Monday, August 8, 2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Playing in the Dark

Given the long history of troubling comparisons between black folks and primates in American history and society, I initially felt cautious about writing about the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie here on this black studies site. Didn't want to open the door to a certain kind of harsh response.

Then, I remembered that, ummmm, the primary folks who read here wouldn't go there. So onward.

Despite a few now typical "post racial" approaches and moments throughout the movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes had these interesting instances of 'playing in the dark,' which is to say these instances of engaging in seemingly lighthearted activities with racial undertones.

Similar to the movie Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes relies on one group coming from a jungle and coming into contact with folks from a drastically more civilized, scientific, and presumably white world. The contrast between light and dark, good and bad, and so forth give Rise and Avatar as well as many other movies and narratives their energy.

Among other things, I did enjoy aspects of Caesar's story and the processes by which he organized his fellow apes to liberate themselves from captivity. It was fun and fascinating watching how he got the crew ready to take on their captors and move toward more, hmmmm, dignity.

Will Rodman (James Franco) - Caesar's initial owner/caretaker - is amiable, caring, and well-meaning. He works at a scientific research facility and seeks to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease by running tests on chimpanzees. Notably, Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) is black, and later, Will's romantic interest
Caroline (Freida Pinto) is South Asian.

Beyond the idea that Will's boss and girlfriend add ethnic diversity to the movie, their presence actually serves other important purposes as well. With people of color in the roles of boss and girlfriend, a narrative about oppressive white people vs. oppressed apes would have likely been too unsettling for mainstream audiences. If Will, a white guy, also had a white boss and a white girlfriend, moviegoers may have been compelled to deal a little more and too seriously with the racial implications.

Thus, the addition of two nonwhite central characters softens or slightly masks the prevalence of whiteness in the film. Utilizing a couple of "diverse" characters to that whiteness is indeed an instance of playing in the dark.

1 comment:

Ola said...

Glad to read this, as it confirms some thoughts/suspicions I had. I went to see this movie today as a matinee in hopes to avoid the usual throngs of moviegoers during a movies' premiere. As an African American man, privy to what history I do know on the subject of race and the negative corellations made between Blacks and primates, I really wanted to just watch an entertaining film belonging to a storied movie franchise,without searching for the racial undercurrent, but to no avail. Without spoiling the film too much for those who haven't seen it yet who may read this, I will say that there were other points other than the ones you've noted that gave me pause. There was the scene where the good doctor was walking in the park/woods with Caesar when a family walking their(barking)dog sees him and is startled. What's notable is that the dog is a German Shepherd, the same kind of dog used to attack Black Civil Rights freedomfighters during that era, not to mention a high powered water hose used as discipline on a caged Caesar in another scene, which also smacks of that kind of oppression of that time. I was conflicted watching the film, wondering if I was reading too much into a story of retribution, or a cleverly veiled summation of race relations between Blacks and Whites in this country.firms some thoughts/suspicions I had. I went to see this movie today as a matinee in hopes to avoid the usual throngs of moviegoers during a movies' premiere. As an African American man, privy to what history I do know on the subject of race and the negative corellations made between Blacks and primates, I really wanted to just watch an entertaining film belonging to a storied movie franchise,without searching for the racial undercurrent, but to no avail. Without spoiling the film too much for those who haven't seen it yet who may read this, I will say that there were other points other than the ones you've noted that gave me pause. There was the scene where the good doctor was walking in the park/woods with Caesar when a family walking their(barking)dog sees him and is startled. What's notable is that the dog is a German Shepherd, the same kind of dog used to attack Black Civil Rights freedomfighters during that era, not to mention a high powered water hose used as discipline on a caged Caesar in another scene, which also smacks of that kind of oppression of that time. I was conflicted watching the film, wondering if I was reading too much into a story of retribution, or a cleverly veiled summation of race relations between Blacks and Whites in this country.