Theatrical Entertainments
July 28, 2001
Over the past two days, I had the opportunity to view to excellent pieces of theatrical entertainments.
Friday night, Kim, me, and about 15 people from her class all went to see Tim Burton's new rendition of "The Planet of the Apes." The first thing that struck me about this film was the increased violence and brutality of the apes from the previous version of the film. The apes in the first movie were much more "human" and the humans were more like apes, i.e. mute and wild. However, in Tim Burton's version, the humans can talk and are just as intelligent as the apes. Also, the apes are, as I said earlier, more like apes, swinging through the trees, running on four legs, etc.
Most of the people who went with us didn't like the movie. They thought the plot was campy and cliched. However, I think that these people either didn't see the first one, or saw the talking monkeys and decided the movie was ripe for poking fun at, rather than taking seriously. But seriously, anything with talking monkeys is going to look campy. Talking monkeys are ridiculous and funny in themselves.
Personally, I enjoyed the film. The plot was a classic messiah story, including a chimpanzee named "Paracles" (think Paraclete) and all the standard "Hero with a Thousand Faces" trappings. Now, first, I thought that the use of a classic story was a fitting tribute to a classic film, even if it wasn't the same story as the old one. The imagery used to convey this them was powerful including a thrice-baptism of the hero, a deus-ex-machina appearance of the holy spirit, followed by an ascension of the hero back to the heavens following redemption of the people. The ending I thought was an on-topic comment on our own society, similar in scope with the one in the previous film, but more in criticism of our current society.
Some advice I'd like to give to those going to see the film: first, look for messianic imagery, e.g. baptism, redemption, etc. as well as trinitarian imagery. Second, don't get distracted by the fact that this movie is about monkeys, and in that seems ridiculous. Third, don't get distracted by the talk about animal rights, etc. That is not what the movie is about. I think it is more naturally something that would come up in a conversation with a sentient ape.
The second piece of entertainment which I had the fortune to enjoy recently was the Notre Dame Summer Shakespeare prodcution of "Much Ado About Nothing." It was well-acted and hilariously funny. More physical comedy than I'm used to seeing in that play. I enjoyed it.