A new Hollywood film turns apes like this into superapes. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Joel Kontinen
Evolution has given rise to many Hollywood stories, which is not surprising as the Darwinian worldview is full of just-so stories that have a tendency to change and occasionally contradict each other.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is no exception. The film never attempts to question evolution but considers it to be fact. It shows how a chimpanzee called Caesar (Andy Serkis) learns to read and write, and becomes increasingly like a human being.
In reality, the gap between humans and chimpanzees is enormous. The often quoted 1 per cent genetic difference is a myth as the real difference is much bigger, perhaps 23 per cent.
But Hollywood seldom lets facts spoil an intriguing story.
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