1. Marino

    Marino New Member

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    Pongidae (The Great Apes)

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Marino, Jun 22, 2008.

    I am having trouble developing my plot for one of the stories I want to write.

    Here is the synopsis so far (Work In Progress):

    Humans leave the Earth, their first home, because they do not want to destroy it and harm it anymore. They feel bad for it & cherish it because it was the place they evolved. They leave a time capsule with the sum of all knowledge known to man for the next species that becomes sentient to use (A LOVE LETTER FROM MANKIND), along with a rosetta stone to decipher the message (it is written in English, the universal human language). Mankind leaves Earth on various different spaceships, and they vow to never return, for Earth’s sake.
    The Earth changes drastically, of course, and events occur similar to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People). With humans gone, The Great Apes strive, and take over the planet. There are two main alliances with opposing ideologies:

    The Bonobos & Orangutans : Wise & Peaceful, Practice non-violence and try to settle disputes with sexual pacts or through settling their differences.

    Chimpanzees & Gorillas: Militarists & Patriarchal, war-like and aggressive, male-dominated and settle their disputes with violence.

    They develop complex societies, go through their own ‘Neolithic Revolution’ and domesticate animals, language, religions, ect.

    They find the time capsule, and are fascinated with these ‘humans’. Some apes consider the capsule to be a hoax, and some develop religions around these findings, Hominism, the worship of human beings. Skeptic apes, however, do not believe that humans were real, but simply a fabrication of the ape mind. A hair-less ape seems to be extremely improbable.

    These stories got passed on generation after generation, until a very elaborate mythology emerges about how the apes came to be. Some people think that humans made apes, others think a god made both humans and apes, and others think that all living organisms have evolved.

    From here, I am stuck. I wrote some things that can happen:

    1. Humans come back and visit their original home &
    *they are worshipped as gods
    *give knowledge to & help the apes
    *are killed by the apes

    2.Apes continue progressing their society &
    *try to find the humans in the galaxy
    *delve deeper into human history
    *the religion keeps developing,& turns dangerous somehow??

    Any ideas/cliches/plot holes??

    As you can see, I am very early in the process of writing this story. I thought of this while trying to go to bed last night, so I wrote the above down.

    Thanks. :)
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Clichés? Well, Planet of the Apes and all of its subsequent movie spinoffs comes to mind.

    It does seem a good venue to discuss topics of the human condition, as was Planet of the Apes. You have a species closely related to us, which finds a time capsule (their inner humanity) which speaks about us, and then reacts in differing ways to said information.

    What do you want to say about humanity? I think that is the real question.
     
  3. Marino

    Marino New Member

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    Definately a big part of this story is the Love Letter from Mankind, the message that mankind gives the future sentient species. It basically is an apology of our naiveness & all the damage that we have caused the Earth and all the species including ourselves. It should be very honest & humble. Basically, I want the reader to be able to relate and try to make the Earth a better place. Heh, although that idea is cliche in itself, oh well. :)

    Along with the supposed Planet of the Apes similarities, I have seen the movie a while ago and the themes aren't even remotely similar. Planet of the Apes was about "what if apes dominated humans instead of the other way around?" In this story, it is about the RELATIONSHIP between humans and apes, & a hypothetical about "What would happen if mankind left the Earth and left a message for other species?"

    Sorry but I really do not see the similarities other than the idea that apes are living on a planet. :p
     
  4. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    That was only the surface story.

    Planet of the Apes was about what does it mean to be human? It was also about confronting the inner ape, man as animal, and all that this implies. That the apes had subjugated man was a metaphor for how our base instincts (which we would like to pretend don’t exist, but which are most certainly still with us) still dominate so very much of our human interplay. BTW, I’m talking about the originals, not that waste of celluloid with Mark Walberg.

    In that respect, the theme of the movie was quite profound. Science Fiction, at its best, is a venue to explore questions of human existence at a sufficient esthetic distance that these questions are ask-able without damaging the individual who is reading.
     
  5. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    Yay! Tim Burton..
     
  6. Marino

    Marino New Member

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    Heh, the only movie I saw was the 2001 version. :redface:

    But anyways, are you saying that my plot is too similar to Planet of the Apes?

    I got absolutely no inspiration from it, this idea came purely from my mind. I don't think the similarities are too profound. However, if you think they are, I will just work on my other projects because this is just one of many ideas.
     
  7. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Then I can see how me may have come to a misunderstanding concerning the theme. :D That movie was horrible, and yes, pretty much only focused on the idea of ape rules, man drools.

    The original was MUCH better and much more profound. Give it a rent and forgive the old-school special effects. :p
     

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