The Flintstones/WMG
Why are there no Black people in Bedrock?
This Troper hopes that this doesn't offend anyone; it was originally written in response to a locked LiveJournal post where someone jokingly postulated a segregated Stone Age community "across the tracks" from Bedrock. Now, that was offensive.
- Yes, Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying, but the anthropologists, not so much. Fred and Barney are the quintessential pop-culture "cavemen", which means that they were probably Neanderthals. Bedrock is almost certainly a prehistoric European settlement; at this (pseudo)historical juncture, if there are any ethnic divisions in Bedrock at all, they're going to be between Neanderthals (who were probably pale-skinned) and Cro-Magnons (who'd probably also developed pale skin at this juncture). Rather than berate The Flintstones for its lack of ethnic diversity, we should instead laud its impressive, forward-thinking stance for the mixed marriages that take front and center: just as Fred and Barney's robust build mark them as Neanderthals, Wilma and Betty share the gracile physique of the Cro-Magnon.
- The question only applies to the original series; later incarnations almost certainly did have Token Minority characters, which, despite the above logic, make as much or more sense than the frakking dinosaurs.
The Flintstones is the distant past of Girl Genius.
Proto-Sparks have created the Bamboo Technology and genetically bred giant monsters which resemble dinosaurs. HA! You thought I was going to drag out that tired old "it's really the future" WMG didn't you? PSYCH!
Where did Bamm-Bamm come from?
So we know that Bamm-Bamm is adopted, and his parents saw a falling star...and he has super-strength, right? Sound like a certain somebody?
- Actually, it recalls more than just that guy. I always believed him to be the distant ancestor of Pippi Longstocking.
- You people aren't looking back enough.
- Alternately, Bamm-Bamm is the result of an affair between Betty and The Great Gazoo, making Bamm-Bamm a half alien, complete with powers, such as his super strength and him and Pebbles being able to sing so prettily and eloquently when they were just babies.
- He could also be Hercules.
The Flintstones is a creationist's vision of the past.
Think about it. Dinosaurs co-exist with people, and they celebrate Christmas.
The "Stonehenge" restaurant from the live-action movie movie is a chain.
The the one we see in the movie isn't the one we see in England today, the ruins of the Salisbury franchise are just the only surviving building from the chain.
The Flintstones 'verse was the original (failed) attempt to seed intelligent life on Earth
At a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and life still thrived on Mars, the Martians attempted to seed sentient life on Earth, assigning The Great Gazoo as its caretaker. Ultimately, they failed, but succeeded at another attempt some millions of years later just before the Martian biosphere died out.
The Flintstones is Marxist propaganda
In the show, all productive machinery and labor saving devices are replaced by exploited animal labor. Moreover, these animals are often clearly shown to be sentient, lampshading the crappiness of their position with a shrug and "It's a living". This represents, quite in line with Marxian political economy, the emphasis upon labor being the prime mover of social wealth. In our world, such goods as a household appliance represent labor mixed with raw materials to create a functional product. But such often goes unrecognized. The Flinstones makes this connection clear. Fred Flinstone, a worker himself, is alienated from his fellow workers by capitalist socio-economic system. This represents Fred's self-estrangement from himself as a worker due to his consumerist lifestyle. It is clear that there was serious Marxist infiltration of Hanna-Barbara to slip such a subversive message through in a primetime sitcom.
The social classes of The Flintstones, at least according to The Film of the Series.
- Cro-Magnan: Our prehistoric ancestors. They make up the majority of the population (e.g. the Flintstones and the Rubbles)
- The Apes (particularly chimpanzees): One scene from the movie would suggest they are smarter than the neanderthals.
- Neanderthals: Similar to Cro-Magnans, only more hairier, bulkier, and less intelligent.
The Flinstones is the United States of America, after World War III.
I know there's a good chance it's set in an After the End, but you have to ask yourself how it got there. Considering this show was set during the Cold War, when fear of nuclear annihilation was imminent, there's a good chance this takes place in a world where World War III occured. Given that there are dinosaurs, the war must've began several decades after the show was set, potentially meaning the Cold War went on for far longer. The animals you see are actually genetically engineered beings in order to survive/fight in the war. And by the way, the dinosaurs aren't dinosaurs, they're genetically engineered reptiles made to resemble dinos. The Jetsons are survivors from off-world colonies, who have done the long and arduous task of rebuilding society
Think about it.
- Fred=George
- Wilma=Jane
- Barney=Elroy
- Betty=Judy
- Dino=Astro
- Mr. Slate=Mr. Spacely