Dramatica Users Group (DUG)
Minutes for July 8, 1998

The DUG began shortly after 7:00 p.m. led by Chris Huntley. The film analyzed was "Planet of the Apes."

About 7:10 p.m., the DUG began its analysis of the film, "Planet of the Apes" [See related article Planet of the Apes for a detailed story analysis].

We started out by identifying the four throughlines.

Taylor, the character played by Charlton Heston, was readily identified as the story's Main Character.

Identifying the Objective Story throughline was not so easy. After much discussion, it was determined that the OS throughline was thematically about "social classes based on genetics" (orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans) and plotwise about a "talking human in an ape society."

There were three nominations for Obstacle Character: Dr. Zaius; the chimpanzees Zira and Cornelius collectively; and Nova. Nova was quickly ruled out because it was virtually impossible to determine what perspective she held which is a requirement for an Obstacle Character. Though Zira and Cornelius play a large part in Taylor's experience in captivity, we ultimately opted for Dr. Zaius as the Obstacle Character. He clearly has a well-defined world view that is distinctly different from that of Taylor's.

The Subjective Story throughline was determined to be thematically about Man's place in the universe or the true nature of Man (depending on your interpretation of the material), with Taylor and Dr. Zaius clearly at odds on the subject.

Once the throughines had been identified, several of the dynamic questions were quickly answered:

MC Approach: Do-er -- Taylor is clearly a man of action preferring physical responses over internal responses.

Story Driver: Action -- The crash landing starts the story off; the capture; Taylor speaks; etc.

Story Limit: Optionlock -- There are only so many ways that the Ape society can rid itself of a talking man, or the inverse version, there are only so many ways that Taylor can try to fit into the Ape society (or any society on the planet of the Apes).

Story Judgment: Bad -- Taylor is clearly not a happy camper at the end of the story.

Three of the remaining four dynamic questions were big bones of contention: MC Resolve -- Change or Steadfast; MC Mental Sex -- Male or Female; and Story Outcome -- Success or Failure. We opted to put our differences on hold for a moment and move onto the thematic choices leaving these dynamic questions unanswered.

The Objective Story Domain was easily identified as Universe -- a situation. A talking human in an ape society and the potential disruptions to the ape's social stratification fell neatly into a Universe Domain. The Subjective Story Domain, by default, fell in the Mind class -- the clash of attitudes between Taylor and Dr. Zaius over Man's place and his true nature.

The Main Character Domain became Physics -- Taylor's efforts to free himself and find a place in the 'world', while the Obstacle Character Domain became Psychology -- Dr. Zaius' adept manipulations of facts and doing what was expedient had profound impact on Taylor and Taylor's condition.

To make a long evening short, we eventually came up with two different storyforms that described two different interpretations of the film.

In version A, Taylor and crew come to the planet ruled by apes and disrupt the status quo. In this version Taylor is the antagonist and the story goal is to protect the status quo. At the end of the film, the apes SUCCEED in ridding themselves of Taylor and the evidence of talking humans -- status quo is restored. Also in this version, Taylor uses MALE mental sex problem solving techniques and ultimately CHANGEs from a bitter loner who couldn't care less for his home world, to a humanist appalled by mankind's self-destruction. [See Planet of the Apes Storyform A for the Dramatica story engine settings.]

In version B, Taylor and crew come to the planet with the intention of taking over, "We'll be running this place in six months!" Taylor is the protagonist and Dr. Zaius is the antagonist. At the end of the film, Taylor FAILs to fit into the new world, much less take control of it, and escapes with Nova to start over. Also in this version, Taylor uses FEMALE mental sex problem solving techniques and ultimately remains STEADFAST in his determination to find someplace better than where he was. [See Planet of the Apes Storyform B for the Dramatica story engine settings.]

Both versions have strengths and weaknesses which can be seen in the similar, yet different storyforms.

Two interesting observations were made about the film that might be responsible for the different interpretations. The film is very spare in its storytelling. By being so, single events may or may not have multiple meanings in different contexts, what Melanie Anne Phillips (co-create of the Dramatica theory) calls "multi-appreciation moments." As such, much is left up to the audience to sort out the different "meanings" an event may contain, leaving room for (mis)interpretation. Regarding the differing opinions about Taylor's mental sex, it was suggested that the confusion or mixed-messages found in the film may have two possible sources. The script, early versions written by Rod Serling, may have originally been written with a female mental sexed main character. Subsequent writers and, perhaps, Charlton Heston himself may have modified Taylor to exhibit more male mental sexed behavior. The second hypothesis was that it reflected the social confusion regarding mental sex of the times. We didn't have anything specific to back that up but it sounded good.

Next month's film, "A Room With A View."