At the time the original King Kong (1933) was made, the United States was well and truly in the throes of an economic depression. Despite this, at a cost of nearly $700,000, this film made a ‘home-soil’ profit of two million dollars in the year of its release (Farber 2000). But was it the undeniable spectacle of the ’special effects’ that so enthralled a desperate nation, or the underlying theme of a heterosexual white male victory over the black beast that would so brazenly threaten the patriarchal hegemony by coveting the ‘fair maiden’?

The special effects, including the fog-covered island, the pre-historic creatures, Kong itself, and the final battle between that beast and the flying machines upon New York’s most ornate phallus, the Empire State Building, are remarkable and surprisingly believable in the context of the film – or, perhaps, its date of creation – though the lighting and cinematography certainly aid and abet this contrivance. But the blatant masturbation of the white male ego, from the film-maker/adventurer Denham’s initial procurement of the ‘damsel in distress’ to his final denial of his own involvement in the death of that which would threaten his superiority, pulsates throughout this text to emit a tale that, as Desser (1999, p. 85) avers, is a “projection of middle-class white male fears of black sexuality”.

 
On the other hand, it could just be an incredible and adventurous, cleverly-crafted romp through the jungle of cinematic development that would inspire science fiction and horror film-makers to this very day. Regardless, King Kong is an icon of those genres which will not go down without a fight.

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