Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike
2015; Liverpool University Press; Volume: 56; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2047-7708
Autores Tópico(s)Indian History and Philosophy
ResumoAping Great Thinkers. John Huss, ed. of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike. Chicago: Open Court, 2013. 312 pp. ISBN 9780812698220. $17.95 pbk.Reviewed by William DynesMost readers of of the Apes and Philosophy will likely be familiar with the style and purposes of Open Court Press's Popular Culture and Philosophy books. Huss's volume is number 74 in a series that has tackled the Star Wars movies, television shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, and cultural phenomena from the Beatles to SpongeBob SquarePants. This edition continues the pattern of brief essays by a range of scholars organized around topics that illuminate the academic ideas at work in the subject. The tone of the essays is relaxed and engaging, making the material accessible to general audiences. This particular volume includes twenty-two essays on nine themes. It focuses most of its attention upon the original 1968 film, the 1970 sequel Beneath the of the Apes, and the 2012 reboot Rise of the of the Apes. The other films in the franchise get some attention along the way, as do the short-lived television program and even Boulle's 1963 novel. As the title suggests, the essays are primarily interested in using the films to explore core philosophical issues rather than topics specifically linked to sf, and so the text is likely to be most appealing to fans of the films or to undergraduate courses focused on the intersections of sf, philosophy, and popular entertainment.Responding to an enthusiastic (if rather incoherent) comment by Egyptian President Morsi in his introduction, John Huss asserts that Planet of the Apes is art (xi), and he organizes the collection around a range of topics that demonstrate the series' cultural and intellectual contributions. While never ignoring the films' entertainment value, and acknowledging their strikingly divergent technical and creative qualities, the authors of these essays nevertheless explore provocative and inviting questions. What makes this approach potentially valuable for a classroom is that Huss has collected at least two, sometimes three essays for each of the topics under consideration. This permits a diversity of both methodologies and conclusions that is likely to encourage discussion.Broadly speaking, most of the sections of the book focus on issues of consciousness and identity or on ethics and politics, with one section on filmmaking and a concluding unit that does a valuable job of linking identity and ethical issues. The units likely to be of most interest to sf readers are two that explore problems of science and technology. In Ape Science, Bernard Rollin and John Huss look at the tensions between science and faith evoked by Dr. Zaius, the apes' Minister of Science and Chief Defender of the Faith, while Massino Pigliucci uses Caesar's rebooted origins in Rise to raise ethical questions about biological enhancement (53) and genetic engineering. The essays of Ape Spacetime tackle both the physics and the paradoxes of time travel, challenges that the filmmakers themselves largely sidestep.The most unique unit is that on Ape Cinema, with three essays on the artistic elements of the films. Huss's direct contribution, Act, asks whether the actor Andy Serkis should have been eligible for an Oscar for his performance as Caesar in the 2012 reboot, a question that allows him to explore the relationships between performance, digital animation, and perception. Other essays in this unit discuss the original movie's modernist score and Rod Serling's screenplay, looking at the disruptive and hallucinatory effects upon the audience.It may be helpful to talk in some detail about one particular section in order to demonstrate the ways in which the essays function, both individually and in conversation with one another. Part III, labeled Ape Equality, includes two essays: Travis Michael Timmerman's Who Comes First, Humans or Apes? …
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