"King Kong": Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves

King Kong (1933)

Reimagining the classic through feminist revolt

• Country: United States

• Genre: Creature feature

• Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

• Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

gorillas in our midst. photo by michael quinn.

Clinical Overview

A director takes his leading lady to an undiscovered island to film an epic, discovering a huge gorilla that he brings to New York, unleashing terror and chaos.

Diagnosis

The film has been remade several times, but never in a way that offers new possibilities for any of its characters.

Prescription

Anne is a Jane Goodall-type scientist. Kong is a female gorilla. They understand one another right away, and meet as equals. Because the government has cut all her funding, Anne brings Kong to Washington, DC, as part of an “American Exceptionalism” display—then unleashes Kong to squash the people in power.