King Kong (1933) - Film Review

King Kong was made in 1933 and it was directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper as well as Ernest B. Schoedsack. The film follows the story of a group of American film makers who travel to a distant island where they discover a giant gorilla who becomes infatuated with the blonde actress in the group. The team capture the gorilla and take him back for public exhibition in America.

King Kong includes worldly views from the time period that it was made, meaning that often it is very sexist and racist with the African tribesmen being shown as primitive and savage-like and the white American film crew shown as heroic, daring and brave. Repeatedly the female lead character Ann Darrow is put down and considered below the rest of the sailors and film crew due to her gender. She is said to be frail and to get in the way just like all woman. This really reflects the views towards woman and people of a none white race for the time period. King Kong can also be repeatedly linked into slavery "King Kong represents the American black, a creature who is taken forcibly from his homeland to America where he is exploited in chains but then breaks free and conquers New York" (http://horrornews.net/5051/film-review-king-kong-1933/) (1)There is a running link here through the idea behind the native being taken away from their home in shackles, only to then be used for profit and entertainment by white Americans at the time, which is what happened to the vast majority of slaves and what happened to King Kong. Once arrived in New York, King Kong is reduced to a miserable, trapped creature who wants to return home "He sits down on the mooring mast, disgusted by his surroundings (http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/
article/0,33009,745318,00.html) (2) he does not belong in the jungle of the city.

This film could be considered an exploration between primitive versus civilized cultures as the African tribesmen are depicted as savage and primitive in their ways of thinking and acting whilst the white film crew are shown to be more technologically and knowledgeably advanced. This is also shown through the settings of the film as the island is shown to have little structure and everything is very small and obviously man-made with limited technical help or luxuries, were as the city in America which is shown in figure 1 depicts a much more advanced area with high, towering buildings, working trains and electric lights as well as places such as theaters which are built solely to entertain as the city is shown to be rising through an industrial age.

Figure 1 - City of  New York

Still thinking about racial representation within King Kong leads to suggest that actually the creators of the film, at the time, presented the white American's to be rather foolish and to rush into situations without any knowledge, leading them to their own doom. This is shown through the capture of the gorilla by the Americans in comparison to the African tribes actions of building a supportive and protective structure against the dangers that surround them seen in figure 2. Looking at the story from this perspective shows that in this case the tribe had more intellect in dealing with the situation which is breaking down the typical racist stereotypes of the primitive black man from that period of time.

Figure 2 - The Island

Another link that can be made within King Kong is to relate the gorilla to primal male energy and the blonde woman to a sort of fragile beauty. This can also have a connection 
with the story of Beauty and the beast "Arguably the monster movie of all time, this abiding take on Beauty and the Beast has a mythic power that belies its years" (http://www.radiotimes.com/film/cfm44/king-kong) (3) as they both have similar themes, in the end the gorillas desire for beauty kills him.


Bibliography
(1): Found at http://horrornews.net/5051/film-review-king-kong-1933/
(2): Found at http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,745318,00.html
(3): Found at http://www.radiotimes.com/film/cfm44/king-kong

Illustrations
Figure 1: Found at http://www.horrorfilmhistory.com/index.php?pageID=KingKong
Figure 2: Found at http://zombiesites.com/shotcontext/search/label/king%20kong.html