Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture [Paperback]

Eric Greene (Author), Richard Slotkin (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1998

A lively exploration of the Planet of the Apes films as racial allegory.

In 1968, Planet of the Apes became a megahit movie both in the US and abroad, inspiring four film sequels, two TV series, several comic series, and hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide merchandising. The Apes films confronted some of the most controversial issues of the time, including Vietnam and the Black Power movement, all the while remaining crowd pleasing box office hits.

Eric Greene uses rare photographs, transcripts, and extensive interviews with the writers, directors, actors, and producers to read the Apes saga as a profoundly American myth. Greene also looks at the attempts of filmmakers like Oliver Stone and James Cameron to remake the myth for the 90s. This enjoyable and meticulous book gives the reader an insider's look at the complex relationships between race, politics and popular culture in America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Tim Burton's] new version tries to . . . incorporate ideas from Planet of the Apes as American Myth, Eric Greene's resourceful 1996 social analysis of the film and its sequels. Mr. Greene thoughtfully examined the racial politics that made the pictures both tough-minded and slightly repugnant." --New York Times review of Burton's remake

"Greene makes an utterly plausible case . . . you'll be scratching your head in humbled agreement."--Entertainment Weekly

"Astute . . . intelligently and cleverly written . . . fascinating scholarship."--Cinescape

"An interesting idea for a book . . . accessible to the average reader. The filmography is exceptionally detailed."--Classic Images

Review

"In this serious, insightful book Eric Greene has written an ideal cultural assessment. He has scoped-out a film phenomenon, tracing much of its impact and potential -- and most remarkably, its ideological history. This is a definitive and pleasurable work." (Armond White, author of The Resistance: Ten Years of Pop Culture That Shook the World )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan (December 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819563293
• ISBN-13: 978-0819563293
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #979,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture (Paperback)

In film and telelvision, very few things happen by pure accident. Although Greene may seem at times to "read too much" into 'Planet of the Apes', in reality he presents a clear and very detailed analysis of the series and films in relation to the time in which they were produced. The connections between the two cannot be overlooked, and whether or not you agree with all of Greene's points, it is necessary to have all possible ideas presented in this type of study. This is exactly what we do with Shakespeare, for example--analyze his "art" in historical context. Whether Shakespeare intended all of the possible connections is, ultimately, irrelevent. Television and film, as a modern art form, can be examined in the same way. This book is a fine example of such analysis. Greene is a talented young writer and I look forward to more of his work.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for Apes fans and media students alike ..., June 14, 1999

By 

David M. Monroe ([e-mail]) (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture (Paperback)

Eric Greene's Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics and Popular Culture began its publishing history in 1996 as the finest offering to date of the small but noteworthy American Studies publishers, McFarland. Apparently, this did not escape the attention of the somewhat less small, even more noteworthy Wesleyan University Press (which has, among other things, an exceptional line in popular music studies going), who have kindly made Greene's excellent study of the vicissitudes of race across the Planet of the Apes oeuvre not only more widely available, but, in a new paperback edition, more affordable as well, though adding only a useful introduction by Wesleyan's own Richard Slotkin. Greene's brilliant, thoroughgoing analysis follows the shifting role of race in the films, television series, and even comic books inspired by Pierre Boulle's satiric novel, Planete de les singes, in light of their contexts in the shifting discourses and politics of the Civil Rights and Black Nationalist movements of the 60's and 70's. Interestingly, perhaps only Boulle's originary novel gets short shrift here, albeit undersatndably, as it was the American adaptations which explicitly layered the factor of race on Boulle's ostensibly more general social satire. Greene also reminds us that The Planet of the Apes generated the sort of transmedia merchandising phenomena more generally believed to have begun with Star Wars. An essential work for Apes fans and media students alike ...

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Planet of the Apes as an American "Animal Farm?", October 6, 2004

By 

Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture (Paperback)

As far back as Aesop, the creative community has realized that talking animals can be especially effective surrogates for making social commentary. This book is an extensive treatment of this issue and therefore is especially for those interested in the mythical and social aspects of the Planet of the Apes series. Needless to say, if you want to know more about the movies as movies or you're interested in an apes price guide, you should probably look elsewhere. However, those looking here will not be disappointed with Greene's spot on ability to weave social analysis from the various naunces of the apes movies.
From 1968 to 1975 the apes series produced five movies and two separate television series. This is a very prodigious production rate commensurate with the series' ability to key into the American psyche. Much like the Simpsons today, the apes series gave its writing staff a chance to touch on issues like the war in Vietnam and race relations from an artistically safe vantage point. Like our fast food the Planet of the Apes series was a uniquely American foray into the land of Aesop. It was, perhaps our American "Animal Farm."