State of Protest

Imagine, if you will, the diversity in that group photo! The History Channel’s 2005 documentary, Ape to Man, attempts to recreate just that in a handy, 100 minute film. We learn of the struggles of the dedicated men who sought to answer some of the most fundamental questions of human existence… Who are we? Who are our evolutionary ancestors? Where on Earth do we come from? As the film explains within the first few minutes, for ages, we had no scientific explanation for these questions. That is, until the discoveries made over the last century by the scientists who risked much to bring us such revelations.

The film highlights a number of fossil milestones that mark various points along the 3 million year procession from ape-like creature to human-like protoman. It also unearths the controversies faced by those that made the discoveries, and the social climate at the time of their introduction into the scientific world. The first fossil is discovered in 1856 by a limestone harvesting crew in a cave in the Neander Valley, Germany. What is originally thought to be a piece of skull of a modern day murder victim is brought to the foreman’s attention, and is, amazingly enough, almost discarded. At the last minute, though, he instead decides to show it to a teacher friend of his he believes might have some interest in the item. The “murder victim” turns out to be a 40,000 year old skull of the hominin that is later named (you guessed it!) Neanderthal.

The interesting part is the initial hesitance on the part of the Victorian scientific community to identify this find as a new species of man. The skull is, at first, thought to belong to a barbarian that fought the Roman legions, the victim of an unknown congenital deformity, even a lost Russian Cossack. The high school anatomy teacher that retrieved the skull fragment is the first to suggest it is an ancestor to man. To most of the population at the time, this idea was absurd. Three years later, Darwin’s “Origin of Species” is published, and popular opinion regarding Neanderthal begins to change. We begin also to attempt to flesh out our family tree, and the race is on to become the first scientist to discover the “missing link,” an animal more exactly between ape and man.

That is not to say human obstinance does not play its own part in hindering the scientific process… The desire to place this “missing link” in Europe leads to one of the biggest blunders of all time in the search for our true ancestor. Piltdown man, presented before the Royal Geographical Society in 1912 by Charles Dawson, was the ideal candidate for such a creature. Its brain was large, like a human being’s, and its jaw was primitive like that of an ape. Aside from that, it was discovered in England, which is what seems to have primarily cemented its place in history. This meant our origins could be traced back to Europe, not Asia, as was previously thought, and therefore appealed to the British scientific minds of the time. Because the find was so popular, little digging was done to verify its authenticity. Decades pass before the truth is realized.

When a true contender to the throne, Taung child (or Australopithecus africanus) from South Africa was discovered by Australian anatomist Raymond Dart in 1924, it nearly devastated his career. The initial introduction of the first human ancestor to come from Africa known at the time (and earliest, at over 2,000,000 years old,) was met with much opposition. The small brain and fine teeth of Taung did not fit the mold of what scientists wanted. One London scientist who reviewed Dart’s find placed it in the same family as gorillas without having actually seen the fossil for himself. 25 years pass until Dart and his fossil gain the recognition they deserve.

In 1953, 40 years after Pildown’s ascension to the role of “missing link,” the fossil is examined scientifically for the first time. It is finally proven to be the hoax that it has been all along. The celebrated jawbone, is, indeed from a modern ape that has simple had its teeth filed down.

The tale told of our rich history (both ancient and modern) in this film is both fascinating and, well, humorous! It goes to show that even in the face of some our greatest discoveries, human selfishness has the ability to be one of our greatest downfalls. Even the most scientifically inclined among us fall victim to this kind of behavior. We are reluctant to change, we don’t like to have our conventional beliefs challenged, and we are afraid of what we don’t know. We often favor our ideas even if they aren’t the best idea going, and we don’t appreciate someone else trying to steal our thunder. What evolutionary need there is for these traits remains to be speculated. To the author, though, it’s an endearing, if annoying aspect of all of us. Perhaps one day we shall, as a species, overcome these feelings, and embrace the truth more readily, just as our ancestors overcame their fears in order to harness the power of fire. Or maybe that sort of thing will have to be up to the next species that springs from our primitive loins.

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Ape To Man for purchase

Neanderthal man

Raymond Dart on Wikipedia

Ah! Nothing like using God as an excuse to curb behaviors you find undesirable in others while foisting your beliefs on them! Even better when you have the authority of official-looking soft science to back it up! Welcome to Psychopathia Sexualis, Bret Wood’s 2006 feature length film adaptation of Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing’s 1886 book of the same name. The book (and movie) describe the findings of studies and experiments performed on Kraft-Ebbing’s patients, and the various treatment methods used to “cure” them of their deviant sexual behaviors.

Among the behaviors deemed “deviant,” we have the usual lineup… Homosexuality, masturbation, sado-masochistic tendencies, and any other facet of human sexuality that does not ultimately lead to conception of a child via coitus. Any sexual desire felt on the part of a woman at all is described as deviant, as a woman’s sole purpose in life is to conceive and bear a child. In fact, Krafft-Ebbing asserted, if she dies during delivery, her death should be viewed as noble and not as a tragedy, for bringing a child into the world is the greatest accomplishment a woman can hope to achieve.

The justification used by Krafft-Ebbing was, of course, his belief that any sexual practice not condoned by the Bible was against God and nature, and had to be squelched by any means necessary. The treatments for the various maladies shown in the film range from mind control by way of hypnotism to institutionalization, shock therapy, and, eventually, lobotomization. Each depiction of said acts is difficult to watch — as graphic as the rest of the movie! — and moving. Viewing the dramatic reenactments of what was sanctioned by supposedly scientific minds is enough to make the flesh crawl of any proponent of human rights.

Some of the case studies are bizarre, (we have leech fetishism, animal stomping fetishism, vampirism, and others,) some are humorous, (the man with the fetish for bushy moustaches,) and some are downright touching… For instance, the story of forbidden love between an older, closeted lesbian (termed “sexually inverted”) and the young, curious girl under her tutelage could stand alone as a film itself. While some actors in the film seem unsure of themselves and the dialogue can come off as a bit stiff, the story told about these two women and their unspoken yet palpable lust for one another is captivating. Anguish is felt for the older woman, who admits to her young friend that she has never known the touch of either man or woman, and for the young girl who pines seemingly hopelessly for her kindly, warm-hearted tutor. Their story is enchanting, and conveys the true meaning of human love and tenderness in all of its universal beauty.

The final scene of the film is in direct contrast to this tale, and serves as the final chapter in a case study we’ve learned about in bits and pieces throughout the film… A young man named Xavier is introduced to us early on, and we witness him become the unfortunate victim of systematic brainwashing in the form of hypnosis as treatment for his homosexuality. He is supposedly “cured” of his lust for men, and eventually succeeds in obtaining a wife. He and his new bride board a train in this final scene, only to run into none other than one of the men responsible for his miraculous recovery. The young man encourages his wife to leave when she becomes too inquisitive as to the nature of his former condition, and the good doctor proceeds to expound upon his hopes for the future, as led by himself and his colleagues. Many of his predictions have already come to fruition. We are all born and die within the walls of a hospital, marriages have, in the past, required a bloodtest, and the church and science have, at many times, been awkwardly juxtaposed in an effort to define “good” and “evil.” The eerie last lines of the movie are exchanged between Xavier and his former doctor, as they repeat the mantra the young man was made to recite during his conditioning…

“I abhor onanism, because it makes me weak and miserable. I no longer feel an inclination toward men, for love of men is against religion, nature, and law. I feel an inclination toward woman, for woman is lovely and desirable and created for man.”

After the publication of Psychopathia Sexualis, Krafft-Ebbing recanted his claims that homosexuality was due to a mental disorder or moral affliction. He came to this after years of direct personal contact with men such as Xavier. His later findings were, unfortunately, eclipsed by Freud’s notions regarding sexuality, which were more popular at the time.¹ To this day, these homophobic ideas pervade popular opinion and laws relating to the rights of homosexuals. Gay marriage is still illegal in the United States due to the Biblical text which denounces homosexuality.² The Pentagon has reclassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, and is currently allowed to use it as grounds for dismissal and/or early retirement.³ Clearly the influence of Krafft-Ebbing and men like him can still be felt to this day, no matter how much evidence has been given to the contrary.

The remarkable thing about science is its distrust of itself and its incessant need for proof. Science is about coming to a conclusion after much documented experimentation. Science recognizes the flaws of men, and makes no claim that we are perfect or of supernatural stuff. Science encourages that we strive for the truth and amend our ideas when new evidence is presented and it becomes apparent that an idea or fact has become outmoded or disproved. Science is the antithesis of the dogmatic denial of reality common to religion and the men who support it. When religious motivation overtakes the scientific method, it is a dangerous and harmful thing. This film illustrates this marvelously (in glorious technicolor), and I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about what was once regarded as the greatest authority on human sexuality ever compiled.

See also^{3 4}

-Absinthium

1. Wikipedia article, Psychopathia Sexualis [↩]
2. What does the Bible say about gay marriage?, at Gotquestions.org [↩]
3. Psychopathia Sexualis on Amazon [↩]
4. On IMDB [↩]