I saw this weekend what I believe to be the 2 best movies of the summer - The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And they are remarkably similar despite one being historical fiction and one being science fiction.
To start with, both movies have a "true story" feel to them. The Help is presented as a biography of black housekeepers in the South and RoPA is presented as a historical accounting of a science experiment.
And both are human stories - evoking fear, hope, laughter, sadness, and pride. The stakes start out as very personal and individual for both, quickly evolve to encompass those around them and closest to them, and ultimately society at large. New relationships and worlds are opened to both Skeeter (The Help) and Will (RoPA) and by the end, neither are entirely what they were when they started.
Both are, essentially, stories about what pain and loss can drive us to. In The Help it is the loss of a maternal figure (Skeeter's housekeeper Constantine) who raised her and who was driven off by her family. While Skeeter does not know this at first, it motivates and propels her on her already burgeoning path to make sure the people around her are treated humanely. In RoPA it is the impending, and ultimate actual, loss of a father (Will's father Charles) to Alzheimer's that push Will to search for a cure. In creating a cure, he comes to understand that the other primates inhabiting our world with us are as aware, feeling, and capable of emotion as humans and deserve to be treated as such.
In the end, both portend a new world order. The Help takes place in the midst of the civil rights movement and documents (literally) the uncivilized treatment of blacks. By the end it is clear that American society will never be the same. And 50 years later that is still true - even if the hope of that movement has not yet been fully realized. RoPA takes place at the dawn of a new age for mankind - it's end as newly intelligent primates rise to the top of the food chain in a world destroyed by our own greed and failures to protect ourselves. It is a cautionary tale about power and the role it plays in corrupting those with it.
Both take a look at society, shine a harsh light on the unsavory underbelly (racism and animal cruelty), and show how they can be a cancer from the inside. Jarred Diamond has written some fascinating books about how and why societies fall and virtually all do so from the inside. Each movie looks at a potential cause of this society's collapse.
One final thought - the original Planet of the Apes movies from the 1960's were a tale of racism - which is clearly what The Help is about. All good science fiction is a means of exploring the world around us and talking about societal issues that are too sensitive to come out and discuss openly (Star Trek was groundbreaking in its time for so many reasons - but more on that another time...) I find is telling that the message behind that franchise has shifted significantly in 2011 to be about animal cruelty and the will of medtech companies to push for higher profits at the expense of consumer safety. Racism is not longer an ugly secret - it is an open one.
Two wonderfully done films that raise many questions about the world we live in, and the way we raise our "children" to think about themselves and those around us. See them both and enjoy them. But never forget that the best storytellers teach us something about ourselves.
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