Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

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Interesting political analogue to the North Atlantic slave trade, endemic White supremacism and apartheid that pushes all the right Spartacist emotional buttons.

Although slavery in a modern technological culture makes little sense since it deprives non-slaves of work opportunities, the movie is clever enough to make this an issue of the very folly of slavery and White supremacism itself. in particular the desire of Whites to dominate other human beings and other species is well presented by don Murray's view that White supremacism is justified to control the very resentment among simians caused by White supremacism. His character's solution is more of the same violent treatment causing his fear of the backlash; making the backlash more inevitable. Fear and bad treatment of apes is thus a self-destructive self-fulfilling prophecy that reveals a White culture at war with its own foundational premises - a belief in its on superiority refuted by a dependency on proving such a belief without the slightest evidence. Why would anyone fear someone inferior, if they really were inferior? The revolt of the apes is reminiscent of the civil war that erupted in South Africa in the 1980s and revolt of the slaves led by Toussaint Louverture in San Domingo in 1791 and 9/11.

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For once Black people are shown as more intelligent and more empathetic than Whites; while occupying positions of authority over them. It is highly unusual for a political satire to be this honest about the nature of the people who made it. In real life the question is: Who is really human Black people or Whites; in this movie it is a choice between Human and Ape. Who are the real animals here? One of the best cinematic explorations of White supremacism ever committed to film because it understands that Whites fear Blacks because Blacks were the first humans and that thus inside every White is a Black. Thus, White supremacism is a form of self-hatred. Hopefully apes will make a better job of running the world than Whites have.

Copyright © 2012 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.