Quicke: The Race and Ethnicity Issues of Planet of the Apes.

1964 Cover

    I meant to post this last week, but it got delayed. Whoops! I'll have another post coming later in the week. Enjoy!

     Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes from 1963 is about a small science expedition that travels to another planet that is ruled over by hyper-intelligent apes instead of humans. The story is told by a journalist named Ulysse’s point of view, as he is captured and housed in a human research lab. Humans on the planet Betelgeuse are of low intelligence and are the equivalent of apes on our Earth, so Ulysse is treated like an animal instead of as a free thinking person. The apes see him as a human who can perform parlor tricks, and not someone on their level. Even amongst ape society, the three types of monkeys: Gorilla’s, Chimpanzees, and Orangutang's and treated very differently. 

Chimps are often described in the same way a minority or an average person might be. They typically don’t get to make any important choices about society or science, unless they can prove themselves worthy. 

The orangoutangs are the gatekeepers of all knowledge and discovery “They are official science”. They tend to have backgrounds in science and academia. 

Finally, the gorillas are seen as the rulers of the world and keepers of privilege. “They are meat eaters. They were once our overlords, and many of them preserve a lust for power.” Because they are the strongest and most powerful, they tend to make many of the major choices and decisions about society.

Even Ulysse himself is not above a bit of racism while on the planet. When he first discovers Nova, he states: “ A female savage. Belonging to some backward race like those found in New Guinea or in our African forests?”  This might suggest that Ulysse has a European sense of superiority, and may also suggest possible themes of orientalism and colonialism. 

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Quickie: 2001 A Space Odyssey

    Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey is a film to seeks to get us to both see and feel the past and ongoing stages of human evolution. The beginning of the film is a black screen with subtle humming sound that can be heard. Many viewers have often asked what this, and why it’s in the film. I believe that it’s the Monolith (the black slate that helps continue mans evolution) is trying to communicate, and pass on information to the audience member at home, but it’s so advanced and beyond our human understanding that to use it as a black screen and only sound like mumbled noise. We, the contemporary viewer, are not ready or worthy enough to understand the information it’s trying to communicate to us. This is proceeded by a stream of brilliant colors and rays of light. We are finally able to begin understanding what it is the monolith want to show us, that the human race came out of a primitive and savage time, ruled over by animals and beats. No order. Just survival of the fittest. The monkey's fight over water, showing the viewer that humans need to fight for resources comes from our primal past.

The Flipped Food Chain of The Promised Neverland

Amazon Digital Comic Cover

     Happy February! Love is in the air, it’s cold outside, and the Super Bowl sucked, so let’s talk about some anime. Anime (I feel) can be a great contemporary place to have discussions about popular culture, ethics, and of course, human nature. Just like in Western entertainment, other parts of the world have asked questions through the medium of science fiction, and Japan is no exception. Everything from Gundam to Full Metal Alchemist can be examined through a critical lens, and each series seeks to explore the themes of war, politics, futurism, and so much more. One of the most recent examples of anime science fiction to come out of the 2019 Spring anime season is Studio CloverWorks: Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland). Adapted from the manga of the same name by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu which debuted in 2016, Neverland is an anime that’s eager to discuss what happens to humanity after we lose our place as the most dominant species on the planet, and what the ethical implications of that loss of status are. (Insert spoiler warning here)

Promotional image from the anime adaptation

     In the year 2045, a small group of young children lives a peaceful existence at the Grace Field House, an orphanage looked after by a woman named Isabella, who the children affectionally refer to as Momma. They lead a blissful life, eating gourmet food, playing outside, and sleeping in comfortable beds. The can go anywhere and do anything, as long as they stay within the grounds of the house and nearby forest. The children are kept in this state until Momma finds and selects a home for each child, to which they are sent off and never heard from again. One night when a young girl named Conny is to be sent off, two of the older children, Norman and Emma, notice that she’s forgotten her favorite stuffed animal, and while trying to catch up with her, they discover her dead body at the front gate with Momma. While hidden, Norman and Emma overhear a conversation between Momma and a mysterious alien creature, who reveals the grim nature of Grace Field House. The orphanage has been a farm for raising children to be consumed by these alien creatures this entire time, with the older children being considered more valuable and tasty than the younger less developed ones. Norman and Emma run in horror from this site and begin forming a plan with the rest of the children in secret to escape this grizzly fate that awaits them. 

Momma and the creatures discuss the children's "progress"

     I can’t help think that the entire crux of this anime is to get the audience thinking about factory farming and the meat industry. Most people in America are comfortable with the idea of consuming meat. Whether it be chicken, beef, and so on. We do this knowing that in order to enjoy that tasty Big Mac, an animal must be raised, slaughtered, and processed on a daily basis. As consumers, we juggle this dilemma with our place on the Earth. Man is the most dominant species on the planet due to our advanced brain, and therefore we have unquestioned dominion over other creatures on the planet. Cows, chickens, and lambs don’t get a say on whether or not they want to be harvested for meat, but because meat packing and processing is one of the worlds most dominant food industries, animals are bred, processed and butchered to keep up with consumer demand, and most rational people don’t blink an eye at this. Many will process this like so: “We are human. We are the ones in charge. We have been handpicked by divine intervention/evolution to look after and control this world. Therefore, it’s our right and duty to be able to consume, use, and develop animal products.

 

Opening Theme: "Touch Off" by UVERworld

     When the twist is revealed at the end of Neverland’s first episode, the average viewer is shocked and horrified that these children are being raised for food, but these same people will also then turn around and order a shredded beef taco at the local restaurant. As humans, most of us can accept the moral implications of eating meat, but when we are at risk, and by proxy these characters that look, sound, and talk like we do, we find this to be horrifying. Not only because most rational individuals find the idea hurting/killing a child to be grotesque, but also because it implies that in the world of The Promised Neverland, mankind is no longer the dominant force on the planet. A new species has come in and taken over our place as “divine beings”. We are now seen as low-born livestock to these advanced alien creatures. With that in mind, I ask you this question. If most of us find it morally acceptable to consume meat and use animals products, are we possibly prepared to one day to become the cow in the cage? If some kind of other intelligent life came and conquered us, would we prepared to one day end up as someone Martians main course? Will it be unjust if the food chain one day catches up with us, and we’re no longer at the top? I feel that this is one of the major moral implications and themes of the Promised Neverland. I hope this post gave you some thoughts to....chew on. I’m sorry, sometimes I can’t myself. Until next time.  

Don't worry, this is a family show. Really!