“The planet of the apes” (1968), reflects a satire of the society, because it mocks human behavior in more than one aspect. This science -fiction film, which is set in a far future time, uses animals (apes) to resemble human roles in society. While humans depict very primitive, non-linguistic, and inferior person-like creatures.
The first scene that ridicules man’s action, is when the astronauts (the sole developed humans in the story) land in an unknown territory, and one of them, Landon (Robert Gunner), places the American flag, to which Taylor (Charlton Heston) responds with a strident sneer laugh. To me that simulates different invasions throughout history, when explorers from more “technologically advanced cultures” arrive to new places,
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These apes ride horses and use arms to violently chase and subjugate humans.
Throughout the movie we can see how the organization of the apes mocks our social organization; for example, in the levels of hierarchy, the top positions are held by the same class of light skin apes: the main leader, Dr. Zaius, the priest, and the judges are all orangutans.
Then come the chimpanzees, they are in the middle: the guards, and professionals like Cornelius and Zira, who need the approval of the leader before taking any action, and sometimes have to obliterate their beliefs, and do not contradict the leader in order of preserving their positions. Last and least humans, the oppressed class: creatures without any rights or benefits.
The movie also addresses religious topics, and evoke times when intellectuals, scientists, and whoever questions the status quo were chased, accused of heresy and killed. In this story, Zira and her boyfriend are accused of heresy because they are close to find the truth about previous human existence. Also the orangutans use religion to hide the truth about the “forbidden zone”, and to keep the rest of the apes under