I would be shocked but I would not want to kill it.
ReplyDeleteIf there where humans there before and they where like Taylor how did the humans become ape like and apes the dominate like humans?
The definition of xenophobia can be stretched many different directions - and is easily shown in The Planet of the Apes. Not only are the apes afraid of Taylor, but they are also afraid of certain unspoken lands. They do not dare to explore these areas, because they base their beliefs off fear and what they have been told. Also. the ape (priest?) has a very difficult time believing anything that Taylor has told him about Earth, because he thinks flying is impossible.
ReplyDeleteMuch of this movie ties into disbelief in extrapolation, because the apes do not understand there can be survival on certain land masses, or travel other than land. Though it is very easy for Taylor to explain how he traveled from a different planet, no ape can expand their imagination towards extrapolation. They are incapable of determining where he truly came from, because they are afraid of the truth.
The Apes in this movie are showing that they are superior because of how they capture humans and have them as their slaves and prisoners. Their ability to speak english also shows that they are more superior than the others, but when Taylor proves to the Apes that he can write and also speak english, it frightens the Apes because it weakens their superiority. When Taylor tied up the Ape, the other Apes were very angry and said that it was inhuman. But then Taylor challenged them by saying they did the exact same thing to him, which is a very good point. And they did that because Taylor was inferior to him at the time which relates to the concept of xenophobia once again.
ReplyDeleteThe Planet of the Apes makes us think about the things that we most fear and just how xenophobic our society has become. Humans are typically afraid of those who are foreign and different than what they are used to. The apes in the movie created a society that fears humans and in order to ease their fears they try to control the humans as though they are beasts. I think the apes are aware of the fact that man is intelligent and can compete with the intelligence of the ape race, so they do everything they can to prevent the humans from rising above them. This shows that xenophobia isn't just humans fearing other humans who are foreign, but it can mean a fear of other beings, as well as fear of having to compete with races once thought to be incapable of rising above all others.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is the whole, "We finally did it!" thing which is kind of weird to think because in a way our brutishness as humans
ReplyDeleteSPOILERS
did start the whole thing as seen in the second to last and last of the sequels. even though there are quite a few good people who are humans enslaving all of humanity was a little extreme for the apes. Also if I recall correctly the apes were taught to use weapons by another ape who was the son of the ones who traveled back in time to escape the planet blowing up. So this shows that whoever is the one with the most fight and the most greed or want for power will be on top of the species chain. I have a dream where man and ape can live equally.
Xenophobia ties into the end of this movie because the apes are starting to wonder if the men from earth have brought other people "of their kind" to this planet. They are worried because they don't know who the main man is or where he is from. He is obviously foreign to the planet and continues to try to escape. After the apes help him escape, they watch him and they find it weird that he shaves. Shaving is not something that they do so it seemed very foreign and surprising to them. Its interesting that the Statue of Liberty was on the foreign planet at the end but it just contributes more to xenophobia in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe movie uses the same conflict we have in our lives which is the conflict between religion and science. The apes refuse to except that they are not the most advanced civilization. When the head ape learned that they were not the master race he covered it up so the other apes will not lose faith.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the movie, Taylor found out that his journey to find rut how to get home was over the whole time. over the 2000 something years he was gone, the earth had completely changed and apes became more dominant. I think he is disapointed in the end because now that he is home, he has no where to go.
ReplyDeleteThe "Forbidden Zone" represents another element of xenophobia. This is because they have created a fear for all of the apes from entering this area. It is only because they have not even tried to explore the area due to the previous fear that they cannot even survive there. The 'doctor' who is in charge of everything seems to be scared to discover another race of superior beings or that his beliefs be proven wrong or even questioned.
ReplyDeleteTaylor recognizes that there was something or someone on the planet before the apes that was more advanced than them.
Through the religious teachings by the apes, they have developed a fear of mankind based on illusions of their behaviors which have been misinterpreted prior to their existence.
Appearantly, the writers and producers are trying to tell us that mankind is leading itself to its own destruction and evolution is on its way to restarting itself from the beginning.
Its interesting that the captured humans are being sold to the labs and being experimented on. It kind of reminds me of the holocaust where Jewish people were captured and sold to camps to be harshly tested on. The reasons why in the movie and in real life are the same. Xenophobia. Hitler wanted everyone to be the same and only wanted blonde hair blue eyed white people. The idea of zenophobia is rejecting others who are different. Thats what hitler did; and its ironic that he was part Jewish.
ReplyDeleteConnections:
Simpsons "u have finally made a monkey out of me..."
Spaceballs mega maid scene
I think this movie makes us confront the flaws in our society. We have no choice but to compare the ape's society to our own. I think it tackles how humans would have to react to a society where those of the hominid persuasion aren't the most intelligent species. Humans are vain in thinking that they are the most advanced organism on this planet. There are animals that far out class us in certain areas.
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