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.- 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.
- Bonus points to it being forward-thinking since Neanderthals were another SUBSPECIES or SPECIES of human entirely.
- This Troper recently heard that the original cartoon showrunners were seriously considering giving the Flintstones and Rubbles new neighbors called "The Blackstones", who would be basically stone age versions of the Evans family from Good Times, in an effort to capitalize on the many Black family oriented shows that were popular at that time. That idea was sketched up and everything, but never actually launched.
- In the 60s most HB shows were still pretty much all white, that changed in the 70s. Outside of one dust up that someone at the studio had wanted to make Valerie on Josie and the Pussycats white which whoever had the idea clearly lost. Knowing in hindsight that Joe Barbera had trouble selling a Flintstones spinoff with an All Black Cast might mean that there actually are some more minority characters and shows on the list of things the studio thought about making but just never sold. Which is sad but might very well be true.
The Flintstones is the distant past of Girl Genius.
Proto-Sparks have created the Bamboo Technology and genetically bred giant monsters which resemble dinosaurs. No, it's not really the future. 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. He may 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.
- But Gazoo didn't arrive until after Bamm-Bamm was adopted. A whole two seasons later.
- He could also be Hercules.
- Bamm-Bamm was unusually strong even for the other characters, some of whom weren't that weak either. He could be a Archaic homo sapiens, who are thought to had even more muscular potential than Neanderthals or modern humans.
- Let's do some Canon Welding. He's a descendant of the earlier in time Mighty Mightor. Bamm-Bamm's club is made of part of the magic club given to Tor. Bamm-Bamm inherited the strength from it but with some issues he can't fly and temporarily lost it during puberty.
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 Flintstones makes this connection clear. Fred Flintstone, 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-Magnon: 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 Flintstones 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- Uhm, it's not just dinosaurs. There are also saber-toothed cats, mammoths, and freaking DODOS. What would be the point of genetically-engineered DODOS?! By the way, in one episode, Fred and Barney stumble upon a tiny creek that is labeled "GRAND CANYON" (this is clearly meant to be the Colorado River), and Fred says "they say it'll be a big thing someday."
The characters are related to The Jetsons.
Think about it.- Fred=George
- Wilma=Jane
- Barney=Elroy
- Betty=Judy
- Dino=Astro
- Mr. Slate=Mr. Spacely
- Except that the Flintstones actually have friends and neighbors. Seriously, were there EVER any other characters on The Jetsons? It was like a ghost town, to the point that, when they Jetsons appeared on a game show, their opponents were the Spacelys because there were no other characters on the show.
- Wrong. The Spacelys entered first and Mr. Spacely arranged for the Jetsons to be their opponents because he relied on George's fear of being fired to win.
- Mr. Slate is Cogswell's ancestor.
- Except that the Flintstones actually have friends and neighbors. Seriously, were there EVER any other characters on The Jetsons? It was like a ghost town, to the point that, when they Jetsons appeared on a game show, their opponents were the Spacelys because there were no other characters on the show.
In the Flintstones-verse it is perpetually the sixties.
All time periods of mankind bend over backwards to make the world as sixties-like as possible. The Flintstones and the Jetsons are just two examples, list others below:- The Biblesons
- The Pillarstones
- The Dungers
- The Chevaliers
- The pilgrimsons
- The Victorians
- The Jones
- The Sandersons (Ancient Egypt)
- The Deckswabs (Pirates)
- The Goldpanners
- The Serfboards (Serf: An agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system of medieval europe to work on his lord's estate.)
- The Iceblocks
- The Dorados
What happened to Dino?
We do see that he was a very intelligent critter in his apparent origin story, capable of talking and very cunning, but why does he act like a dog else where? Simple, in the episode "The Hypnotist", Fred "hypnotises" Wilma into thinking she's a dog, but winds up actually hypnotizing Barney for real. Dino was not far away when this happened and was also hypnotized, and Fred still hasn't gotten around to bringing him back to normal.- Or maybe it's Dino himself who is the hypnotist. Once he was firmly ensconced as the Flintstones' pet, he made them forget he could talk and do chores, and then promptly quit doing them as well. He had a home, people to take care of him, he didn't need to keep up the act anymore.
- I heard a "rumor" that Fred had Dino lobotomized and that he violently forced everyone to keep their mouths shut about it. There's a reason why Joe Rockhead is not around in the later films/specials.
The Great Gazoo is an agent of the Incubators.
He may be related to them, or actually be a member of the same species and fill a different role like ants and bees in their colonies. His job is to distract Fred and Barney while another Incubator tries to contract with Betty and Wilma. So yeah, they have been here since at least The Theme Park Version of the Stone Age.- Betty and Wilma are too old to be puella magica girls.
Ann-Margrock was Pebbles real mother.
- Impossible, especially since Wilma was the first animated character to be shown pregnant in TV.
Fred was in the Stone Age equivalent of The Mafia.
Fred's work in construction is just a cover.- According to Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law, Fred and Barney were powerful mafia dons.
The whole Flintstones world is a Cargo Cult style imitation derived from a vision of the future.
It's a proto-civilisation derived from when some stone-age individual saw a vision of the modern world and set about slavishly trying to recreate it. Bud Rock was part of Seth MacFarlane's concept for his attempted revival of this series.
It wasn't just a throwaway gag in The Simpsons Guy. Doctor Frankenstone made four monsters
Which Frankenstone is legit? They all are. He made four. Three of them left to start families. The Fourth remained for Fred and Barney to meet in Rockula's Castle.However the other three brothers all taking the name Frank, went and married into the same family of monsters producing similar next generations. Fred meets one brother in The New Fred and Barney Show, only for another one to move next door in the Primetime specials. For whatever reason that Frank has to move out later and the fourth brother and his family moves into their home for the Flintstone Comedy Show.
Meanwhile, on a (somewhat) more serious note...
Wilma only threatened to divorce Fred ONCE.
It was likely in the early years of their marriage (i.e., [long] before the events of the original series). As we all know, Fred was once a gambling addict, and it might have gotten almost, if not completely out of control at some point, with Wilma saying that while she does love him, if he didn't get help, then their marriage would be over... The Flintstones takes place after The Jetsons
The Jetsons, having put their faith in technology, experienced what grew to be a decadent and unstable society. The techno-future utopia eventually collapsed taking most of humanity with it. In the ashes, the remaining humans struggle to rebuild society with their meager resources. The secrets of technology were largely forgotten, but humanity was able to use rocks and animals to create a pastiche of their lost society. Generations after this attempted revival of modern society, we find Fred Flintstone... The Flintstones actually takes place in the present day
Or specifically the sixties. The Flintstones have mid-20th century technology, they are described as a “modern Stone Age family” and even make references to modern-day culture. Not to mention the fact that they celebrate modern holidays such as Christmas. The Flintstones live in a private civilization that has been designed to resemble the Stone Age. The dinosaurs (as well as other animals such as the mammoths, saber-toothed cats and dodo birds) were cloned. The Great Gazoo is Fred's Stand
Explanation for Rosie O'Donnell's characters in the live-action movies.
In the first live-action movie, she plays Betty. But in the prequel movie Viva Rock Vegas, she voices an octopus who is disgruntled because she just learned what calamari is, and Betty is played by a different actress. What if in between the movies, the octopus killed and replaced Betty, crawling inside her body and controlling it Ennard style? Maybe she did it to hide from chefs who would want to cook her.- Alternatively, instead of crawling into Betty's body, she put on a human disguise, Dave style.
The cereal Pebbles wouldn't eat in "Dino Disappears" was Pebbles Cereal.
In "Dino Disappears," after Dino runs away, Pebbles is Too Unhappy to Be Hungry. Barney tries to encourage her to eat by sampling her cereal himself, saying "Uncle Barney loves Pebbles' cereal"... and then finds that he really does like it and finishes it for her. Maybe that cereal was Fruity Pebbles (Cocoa Pebbles would be introduced later), and this was Barney's first taste of it, creating his addiction to it that made him create all his lavish schemes to steal it from Fred in the commercials.