RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: FEW LESSONS FOR THE EARTHS STEWARDS

Joel Sagut

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an American science fiction film in 2011 directed by Rupert Wyatt. The film stars James Franco and Andy Serkis, and is a continuation of the Planet of the Apes series. Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at Gen-Sys pharmaceutical company whose research is oriented towards the development of a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The research uses chimpanzees that have evolved to manifest human intelligence after being injected with the researched drug. One subject, Bright Eyes (played by Terry Notary), showed the most remarkable improvement, but she was shot to death when she went on a rampage after she thought that her baby was threatened. The rampage has sadly compromised Wills project when his boss, Steven Jacobs (played by David Oyelowo), ordered the killing of all the chimpanzees under the premise that they are dangerous and could not deliver the desired output for the work. The chimp handler, Franklin (played by Tyler Labine), could not however kill Bright Eyes baby, whom he instead gave to Will for safekeeping and care. Will's father, Charles (John Lithgow), is sick with Alzheimers disease, and he is in fact the reason for Wills insistence on finding the cure. Charles is animated by the baby chimp whom he has named as Caesar. Will slowly realizes that Caesar has inherited his mothers intelligence, and so Will has started training him. But, after several of Caesars attempt to mingle with humans, he has accidentally threatened his neighbours, and this has forced Will to take Caesar to San Bruno Primate Sanctuary run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where the apes are treated cruelly by the chief guard, Landons son, Dodge (Tom Felton). But, because of his intelligence, Caesar manages to earn the respect of his fellow apes, and they have started to plot a rebellion against their human watchers. Meanwhile, after the first attempt of treating his father has failed, Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his fathers Alzheimers disease. His excited boss approves the testing on chimpanzees again, the results of which shows strengthened intelligence on its subjects. Unknown to them however is the fatal effect that the virus has on humans. Franklin is the first human to get exposed to the new virus and he begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally sneezes on Wills neighbour, who is a professional pilot and will later be responsible for the immediate spread of the virus to become a global pandemic. Will

has suggested several warnings on the potential harm of the drug, but he is ignored. At the end of all these struggles, we find Charles refusing further treatment. Charles has serenely accepted the fact of his creaturely humanity. He has finally submitted himself to the laws of nature and has peacefully embraced his death. Back to the Primate Sanctuary, Caesars plot for rebellion has progressed. There are incidents which suggest Caesars growing resemblance to humans. He manages to talk and then he later steals several vials from Wills research and exposes the other apes to the virus to enhance their intelligence. When they have managed to overpower their watchers at the Sanctuary, they storm the city and release the other apes that are caged in the other parts of the city. The highlight of the fight scenes is at the CHP blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge. The human police are rendered powerless against the stronger and
almost equally intelligent apes. Jacobs, though carried by a chopper, has even been pulled down by the apes, and has been eventually killed. The apes then proceed to the direction of the

redwood forest where Will used to bring Caesar when he was younger. Intuiting that Caesar is aiming to the forest, Will arrived there in a stolen police car. Meeting Caesar, Will warns him that in the forest humans will hunt them down, but that he can protect him if he returns home. But the language-equipped Caesar tells him that Caesar is home. CALL FOR SERENITY
As common among sci-fi movies, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes has sounded the same cautionary principle that asks the scientific community to be extra careful in their push for new discoveries and explorations into unvisited territories. Certainly, breakthroughs will bring humanity into new heights, but we need to be mindful of their potential irreversible harmful effects. The immediate spread of the pandemic which endangers the entire human species suggests a bleak ending of a noble scientific pursuit. This is not meant to discourage us, but simply to remind us of our task to care, not just for the present generation but even for those who are yet to come. The movie presents the tension between the ideal of going beyond the current capabilities of science in order to find the cure for a paralyzing disease like Alzheimer and the need to be mindful of the real limits to what humans can do. Wills predicament invites him to exhaust his best potentials. The problem presented upon him (the condition of his father) has allowed him to become the best scientist that he could be. He has almost broken the boundary of contemporary medicine. This is part of our call as stewards of this world. As the only creature endowed with intelligence and freedom, human beings are called to use these gifts in order to unlock the worlds potentials that are waiting to be educed. On the other hand, we also see Charles peaceful resignation to the limitation of our creaturely existence. He has finally found the freedom to accept the facticity of his life, that life is limited and finite. His refusal to take the medicine is not an expression of hopelessness, but an

emancipation from the limited horizons of this life. He has finally embraced his death, and has started another journey towards the unknown. There is a striking difference between Wills anxiety over the uncertainty of his research (he tried his best to stop Jacobs to further test the medicine) and that of Charles calm acceptance of the unknown territories that his impending death has presented him. Perhaps, this is the other side of our call for stewardship. While we are called to exhaust all our capabilities to further improve the earth (human reason has proven itself capable of unlocking the many secrets of nature), we are also reminded that there are certain limitations to what we can do, and that the most appropriate gesture towards this limit-situation is a serene acceptance of the real nature of things. A stewards wisdom stems from this serenity prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. NOT APE-CULTURES BUT ALSO HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS Moreover, we see in the movie another challenging task of the present-day stewards: the fact of the many emerging cultures that enter the global scene. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes portrays a possibility for a world that is run by apes that are once regarded as a lesser species than humans, but are hereby presented as having conquered the human race through an accidental discovery that the human intelligence itself has initiated. Talking about the rise of the planet of the apes is a radicalized way of presenting the potential violence and conflicts that lie beneath our increasingly globalized community. European expeditions done in the 16th to 17th centuries pioneered the cultural encounters that are facilitated by the modern modes of transportation and communication. But, looking into our history books, we will also be warned that there are tendencies for foreign, invading but dominant cultures to regard the native and local civilizations are less perfect (as ape-cultures). Our Philippine history even attests to several degrading labels given to our ancestors during their first contacts with European cultures. Literally, there was a time when Filipinos (the locals who were then referred to as indios) were themselves treated as apes (beasts). This is a potential danger inherent in our attempt to globalize the world because in a globalized community, we can never avoid the encounter of cultures, some of which are dominantly powerful while others are minorities and less known. The movie provides us a healthy warning against the abuses that can be done amidst these encounters. To highlight the distinction of influence and power as the source of legitimation in treating certain cultures as epistemologically superior than others will only result into that Golden Gate Bridge war the main highlight of the movie. This does not however mean that the weak will always triumph over the strong, for this seldom happens and is the reason why powerful cultures ignore these warnings, but this should allow us to see the potential harm that wars could cause

to all, both to the strong and the weak. Labelling less known cultures as ape-cultures and are therefore inferior will agitate them, and this could become a potential premise for war. The movie then reminds us that for the present-day stewards, our call is to live a life of coexistence. This does not mean that we give up the search for the true expression of justice amidst the varieties of cultures, but this should suggest that we need to be very careful about regarding the other as less important and less meaningful. True stewards treat everyone fairly, and it is only in this life of toleration and inclusion that we could avoid the escalation of our differences into major wars. The movie calls us for this moderation: not just on the moderation of our exercise of our freedom and intelligence, but also in moderation of our desire to manipulate, to control and to exercise dominion over other cultures and peoples.