S U N D AY, J A N U A RY 0 8 , 2 0 0 6Wal-Mart Was Wrong...To ApologizeWal-Mart had another hit to its pr image thanks to its website, whichwas selling "Planet of the Apes -- The Complete TV Series." Under"similar items" included DVDs on African American figures like Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Wal-Mart was wrong, of course. (It usually is.) But this time it waswrong for apologizing, at least for pretending the link was racist.</p><p> Ofcourse, Wal-Mart was running in the other direction from a seeminglyracist slur and none of its top executives have probably even seen thedarn movies.But not only are the "Planet of the Apes" movies not racist, they areexplicitly anti-racist.</p><p> That is, indeed, the entire point of them,especially the first one, "Planet of the Apes." Entire books have beenwritten on this topic.</p><p> This isn't just one way of considering the movies,and it's not subtext either.</p><p> It's text.</p><p> It is entirely what the movies areabout: the fact that you shouldn't treat people like animals just becausethey seem different from you.It was written by Rod Serling, a very liberal guy, who often usedallegories in The Twilight Zone and elsewhere, commenting on socialand racial issues via fantasy and sci-fi.Those links are always silly -- Do you like Citizen Kane? You'll likeAmerican Pie too! -- so it could have just been "accidental." More likely,people who looked at POTA also looked at films on civil rights, becausethat is exactly what POTA is about.Wal-Mart panicked when they should have just said, 'This movie iswidely seen by critics and fans as an allegory about the civil rightsmovement.</p><p> It was written by Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone, whooften used fantasy and sci-fi to tackle the social issues of the time.</p><p> Indeference to anyone who may be offended because they're unfamiliarwith the film, we'll unlink the recommendations to other dvds thattackle civil rights issues.</p><p> But we encourage everyone to explore this filmas much more than merely an entertaining tale.</p><p> It comments wiselyand revealingly on racial issues and the folly of treating people cruellyNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Wal-Mart Was Wrong...To Apologizehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/wal-mart-was-wrongto... 1 of 37/29/09 4:42 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyAaronMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Wal-Mart Was Wrong...To Apologizehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/wal-mart-was-wrongto... 2 of 37/29/09 4:42 AMPOPSURFING.COM: Wal-Mart Was Wrong...To Apologizehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/wal-mart-was-wrongto... 3 of 37/29/09 4:42 AM
