What does it mean to be a cynic when there’s no world left to not believe in? This is the question at the core of 1968’s Planet of the Apes. This is by no means the only theme as racism, classism, ageism, and probably various other isms as well are abundant. Not to mention the timeless religion vs science argument combined with Cold War fear of nuclear annihilation. These are all important, but they’ve also been tackled elsewhere over the years as I’m four and a half decades late to this subject This film, in addition to all these other things, represents the end of both American idealism and the American cynic, and both of these are accomplished solely through the protagonist Taylor.

We all know the scene, right? A long shot of a single horse carrying two passengers trots along the coastline with waves crashing down and water running up towards its legs. The camera shifts slightly and suddenly obstructing our view is something eerily familiar, yet somehow we can’t quite place it, but it still fills us with a sense of dread. Finally, our hero Taylor (Charlton Heston) drops from the horse and stands before this rusted, seaweed covered object still kept in obscurity. First he stands in shock. “Oh my god, I’m back. I’m home.” Then he collapses and, in an overacting masterpiece that only Charlton Heston could pull off, shouts at his deceased ancestors: “You Maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you, God Damn you all to Hell!” The camera pans out and we see what he sees. It’s the Statue of Liberty. Holy shit. And scene.

Great twist ending, right? Not really, at least not if the twist is simply meant to shock and surprise. It’s not much of a gotcha, because I think, if we’re honest with ourselves, we all kind of saw that one coming. Maybe not the Statue of Liberty specifically but we at least suspected we were indeed on Earth all along. The real twist is in the fact that Taylor, who has already accepted that everyone he’s ever known and loved is gone, that his species, in all likelihood, time has past, is utterly destroyed by the reality of it all.

Let’s start with Taylor and who he is. He is disgusted with Earth and what humanity has become. His last words to the world he thinks he’s leaving behind are “Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor’s children starving?” This is a man who laughs maniacally when his companion plants an American flag in the soil of this new planet they’ve landed on. He mocks any idealism and anyone who dares to dream about Earth. He waxes philosophically with lines like “I’m a seeker too. But my dreams aren’t like yours. I can’t help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be.” This is a man who has gleefully left his home world and cares nothing for those he left behind. He doesn’t identify himself as an American and only begrudgingly acknowledges his Earthling origins.

A shift, though, starts to happen in Taylor. When he’s forced to fight for his survival against the apes, he begins to sugarcoat humanity. He tells Dr Zaius, upon finding archaeological evidence of humans that predate apes, “He was a weak, fragile animal, but he was here before you were. And he was better than you are.” So why is he suddenly drinking the human Kool-aid? Because he’s now faced with the harsh reality that he’s a minority. He’s hated, and feared. His very existence is a threat to the establishment, to the culture. People like that can’t afford to be cynics. But look at his face when Dr Zaius tells him “You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.” He covers it up quickly, but there’s a flash of recognition, that Dr. Zaius is right. All the reasons Taylor left Earth come back to him, but he’s now too stubborn to admit it. Nothing in the Orangutan’s words are particularly new, we heard Taylor say similar things the entire first third of the film. Hell, Zaius practically tells him he’s on Earth but Taylor refuses to acknowledge it.

So then we get to the big scene. Taylor on his knees, cursing mankind, destroyed. The commentary on the dangers of nuclear warfare is not subtle, but the notion of national identity is. Taylor’s rejection of America is his identity, because he feels he’s better than his countrymen, that he’s evolved beyond them. But when faced with their demise, when it becomes irrefutable that we’ve destroyed ourselves, he hates them and weeps for them. He lost his world, his identity, and his humanity all in one instant.

Couldn’t find the video to embed, but for those of you would like to watch the ending, whether you have never seen it (shame on you) or just feel like watching it again, here it is.

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1064577264634