In both the film and novel, Pierre Boulle and Franklin J. Schaffner offer a compelling narrative of how humans interact in society and through a system of hierarchy. Although Boulle and Schaffner incorporate slightly different elements in both tales, the message is the same. The creators of both the film and novel effectively narrated a chilling story about social class, authoritarian views, and experimental science in panoptic like environments like in the distinguished and western philosopher Michael Foucault’s brilliant piece in Discipline & Punish.
Around the world, people are put into social class according to color, race, social behavior, and occupational status. Unfortunately for particular groups of people, life can be a struggle as some humans consider themselves to be of a more value. In the film and book, the social class of chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas are a phenomenal representation and reflection of society and ugly truth of social class and how we are all divided. What is even more interesting in the movie and in real life is how people us social class to justify their way of living.
First, in Planet of the Apes, the message about the ugly truth of social class is strongly connected to society’s mad man view of serious authoritarian deeds. The allegory in this message was to point out how those in power instill fear, show strength, and rely on science to make sense of the world and create a perfect balance according to one point of view, the authoritarian view.
Interestingly, in a more detailed account, the Apes are defined in three categories that include scientists, politicians, and labor workers who happen to be made up of different shades. The different groups of apes are clearly considered to be of different social value are indefinitely considered to be representation of different social classes in real life as well. In regards to the main star Taylor, also known as Uylesses he as seen as the one not in power who is treated atrociously without any rights and is even manipulated by propaganda by the politicians about evolution and his own arrival as a human. Moreover, the apes come together and show Taylor and his companion Nova that a person who is not considered to be of any worth and is possibly a threat will be scientifically experimented on like in Focault’s unforgettable insertion of the experimental chamber or better known as the disciplinary chamber. Of course in Planet of the Apes, Taylor’s mate was lobotomized.
Next, one of the most violent and gripping facts about Planet of the Apes sequels is in Conquest’s Planet of the Apes and not to through readers off, but this particular sequel is in perfect union with the idea of a dystopic theme and panoptic like environment in Focualt’s narrative on a surveillance like system known as “ Panopticism.” To add, the environments in both Discipline & Punish and Conquest are a prison like and “Big brother” like. In an observation of both like situations and settings, power is used to create a dystopic society where communication is minimal unless instructed to do as told. Power is used in such a way to demonstrate the unethical and cruel side to science. More over, the most chilling scene in Conquest is when the Apes fought back with revolution for a plan and Cornelius gives a powerful speech. That speech in my opinion is one of the most memorable scene of all the sequels because it seems to say something about society and the revolutions in our own world.
The lasting impression and correlation among the Planet of the Apes and Foucalt’s work is the attempt to explain how society tries to survive and keep things in order to the point where nothing can be questioned or socially contaminated. In fact, in the popular end scene of the Planet of the Apes film, Taylor comes to the unfortunate understanding that his own people destroyed the planet. What is most interesting about the scene is trying to understand what exact message Schaffner was tying to convey to his audience. I believe that Schaffner sent out the undeniable and forceful apocalyptic vision and insertion that if humans continue to dehumanize each other and use unethical science experiments to explain and understand the world and define the meaning of life, then maybe we as race of human beings will destroy our own world by the harrowing reality of equal struggles throughout the social classes, hierarchy systems, dystopian societies, immoral science projects. Finally, Planet of the Apes and Focualts piece is a great example and representation that reveal the stories about one persons dsytopia and another’s utopia in life and how it destroys civilizations.
Work Cited
Boulle, Pierre. The Planet of the Apes. New York: Del Ray, 1963. Focault, Michel. Discipline & Punish. New York: Vintage books, 1995.
