My definition of dystopia is a place where chaos is created and consumes everything. This movie is viewed as a dystopia for many reasons. The first reason is that the crew crash landed into an unknown place to them and apes are using interesting tactics to rally everybody. The second reason is humans are treated as inferior to apes and are striped of their humanity until Taylor showed that he can write and talk. The last reason is that the apes blew up the human inhabitants some hundred years ago and left behind the Statue of Liberty.
I view the first reason as dystopian because you’re in a situation that you can’t control nor know how it happened in the first place. Also, in the movie some people were getting shot at and others were being hit with the guns that the apes were shooting people with. It’s a scary situation to be in and the main character got shot in the throat enabling him to speak of his worries. Taylor talked about running this planet in six months and the apes just went crazy. This displays powerlessness because the humans couldn’t do anything.
I view the second reason as dystopian because no one likes to be striped of their identity to someone inferior. It’s a power move to establish dominance about a situation. Humans were on leashes, hosed down with water, and were forced to live in cages. They were being treated like animals and they couldn’t do anything about it. Taylor had to lash out in order to get the attention that lead him to be taken seriously. This creates chaos and panic for everyone involved and that causes stressful situations and feelings.
The final reason is the most logical reason for being described as dystopian because they erased their home. They had done physical damage in the last thousand years because they were scared. They got rid of the problem before it got too out of hand. It reminds me of distrust from that one reading. They acted out in fear to protect themselves and their society. It’s like the human condition but for apes.
