(GEICO)'Cavemen' series gets a new criticism: It's racist

The Miami Herald ^ | July 26, 2007 | GLENN GARVIN

[Yardstick]

I thought that might be Jobs but wasn’t sure. I guess he’s always been the more stylish of the two.

[hunter112]

How can you say that, you stinking Slag!

Ah, yes, they invented their own politically incorrect epithets! I hope the Caveman show does the same.

I'm not looking for deep intellectual stimulation here, just some chewing gum for my brain.

[Old Student]

“I’m not looking for deep intellectual stimulation here, just some chewing gum for my brain.”

I like mine visual-imput, too, but I prefer it in text form. More scope for the imagination that way.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

I’ll bet it’s the same people who yelled about a Star Wars movie with some kind of shuffling creature and said that it was racist.
The racists are the people who see these movies and immediately say “it’s about this racial group”.

[Law is not justice but process]

“By depicting the Cro-Magnons as good dancers, great athletes and grand sexual partners . . .

Wait a minute . . . could . . . could I be? Hells Bells, I’m a Cro Magnon!

[tracer]

I wish they’d have a commercial with the cavemen roasting the gecko on a spit — along with a guy saying, “Can you hear me now?”

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Watched one episode (on today) and the show was fairly interesting. They do a decent job of addressing racism issues--from both angles. i.e. European descendants believing that a non-European descendant being kind to them is out to rape them (have seen a similar attitude before); also non-European descendants accusing others of racism rather than recognizing flaws in themselves (also have seen).

One criticism that would personally point to is that the series is similar to Star Wars' Expanded Universe's (the novels and such) treatment of aliens. Aliens are enslaved. There is a pro-human bias. Aliens are seen as filthy and stupid.

As with the cavemen (who are apparently Neanderthals or other non-homo sapiens sapiens) a big point is that aliens are not human. As such, some aliens would be stupider and filthier than humans. Cavemen are also not modern humans.

As opposed to such aliens or Neanderthals, non-European descendants are not on another level--neither lower nor higher--than European descendants. Genetically, the arguments for human races are very weak. To compare non-European descendants to aliens who supposedly underwent and are at another level in the evolution of their species, or to do the same with an extinct branch of humanity is bad, even though the Star Wars 'leadership' and the makers of "Cavemen" probably had good intentions.

Star Wars has finally seemed to have discovered that its kind-intent/not-so-great-result alien/racism parallel was not such a good idea, and its sort of alarming when a 'good character' comments that an alien is too stupid for a particular job, because of the trend of substituting aliens for non-European descendants. Cavemen still has this issue.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

If they’re supposed to be Cro-Magnons, then they should be ‘modern’ humans. Cro-Magnons were homo sapiens sapiens who went to Europe, and maybe drove Neanderthals to extinction.

[Hi Heels]

Yes, I’m sure all the cavemen are pissed beyond belief. So, I’ll ping a couple.....*snort*...personally I love cavemen...in furs and stuff. What’s to hate?