The Monstrous Fantastic Conference Paper Abstracts - International ...

81. (FTV) Those Damn Dirty Apes! CypressChair: June M. PulliamLouisiana State University"Apes Together Strong": The Case for Socialized Medicine in Rise of the Planet of the ApesCharles CuthbertstonSouthern Utah UniversityMy essay will explore how the recent “prequel” to the Planet of the Apes film franchise offers a strong, though implicit, argument for theadoption of socialized medicine in the United States and, in doing so, offers a potentially subversive argument to mainstream film audiences.Rise of the Planet of the Apes joins a long list of films designed to initiate or continue public discussion of important social issues. What makesRise somewhat unique, however, is the subtlety of its argument. Many science fiction and fantasy narratives offer metaphorical social andpolitical commentary. But while these metaphorical narratives are often easily recognizable, Rise presents its commentary indirectly, for anumber of reasons. The primary concern of a Hollywood franchise film is to draw in an audience, and, as I will argue in my paper, politicizedfilms are generally less commercially successful. Additionally, Hollywood film producers, in the current economic climate, are also more wary ofpoliticizing what might be seen as a potential or ongoing film franchise. However, the films in the Planet of the Apes series have a tradition ofsocial commentary, including Vietnam-era anti-militancy in Beneath the POTA ,anti-racism and anti-establishmentarianism in Conquest of thePOTA, and nuclear disarmament in Battle for the POTA. Rise continues this tradition, and includes many “Easter egg” references to fans familiarwith the previous films in the series, including visual references, dialogue quotations, and diegetic cameos. I will argue that the politicalcommentary of Rise is part of this referential homage to the other films in the series. I will preface my argument with a short discussion of thehistory of political and social commentary in Hollywood films, and discuss why the argument for socialized medicine in Rise indicates a newtrend in contemporary Hollywood films to reduce or eliminate direct social and political commentary.Our Apish Other: Composing and Re-Imagining Those "Damn Dirty Apes!"Charles HerzekBroward CollegeWith its less than convincing costumes, over the top acting, and unrealistic plot (even by SF standards), why has Planet of The Apes, a cult film,not only survived but blossom into a multi-million dollar franchise spanning over half a century? Tracking the evolution of the apes from theoriginal novel, Monkey Planet, to the 1960s and 1970s film pentalogy, to the modern remake and re-imagining, we see that despite theircosmetic changes they continue to exist as the uncanny. In short, the apes live on because they reflect our fears, and allow us to look back atourselves and our culture. Despite their consistency as Others, the variances in the origin stories shift them from monstrous oppressors andaggressors, to sympathetic rebels. Focusing primarily on the 1970s films and the most recent re-imagining, this paper explores the culturalsignificance of the various changes: from B-movie to blockbuster; from the hokey, cyclical-time-travel premise to the (somewhat less hokey)focus on biological experimentation; from a world where a plague has killed our pets to a world where humans are being wiped out by plague;from nuclear war to viral pathogens; from Caesar as avenging monster to Caesar as liberator; from monster-ish apes to cruel and monstroushumans; from racial allegory to environmental and humanist statement. As we change, as we change our world, our concept of monstrouschanges and we may even come to humanize these uncanny Others and vilify ourselves.83. (VPA) Monstrous Media Adaptations MagnoliaChair: Sean D. NixonUniversity of VermontAdaptations of Monsters and Yōkai in ZUN’s Touhou Project SeriesJoseph Brooks de VitaRice UniversityThis paper will address issues of humanity as they relate to the girls in the Touhou universe while studying the human-Yōkai tensions describedin the series to see if these monsters are really as monstrous as they seem and examine what giving these monsters human forms does tochange the reader’s perspective on them, whether it makes them more approachable or relatable to the human viewer, and what it does tomake these myths much less frightening overall.In the Panel No One Can Hear You Frag: Transmedia Resonance in Video Game Comic Book AdaptationsStefan HallDefiance CollegeThere is much interest by the comic industry to adapt hit video game titles – such as Halo, Gears of War, and Batman: Arkham City – into comicbook format, but this phenomenon is nothing new. This project looks at the history of game-to-comic adaptations beginning with the earlydays of Atari with releases like Atari Force and the Swordquest series to put the current industry practices into larger economic and genrecontexts.