Tag: charlton heston

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”

From: Planet of the Apes (1968)

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: George Taylor

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the sci-fi classic, Planet of the Apes. The film was successful enough to spawn several sequels and the film has been remade in 2001. The series was also rebooted into a new franchise of films starting with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Essentially, all the films feature intelligent apes overtaking the humans as the superior race of the planet.

The quote comes from the middle of the film. After astronaut George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) crash lands on the Planet, he is captured by the apes. Upon learning that Taylor possesses higher intelligence than the rest of the humans, Dr. Zaius orders the astronaut to be castrated. Taylor then makes an unsuccessful attempt at escape. As the apes grab Taylor, the human delivers the quote, surprising everyone.

Geek wisdom: It can be scary to fight against oppression, especially if the one doing the abusing is stronger and more powerful than you. But, there has to be a time when we all must fight back. We can’t always cower and take it. We will have to stand up against them if we want to stop being under the thumb of someone else. It will take courage to do so and it may be frightening but it’s much better to fight back than to live in constant fear.

“You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”

From: Planet of the Apes (1968)

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: George Taylor

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the original Planet of the Apes film that was released way back in 1968. The film stars Charlton Heston as astronaut George Taylor who, crash lands on an unknown planet way in the future. The dominant species on this planet are intelligent apes who use the subjugated human being (who cannot speak) as pets and cheap labor. Thinking that Taylor is just another “ordinary” human, the apes capture him. The story revolves around Taylor’s attempts to flee the planet.

WARNING: There are SPOILERS for the ending of this (extremely old and well-known) film!

The quote comes from the very end of the film. Taylor and his new female companion, Nova, escape to the Forbidden Zone, as apes are not permitted there. The earth astronaut, sees the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. Realizing he actually is on Earth after it has been razed by nuclear war, Taylor laments the fate of the human race and delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: We sometimes take the future for granted. We hastily destroy our environment and lay waste to the planet’s natural resources without even giving a second thought to the long term repercussions they may have. We can be shortsighted and believe that the world will always be there for us and nothing we do can harm it.

We only have one world. We have to take care of it while we still can.