[W Forum] 'Planet of the Apes'

In the not-too-distant future, a space probe crash-lands on a planet due to a malfunction during its journey.

The captain, along with two surviving crew members, explores a planet similar to Earth's deserts but is captured and tormented by monkeys who rule the place. They barely escape from the armed domination of these creatures and strive to leave the planet and return to Earth. Suddenly, the captain sees something rising between the sand dunes, kneels down, and is overcome with despair.

It is none other than the Statue of Liberty rising from the ruins. This means that this place is the Earth of the future. The ending of the movie Planet of the Apes (1969), made during the era when the fear of nuclear war threatened humanity, must have been a chilling shock to people living in the Cold War era.

The days when the United States and the Soviet Union growled at each other as if to launch nuclear missiles indiscriminately are over. More than 40 years after that shocking film was made, the 2011 remake of Planet of the Apes predicted the fear of human extinction due to a pandemic.

A scientist who was trying to cure his father’s dementia developed a drug that caused fatal side effects in humans, spreading infection like the coronavirus. However, it evolved the brains of laboratory monkeys, depicting a future where humanity is ruled by monkeys.

The final scene of that movie is also chilling. It shows how one infected individual with fatal side effects spreads the infection worldwide during the ending credits.

On a world map, the infected person's airplane arrives first, then several planes depart from there and spread the infection, and as time passes, airplanes move across the globe like a spider web, symbolizing the apocalypse.

Now, during the COVID pandemic, that ending feels like d?j? vu.

However, just as we overcame the nuclear crisis, we believe we can overcome the COVID pandemic. Risks that are recognized and addressed are no longer considered dangerous. Rather, unexpected dangers may lurk in unlikely places. It is said that space probes searching for extraterrestrial life could bring disaster to humanity.

Extraterrestrial life advanced enough to discover Earth may have evolved intellectually hundreds of millions of years beyond us. They would seek to dominate and conquer any planet they reach. It could be the beginning of a tragedy, like when the Aztecs of South America met the Spanish conquerors.

In the jungle where they hunt to survive, we are the foolish prey shouting, "I am here!" We hope aliens greet us warmly with a "Hi!" like a foreigner met in an elevator, but in reality, they are more likely predators emerging from the darkness.

That aside, as Koreans, even if the end of the Earth comes tomorrow, I cannot help but live today in reality with all my might. "Let’s make today strong!" and I want to send New Year greetings with "Carpe Diem!"

Seo Jae-yeon, Executive Director, Mirae Asset Securities Galleria WM