Ella Al-Shamahi
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
That kind of association with them being like, blessed, like morons, is still very much present.
But what's really interesting is that I've been a paleoanthropologist now for a minute, but I've only been in television since, I don't know, 2017 maybe.
And when I started, that stereotype of the Neanderthals being knuckle-dragging ape men, basically...
I feel like was very, very strong with the public.
And the first show that I ever did was called Neanderthals Meet Your Ancestors.
And we were really trying to kind of essentially do a PR job on these Neanderthals and kind of portray them in this scientifically accurate light.
Yeah, we used motion capture and all this stuff.
And what's wild is that now when you talk to the general public about Neanderthals, yeah, it's still an insult.
Nobody's calling you a Neanderthal and being like, oh, you're so smart and brilliant and pretty.
But so many people now know that the stereotype is incorrect.
It's interesting because I think also just DNA testing, because now people can see some DNA within them and maybe people don't want to think, oh, I've just, my ancestors are, you know, whatever.
But yeah, it's been really, really interesting to see that kind of people come to terms with who they are.
And I think one of the things that I argue a lot and I'm actually preparing a tour right now.
So I'm kind of thinking about the kind of, you know, the messaging that I want to put out to the public.
And one of the things that I'm arguing quite heavily is like, look,
When we portray these other species, like the Neanderthals, as incredibly primitive, not only are we doing an injustice to them, like, bless them, they're not here to defend themselves, do you know what I mean?