Is "Planet of The Apes" an allegory for Evolution?

Question

Think about it; the apes learn to speak, use tools, unite to fight the common enemy(man), build social institutions equivalent to modern society, etc.

What do you think, and what sort of religion do you think the apes practiced? If the apes were to continue evolving, and set up there own internet with R&S, would they post questions like, "If man evolved from monkeys, why are we in charge now?"

Answer 1

LOL!

Seriously, I would agree with your idea. It is so plausible. I believe if apes evolved into better creatures and were able to surpass our intelligence after stagnating our own evolution, there will be one point when they will control humans (It will take a very long time before this happens). I believe we are slowing our own evolution! Yes "Planet of The Apes" is an allegory for Evolution. And one day they will ask this question "If man evolved from monkeys, why are we in charge now?"; it would be a challenging question for their generations.

I have asked a similar question a while ago:

Link; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0WTcZoqCltHEQMAFxrty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071128140303AAfu41z

Answer 2

The book was - if I rememember right (it's been 20 years since I read it but don't tell anybody that) - a thinly veiled social commentary on the evils of human nature, directed against the idealists in both Marxist and Capitalist schools.

As far as the movie(s), they don't quite capture the biting political satire of the book (again from my 20-year-ago recollections), but to some extent they parabolize the events of the 60's: the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, etc.

As far as what religion the apes practice, in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (I think) we find out the hideous rubber masks the apes wear are really, well, hideous rubber masks: they all peel off their faces and bow down to the Great Atom-Bomb, Creator of their new world order where apes are ascendant and man has descended into mere creaturedom.

The question that both the books and the movies raise from an evolutionary standpoint is: is evolution a reversible process or is "progress" inevitable? Do we take for granted that we are as a race evolving or can we slide back into primitive unawareness? (And will we be the architects of that slide, authors of our own destruction...)

(Again, hazy memory and all, this is probably the most ill-informed answer I've ever posted on here, so take it all with a few grains of salt).

Peace to you.

Answer 3

Well, I like the part where the sexy monkey lady kisses the dude goodbye. It's kind of naughty.

As for the story of evolution projected by the movie... I like how "the truth" of the downfall of mankind is kept secret from the monkey society by those with positions of power... the parallels are meant to be obvious.. I mean.. its an American audience... and ..oh that doesn't sound very polite does it? I mean.. its an American audience and since there is such a high proportion of religious people in America then that's what makes it obvious... phew.

In planet of the apes they taught that man was a separate subspecies and that apes evolved from prehistoric apes. I think the monkeys would ask... "how did the humans survive the environmental disaster brought on by the burning of fossil fuels" - you see... the apes in that movie were environmentalists... didn't you notice the pedestrian cities?

Answer 4

In Egyptian mythology the baboon (along with the ibis)is often seen as the symbol of Thoth.

Also known as Tahuti the God of magic, writing and the Moon. In this particular form he mimics the universe around him, hence the phrase "monkey see, monkey do."

Examples of this are to be found in the Papyrus of Ani, or the Book of Going Forth by Day whom some say was written by Thoth.

Many of the Rituals utilized by contemporary practioners of the Western Esoteric Tradition are derived therefrom.

Answer 5

Planet of the Apes presumes evolution to be true, though you don't know this until the end of the movie.

At that point, it becomes a cautionary tale. Apes, according to the movie, are more suited for survival in a post apocalyptic earth.

Answer 6

More an allegory of what we mistake for civilization, I think. The point is us, rather than the apes? Seems to me there's a lot of evolution ahead of humanity yet, if we don't destroy ourselves and much else before we get around to it.

Answer 7

Absolutely... and they worshiped a God who looked like an ape... and that they were "created" in it's image. They even had a scene where a religious leader was ordering the destruction of archeology that disproved his god. Further, Charleton Heston needed to be killed, because he could talk and disproved their religious dogma of creation. The parallels are clear.

Their questions in this forum would look like: "If God had intended for humans to be anything other than food, why did he make them so tasty?" lmao...

Answer 8

It's a parable for religious (or political) intolerance with an obvious trick of reversing evolution so that us movie-going humans would also think more about the way we treat animals (and each other)

Quite a neat trick, I thought.

You DO mean the original movie? The remake was dreck....

Answer 9

Yes, as is the theme song from the musical version:

"I hate every chimp I see
from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z
You'll never make a monkey out of me

Oh my gosh, I was wrong
It was Earth all along
You've finally made a monkey
(Yes we've finally made a monkey)
Yes you've finally made a monkey out of me

I love you Dr. Zaius"

-From the Simpsons

Answer 10

We are apes - Linnaeus Classification system.

"Planet..." is an allegory for man's tendency towards extreme violence.