Nudity in Art and Literature: Planet of the Apes

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https://being-and-nakedness.com/2025/01/28/nudity-in-art-and-literature-planet-of-the-apes/
this is an article/post from nick alimonos (of aenya fame) on his blog, being and nakedness. links are to the pictures, which i probably could have attached some other way, but ah well.

Nudity in Art and Literature is a new series illuminating often-missed, non-sexual expressions of the unclad body found in books, movies, games, and other mediums from the most recent times to the ancient past.

Let's be honest here: we've got enough articles about the virtues of nude living to last us a lifetime. More resort/nude beach reviews? Do they even matter when most of us are unlikely to visit such places aside from our dreams? Nudism/naturism/the naked life, call it what you will, must expand to other areas of society. It may be well and good for some of us in the clothes-free community to remain holed up in our resorts and online communities, but I would like to see a day when I no longer have to hide who I am from friends and family. Before my death, I would like to answer the door without running for my pajama shorts, visit the local beach without a swimsuit, or feel comfortable telling people where my wife and I go on vacation.

This is why I've spent much of my career promoting Xandr and Thelana—naked heroes who appeal to all readers of Sci-Fi/fantasy. Unfortunately, Amazon has been flooded with poorly written dreck novels that try to capitalize on the theme of nudity. Most of these are written by authors who have never experienced nudism and couldn't tell you the first thing about it. What's worse, casual nudity is almost always equated to erotica. But this hasn't always been the case. Like Thelana in The Feral Girl, Burroughs' Tarzan, having been raised by apes, avoids the minimal loincloth he is so often depicted wearing in other adaptations. In Burroughs' Mars series, John Carter does the same, traipsing through the Martian landscape in nothing but his bare skin, beside his equally nude female companion, Dejah Thoris, since the natives of Barsoom (Mars) don't wear clothes. And despite what Disney will have us believe, in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Mowgli is no more dressed than the animal companions he hangs out with.

https://being-and-nakedness.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/mowgli.png?w=786

We need stories like these to help normalize the human body. We need casual nudity in books, movies, and video games. The recent Baldurs Gate 3, which allows you to play your character wholly uncensored, is a promising start.

This leads me to Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. My copy was sent to me by the Folio Society, which specializes in leather-bound hardback editions, and showcases several illustrations that, unlike the film starring Charlton Heston, never shies away from nudity. Nobody confuses Boulle's classic sci-fi tale with smut, however, and I can only hope my books someday achieve the same level of respect. My only disappointment was seeing how Boulle uses nudity to separate human intelligence (or ape intelligence, in this case) from that of animals.

In Planet of the Apes, the human natives of Soror (the titular planet) devolve into an animal state of mind, losing the power of speech and even the ability to make facial expressions. Likewise, they have given up wearing clothing, reinforcing the age-old prejudice regarding primitive peoples' humanity here on Earth. The same biases were used by British and French anthropologists to dismiss the dignity of African, Asian, and South American tribes. While the author doesn't fully explore the history of nakedness among his humans or how and why clothing is abandoned, it's an absurd premise, considering how they must suffer in colder climates, while the apes remain dressed despite their fur-covered bodies. The Ilmar of Aenya, by comparison, don pelts when the weather demands it.

https://being-and-nakedness.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/img_2313.jpg?w=1024

After the apes strip him of his clothes, the story's hero, Ulysee, spends almost the entirety of the book in the buff. His constant nakedness feels awkward to him at first, as he is walked like a pet around a simian version of New York City, but he is quick to adapt to the situation and goes on to prove his intellect after addressing a crowd of thousands, returning to his state of dress once given the opportunity. Still, it could be argued that clothing has more to do with societal norms than intelligence. Earlier in the book, when Ulysee and his crew first arrive on the planet, they meet with an animal-human tribe and strip themselves of their clothes to better relate to the natives. Later, Ulysee adorns himself to find acceptance among his ape companions. Either way, Ulysee's attitude toward his naked state plays only a minor role in proving his self-worth.

Want to know more about Planet of the Apes? Check out my podcast below! [it's on the actual article]