I'm watching this on Antenna TV and maybe I'm putting too much into this, but I'm wondering why the cavemen are still cavemen after being on the moon for thousands of years? And there's only one blonde?
And now, my beloved disciples. The moment of truth... the needle of love
There would be no physical evolving in such a relatively short time and they are already homo sapien.
Now why they did not advance beyond primitive weapons, etc, is another matter.
Sam Tomaino
Are you referring to the initial hominids that our travelers met, what they called "Neanderthals"? If so, one must remember that evolutionary changes are the result of a combination of genetics and environmental pressures which act upon a species. Those traits which help a species reproduce better are then passed on through their offspring, while those that don't usually disappear. If there were no pressures on that population to change, they would remain "un-evolved" compared to other populations which had adapted over time.
As for the only blonde, genetic mutations appear from time to time (which is how the above-mentioned adaptations are introduced, successfully or otherwise) and this would explain her rare hair color.
No, I actually didn't mean physically evolve (Perhaps evolved was a poor choice of words). What I was going for was that there was no progression past stone age culture. They didn't develop tools, clothing etc. beyond the rudimentary. Sorry about the misunderstanding.
And now, my beloved disciples. The moment of truth... the needle of love
Physically, I think Joan Staley is the pinnacle of human evolution. But cultures can progress at shockingly different rates based on their environment. There are similar tribal populations existing today in remote parts of central America, and if "evolved" governments didn't get in the way, they'd exist today across Africa.
Long story short, because that's what audiences of the day expected.
You give an accurate and easily-understood explanation of Charles Darwin's incredible advancement to science, the concept of "natural selection". As it has been observed and verified over and over, a la perhaps the greatest human-created concept of all-time, the scientific method, natural selection greatly accounts for the tremendous diversity of life on planet Earth.
I would like to add that I think another possible factor in the hair color of the obviously-required love interest in this film from 1961 (I'm about to watch it for the first time on TCM), would be a recessive gene, which I am sure you are well-aware, that makes its presence known only under more specific 'reproductive permutations' (Kinda sounds sexy, doesn't it?). I sure do love science (and causing reproductive permutations, for that matter), as you can readily see