Gorillas in Culture

Gorillas in Popular Culture

Since about 1860 the Gorilla has been found in many forms throughout cultures of the world. They are strong and they are intelligent – two traits that many people would love to have represented in themselves and their people. There are many early art forms out there and drawing that show the gorilla and all of the strength. Many of them show the gorilla in an upright position beating on the chest. These early pictures and drawing are likely to be where the negative view of these animals originated.

Many images of gorillas show them in a better light though. For example there are some showing them lifting cars over their heads or saving a woman in distress. A French sculptor won a medal of honor in 1887 for one of a gorilla carrying off a woman. Today many people are upset by it as they feel this sculptor is one that shows these animals to be highly aggressive in nature. Yet that doesn’t seem to be the theme that this artist was trying to capture through it.

In the 1960’s a beloved cartoon character named Magilla Gorilla hit the screens. He was a delight to children of many ages and it didn’t take long for this to become one of the top cartoons. While there are numerous books about gorillas, they seem to have come to life in the eyes of many through comic books. Many of the early versions of comic books with gorillas in them are now collector’s items and worth lots of money.

There is no shortage of movies out there with gorillas in them. Many of them are icons, but they do tend to portray the gorilla as very angry and very powerful. King Kong is the one that most people quickly think of in this category. The Disney movie Tarzan definitely showed a loving and caring side to the gorillas though.

One movie that seemed to capture the hearts of both young and old is Mighty Joe Young. In this film a young girl is in the mountains of Africa with her mother who is a researcher. One night poachers come in and kill the mother of a gorilla and the girls mother that tries to stop them. The young girl and the young gorilla form a lasting friendship.

He grows at a very fast rate so he is much bigger than other gorillas. However, he is very gentle with her and they even play games such as hide and go seek. Throughout the movie she protects him from the harm of poachers that want to get to this prized gorilla. It is a heart warming story with lots of warmth and some great looks into the lives of gorillas.

Perhaps the fact that gorillas are so closely related to us is why Planet of the Apes came to be about. This particular series was about a planet where apes ruled the world. Humans crash landed there at one point and were held captive by the apes. These animals were very evolved on that planet and wanted to find out more about the humans. This show was a great spin on role reveal and definitely something to think about when you consider the number of gorillas that are in captivity today.

You will find that gorilla to be part of advertising in many ways. This is because of the strength of the animal and they want to show that they are offering very strong products. You will see the gorilla as part of the logos, in commercials, and on their websites as a way to promote that they have something to offer that is going to be very durable and useful to you.