Some friends and family of mine watch shows like Ancient Aliens and they always ask me, “What’s the harm? It could be aliens, you don’t know!” and this always drives me up the wall. As we are learning in this class, pseudoscience like that which is portrayed in the show may appear to be harmless but on a deeper level it is anything but. Once, I saw a meme that said: “Just because white people didn’t build it, doesn’t mean aliens did!” and while that’s a bit ham-fisted, it’s also the point I want to make.
I think one of the most inherently wrong aspects of shows like Ancient Aliens is the perpetuation of racism. While it may not be shoved down your throat and blatantly rubbed in your face, these shows do promote racist ideology. The idea that people of color, especially people of color in the past, were incapable of the feats of ingenuity ancient people performed is not new and not easily let go, even though it is completely and utterly bogus. By saying “these pyramids are too great to have been built by these people,” shows like Ancient Aliens fuel racist agendas. Even if the presenters in the show don’t see the wrongness in attributing the genius of ancient humans to aliens, that doesn’t mean they’re in the right.
Shows like this always remind me of “The Myth of the Moundbuilders,” with the similar “these people couldn’t have done this awesome thing” mindset. “The Myth of the Moundbuilders” was the idea that Native Americans could not have possibly built the mounds throughout America because they were simply not intelligent or intellectual enough. This toxic, horrendous mindset created years of scientifically minded individuals crafting “theories” on how these mounds could have been built by anyone but the Native Americans who built them. They ranged anywhere from “aliens did it” to “white people from Europe did it but the Natives killed them all” and every one of these myths perpetuate racism, even if some are more violent and obvious than others.
Using a platform of science and scholarly theory, like Ancient Aliens pretends to do, only perpetuates the rightness of these blatantly wrong ideas. Casting doubt on the abilities of ancient people, especially those of color, to fuel the flame of their conspiratorial agendas is only some of the harm that comes with shows like Ancient Aliens. Not everyone who watches that show is racist, not everyone in that show is racist, but the people who are racist use that show to corroborate their racist ideology and that is a dangerous and tragic misuse of “science.”
I agree with your opinion of using television shows such as Ancient Aliens to gain knowledge of world phenomena’s is not the proper way of going about it. As a child, I use to watch shows like this, which is probably where my interest in archaeology started, but I never bought into the whole “aliens did it.” If you are just using this show as a means of entertainment instead of a scientific source, I think that’s fine. The real issue is when people actually start to believe that what the host of the show is saying has some sort of logical thought behind it. In most cases, it does not. In my past classes, we almost always talked about “The Myth of the Mound Builders,” and how their closed thought process always leads them to believe that it was aliens who built the mounds across America or it was ancient people from Europe who built them, and the entire population was wiped out. These claims are so troublesome to the world of archaeology. While proper archaeologists know these things are completely inaccurate based off years of scientific research in the field, the large untrained audience that watch shows such as Ancient Aliens may be skeptical whether or not aliens have actually made an appearance on earth. I agree that Ancient Aliens, or television shows of that nature, tend continue the racist ideology that if you weren’t European or “advanced”, then there was no way you could have built large monuments such as pyramids or mound.
Firstly, I’d like to say that I’m so glad someone else immediately thought of the “just because white people couldn’t do it doesn’t mean it was aliens” meme, because that’s all I could think about for the past couple classes. But moving on from that point, I completely agree with you in how driven up the wall you get from these claims (especially when it comes from your family!). These shows used to fascinate me when I was really young. Maybe it’s because it mixed a few niche interests I had as a kid (being anthropology and aliens). But now as an adult and an anthropologist it just infuriates me to no end. And it is the racism! These shows perpetuate racism whether they like it or not. It makes me wonder if the people who make these shows and come up with these claims even wonder the harm they’re doing being making these statements. Do they know they’re profiting off of racism and white nationalist movements? Do they even care? People who don’t see the harm in these claims really make me worried. For the most part, it probably comes from a place of miseducation. But for the people who do know, but still preach these claims….it’s troubling. Also, I love that you brought up the Moundbuilders! I was trying to remember what the claim was that had to do with the mounds and the Native Americans. It really is one of the perfect examples of a pseudoarchaeological claim that is completely rooted in pure and blatant racism.