"Intellectuals have attempted to read certain symbolisms into King Kong. Kong represents a Depression-stricken people lashing out against society; Kong is a Christ figure crucified on a stage before an audience of spectators; Kong symbolizes the black man and his conflict against his white oppressors; Kong on the Empire State Building depicts the most spectacular phallic symbol ever captured by film; and so on. Cooper has disavowed these "insights" into his film; he was not the kind of person to consider injecting messages into his productions. … Whatever messages might lurk beneath the film's surface were entirely coincidental on Cooper's part or, at best, subliminal."