The Beast Within: Racial Representation and Reversals in the Planet of the Apes Reboot
The Planet of the Apes franchise, born of the racially charged allegorical novel La Planète des Singes (1963) by Pierre Boulle, has long skirted the line with its fevered use of the perennial comparison between apes and Black people. While previous scholarship has examined the political significance...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Political theology
Year: 2021, Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Pages: 296-315 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Planet of the apes (Film series) (1968-1973)
/ Racism
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| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture NCC Social ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
racial representation
B race and film B Black Christ B White Supremacy B Planet of the Apes B Whitewashing B race and animal studies |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Planet of the Apes franchise, born of the racially charged allegorical novel La Planète des Singes (1963) by Pierre Boulle, has long skirted the line with its fevered use of the perennial comparison between apes and Black people. While previous scholarship has examined the political significance of the earlier films, this study seeks to compare and update those readings for the latest franchise (2011-2017), to add a theological lens given the final film’s insistence on employing Christological symbolism, and to track the persistence of White supremacy in the films’ representational predilections. These films betray anxieties about White racial devolution and domination by non-Whites, a strong mistrust of forceful Black radical responses to oppression, as well as the necessity of explicit and central portrayals of White goodness and innocence. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-1719 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Political theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2021.1920220 |