Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (or More Random Musings on Chimps)

We all gathered around the laptop to watch the trailer. I had viewed it a few days prior and was equally creeped out and impressed. Actually, the fact that I was creeped out is what impressed me. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a movie I'd go to the theaters to watch "for the cinematic value" as a fellow trailer-watcher put it. Sucks I have to wait until August 5.

At the end of the trailer, we all started clamoring to get our two cents in.

One guest at the dinner party said at the end of the trailer, he was expecting the chimp to talk. Yes! Andy Serkis is at it again!


The scene that stuck with me most is of a chimp standing at the foot of a bed while a couple sleeps. What the hell is he going to do? Chimps are so strong. And they have a dark side just like humans. I witnessed this when I watched The Dark Side of Chimps on National Geographic a few years ago. They wage wars and murder just like humans. Could increased brain capacity make them evil masterminds?

Obama Is A Grinch

What the hell is wrong with Barack Obama? Five weeks into his term and he’s actually doing something? He made all these promises during his presidential campaign and now he has the nerve to follow through! Preposterous! He’s taking away all the joy of bashing a new President; a politician. They seldom keep their word. What are the naysayers to do now? Debate how quickly his hair is graying? Suggest he walk with less swagger?


He’s spending too much money on this stimulus bill. Oh yeah? Well he has to undo the mess that the previous President caused, or saw happening and didn’t have the intelligence or balls to do anything about. As a leader, you have to do what has to be done. You won’t always be understood or have a lot of support (Guiliani, Bloomberg), but beyond listening to your constituents and taking into account their concerns (health care reform!), it still boils down to a leader doing what has to be done.


Five weeks into his administration, Obama has a plan and a date set to have combat troops home from Iraq: August 31, 2010. A war that frankly shouldn’t have been started. I’m not a fan a war, wasn’t a fan of George Bush. But I remember standing in the lobby of LIU, watching the Twin Towers crumple and thinking, “They just declared war…” So I understand the US going after who was responsible, Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.Saddam Hussein, I think, was a red herring that Bush willingly chased. WMDs were never found in Iraq. Instead we’ve had 35,000 total casualties (Iraq & Afghanistan combined). 


Obama’s campaign rival, John McCain, agrees with his plan to pull out from Iraq. And I think deep down, many other Republicans agree with Obama’s policies. But to just admit that and move on with running the country would be too easy. Red state citizens who can’t stomach the fact that their fellow Americans and the Electoral College put Obama in office won’t admit it either even when they start to reap the benefits. So what’s left to do? Pick on the Black man. Compare him (and all African-Americans, Africans, or people of African descent) to a chimp and shoot him up in cartoon form. Or bake drunken negro face cookies in the West Village or display books about the President and one about monkeys in the window of a Barnes and Noble (Coral Gables, FL). No worries, Obama isn’t consulting with Doctor Zaius over a plate of ribs and watermelon. It’s a shame that these comparisons and stereotypes, these attacks, have been going on for centuries. But you gotta feel sorry for the “other guy” if that’s all he’s got after all these years.

 

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