I Have a Crush on Caesar

As I write this, I'm watching Planet of the Apes.  I adore these movies.  Watching them, I find myself convinced that this would happen, and, of course, I'm always on the side of the apes.  

I must admit: I have a crush on Caesar.  It was during this scene that I realized why:

When Caesar screams "No!" in the ape holding facility, and everything goes immediately silent, it's as if the silence sucks sound out of the air.  It's the first word he has spoken, and though he has known sign language throughout most of the movie, being able to speak draws Caesar into a different arena.  But I will not say he becomes human.  He is always an ape and that isn't something that should be apologized for, or excused as if its a handicap.  

I melted.

In the movie, Caesar's intelligence has changed him profoundly, not only giving him the ability to communicate and socialize with humans, but develop the abilities to use tools, plan out solutions to problems, and, ultimately, express compassion, morality, and made decisions which would be beneficial to his emotional and psychological well-being.  As a leader he is a smart tactician with incredible just judgement.

This is why I have a crush on Caesar: because he's an incredible creature with an incredible mind.  He is more interesting and compelling that most human male action heros in movies and on TV.  In fact, most male action characters are so uninteresting, so unemotional and so unintelligent, it's a wonder that they could be considered human at all.

The fact that he's an ape isn't something to forget, but embrace, because his ape-ness adds to his sexiness.  His ape-ness doesn't make him partly primitive: it categorizes him outside the realm of humanity.  And that is sexy.  Sexiness doesn't require humanity.


This blog is dedicated to Andy Serkis, who I feel never, ever, EVER gets appropriate credit and praise for his performances.

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