Can a gorilla monkey be Banksy? That’s the set-up of Disney’s new animal rights flick, “The One and Only Ivan,” inspired by the true story of a silverback gorilla who spent 27 years intimidating children at a circus in a mall in Tacoma, Wash. In the film, he is politicized about his imprisonment and expresses his anger through art. Directed by Thea Sharrock and based on the winning book of KA Applegate’s Newbery Award of the same title, this narrative is sweet compared to the real Ivan’s comeo in the 1991 documentary ‘The Urban Gorilla’, which takes him into a case of 500 pounds changed. . This computer-animated Ivan is able to speak for himself (in the voice of Sam Rockwell). If legal efforts in Germany, Argentina, and the Balearic Islands have established precedents that could make primate personality a future for civil rights, what is the relationship of the film from fiction to fact? We answer these and other questions below.
Ivan resists the stereotype that silverback gorillas are angry breast-dumpers. Are silverbacks really the most violent type of gorilla?
First, silverbacks are not kind. Silverback is a literal description for a male gorilla whose black fur began to turn gray on the shoulders and back, which happens around the age of 13. However, although a human is a “gray bear” or “blue” here “calls insult,” silverback “is synonymous with” alpha. ” In gorilla society, age equals status. Instead of reaching for the hair dye, a silverback enjoys the worship of a harem of females while lonely younger males watch in exile. A silverback will fight rival troops and youthful punks seeking power, but he is not a particular threat to humans.
Yesterday, Ivan grows up with his own owner, Mack (Bryan Cranston), who takes him to the drive-in to watch movies with Disney brands like “Robin Hood.” So in the ’70s, could you just adopt a gorilla?
In 20 states you can still – if you get a permit. (Please do not.) Baby gorillas were not as victimized by the primitive rage of the ’60s and’ 70s as chimpanzees and bonobos, when baby monkeys were raised as children by well-meaning scientists. Once grown, the confused animals were brought to zoos and sanctuaries, where their own species rejected them as socially awkward geeks. (Check out the fantastic documentary “Project Take” for the complete tragedy.) “The One and Only Ivan” recognizes the Stockholm Syndrome that arises as an intelligent animal bound to its captor, in the absence of its own kind. While the film gives his star a happy ending, the real Ivan has a hard time acclimatizing his fellow gorillas at a zoo. Despite his prestigious silver fur, he was ridiculed or, at best, ignored, by females, while mantle caregivers shrugged about how rarely he got to mate. Primates raised in human homes also pick up human vices such as junk food and alcohol; Ivan rode for cigarettes. (Do not worry, parents. Here he is only addicted to finger paints.)
Ivan wants Mack’s circus to make more money. Understanding gorillas’ economy?
Probably. Primates understand currency. Chimpanzees are trained to value 100-yen coins, which they exchange for apples. Capuchins introduced to tokens soon learn a bank heist to budget, gamble and plot (in addition to reinventing the oldest profession). And once wild Indonesian macaques realized that infallible objects held value for humans, they shot to steal hats, sunglasses and cameras, which they would reimburse for crackers.
However, these are not gorillas. Gorillas are great apes – shouldn’t they be worse than a macaque?
Probably. Evidence is harder to get. Lethargic and less motivated by food confidence, gorillas are the bright slacker in the back of the class who refuses to take the quiz. For example, while orangutans, bonobos, chimpanzees, and human babies have all passed the spike test – the ability to recognize yourself in a flat image, gorillas are not even considered. Their paranoia of aggressive eye contact makes them refuse to look in the mirror. The fictional Ivan’s ability to recognize his image on billboards and TV is singular, with one exception of celebrities: Koko the gorilla, who snapped her own self-portrait in the mirror, a photo that was the cover of National Geographic. However, Koko’s achievements have proved to be singular and suspicious.
Nice. But can gorillas really paint?
Absolutely. This can include cats, dogs, dolphins, horses, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, meerkats, squirrels, batons, lemurs, barges, parrots, turtles, sea lions, snakes and cockroaches. While gorillas are not seen painting with mud in nature, as Ivan does here – and his climatic masterpiece, reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “Wheatfield With Crows”, is unparalleled – zoos have discovered that every creature is an emerging artist, once there is a brush in her mouth like ink on her feet. This explosion of animal-made abstract art – which can be more compared to the work of Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell and Wassily Kandinsky than that of Picasso or Pollock – is good for gift shops of zoos. But is a gorilla consciously creative? Yes, in the case of (again) Koko and her companion Michael, who both used sign language to give their works descriptive titles such as “Bird,” “Toy Dinosaur,” “Stink Gorilla More” and “Pink Pink Stink Nice Drink . ”
