ABC is planning a sitcom based on an insurance commercial. The Geico caveman is a favorite character of mine, he gets so offended by the stereotyping of cavemen by other people. The satire is obvious, it's not that he's actually hurt by any of this, he's just peeved at it. His real issues are less social and more personal: "It's my mom, I'll put her on speaker phone," he tells his therapist in one commercial. The proposed sitcom would put three of these cavemen in modern day Atlanta, where they would obviously deal with the "racial" issues of living as a caveman in a modern world.
As a counselor and as someone concerned about racial reconciliation, I think laughing about this could go a long way toward everyone getting along. Humor can help us recognize that 1) everyone has in common the "baggage" of life, and 2) we often assume the worst of people who are only superficially different. The only way they could mess this up is if the show became a bash the conservative white guy every week, ignoring the show's own sermons.
I don't know that I'd actually watch the show, as I don't give a lot of time to sitcoms. But you never know, this show could be really insightful and have a lot of heart.
Or not.
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