Silly “Planet of the Apes” Attack on Wal-Mart

I’m afraid Jessica McBride fell for this one. Say it ain’t so, Jessica!

From the Washington Post:

Human error caused four films about legendary African Americans to be linked to “Planet of the Apes” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” DVDs on Wal-Mart’s retail Web site, the company said yesterday.

A Walmart.com employee mistakenly grouped the four movies with 263 boxed-set DVDs a year ago as the company prepared for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day promotion, Wal-Mart said. The company called the error “completely unintentional” and said no punishment was planned.

We suppose the claim is that the link equated blacks with apes.

But in reality, “Planet of the Apes” could easily be viewed as a liberal movie, with a proper place alongside civil rights films.

Remember, the planet is ruled by a political/theocratic elite that oppresses humans.

Then there is that stunning final scene, that can only be taken as a condemnation of the nuclear arms race.

But if we just look at a little more information than the liberal blogs have been telling their readers, we get the idea that no political motive — good, bad or indifferent — was behind the combination.

According to the Washington Post:

The long list of DVD sets paired with the films included “The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection” and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus Megaset.” When shoppers clicked on those products, the African American-themed movies appeared under a list of “similar items.”

The mismatched pairings touched a nerve, however, when site users discovered that the films were also attached to “Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series” and a boxed set of “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and “The Incredible Mr. Limpet.”

In fact, not only does there seem to be no political ideology here, but there isn’t any artistic or critical logic either.

These are merely videos that can be bought in boxed sets. Amazon.com, for example, sells “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” as a single set. And of course, there is a “Planet of the Apes” set that includes every movie in that series.