(Warning: this blog
may contain spoiler information about the film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Please do not read any further if you have not yet watched and plan to see the
movie.)
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| Photo by Microsoft |
I
remember the day a science teacher told my high-school physics class that
mosquitos can see colors on the light spectrum that humans can’t ever imagine
and certainly are not capable of seeing themselves. I don’t know how Mr. Kirby knew
this fact, or even if it was true. But the comment has stuck with me all these
years and even created a great context for tonight’s blog.
The
entire time I watched the movie, Dawn of
the Planet of the Apes, I couldn’t help but consider the cinematic and
dramatic themes of the film in the context of John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of
Mind. To be honest, my curiosity about the ways in which this theory would
apply to Dawn was the primary reason why
I wanted to watch it. When I was very little, my family used to watch the Planet of the Apes television series,
but I never saw 2011’s Rise of the Planet
of the Apes and knew very little about it except James Franco starred in it.
Therefore, I was able to watch to the sequel with no (well, few) expectations
about what it would be like except for the suggestions of the plot that had
been featured in countless television advertisements. Let’s just say that my
expectations about what could/might/would happen—and why—were very consistent with the knowns in my subconscious mind.
According
to Dr. Kappas, the subconscious part of the mind is uncomfortable about and
resistant to doing new or different things even when the conscious mind (logic,
reason, will-power/free-will and reasoning) says that it’s okay to do so. The SCM
likes and wants to stick to what is familiar, comforting and safe: i.e., what
it knows. Going back to my science
teacher’s comment about mosquitos’ visual perception, it is very difficult if
not impossible to even imagine doing
something that we have never done before. The writers, director and producer used
plenty of imagination and computer-generated effects to bring the story to
vibrant life on the screen; however, they were still limited by the scope of
their own “known” experiences.
Long story
short: as humans, we have no real experience or idea what apes feel or think
beyond what biologists have already observed these sentient creatures doing. Even
then, how much can and do humans really know and understand about these animals’
emotions and motivations? Since apes do not speak English—or any other human
language, as far as we know—the sound of their “voices” could only be as
realistic or fantastic as the imaginations of the cast and crew that created the
sound of those words.
Dawn also emphasizes the importance of
trust in the human-human, ape-ape and human-ape bonds. As I described in a
previous blog, “7 Keys to a Successful, Long-Term Relationship (February 14,
2014), this concept is a very important part of successful human
partnerships/relationships. However, it is a human word. I am not saying that
apes (or any other non-human animal) do not have trust or a similar construct
in their social relationships; but why should our word be theirs? Once again,
consider Dr. Kappas’ Theory of Mind: trust is a known in the SCM of the humans
who made the film; but, also, the apes in the film who say this word were the
ones who apparently had the most contact with humans in the previous film.
In another
example, the animals that had experienced non-violent relationships with humans
in the past were willing to trust the people currently in their midst because
their known was a positive association with people. Conversely, those who had
negative experiences with humans expected to receive pain and be tortured or killed
because that was the mental script (known) of these animals. The same is true
of Dawn’s humans: the people who
associated the apes with causing a pandemic that decimated the world’s population
(and their families) with danger. Those who knew and understood the biology/science
about the virus seemed to empathize with the simians’ point of view and just
wanted both species to get along.
I will probably
revisit the themes in Dawn of the Planet
of the Apes in a future blog. Meanwhile, please let me know what you think
of these observations when you have seen the movie. What do/did recurring
characters seem to learn from their old and new relationships and circumstances
in this movie and in Rise of the Planet
of the Apes? I would love to read and learn about other connections you
find between this film and the ways characters in this film respond to the
relationships and circumstances in each of these movies.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
