ERACED with CJ Hunt
SYNOPSIS Over the last 200 years, racial and genealogical myths have cultivated in the public psyche through academic theories, public hoaxes, and pop culture. Take the myth that aliens built the pyramids. Or Bigfoot’s origin story and the surprising common thread between that creature, Mount Everest and the creator of Kellogg’s (of Corn Flakes fame). With these theories, there are more layers than meets the eye and all of them are rooted in…white exceptionalism.
CJ HUNT CJ Hunt is a comedy writer and director living in NYC. He is currently a field producer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. CJ is also the director of The Neutral Ground, documentary about memory, monuments, and breaking up with the confederacy. A graduate from Brown University in Africana Studies, CJ is endlessly fascinated by race and comedy’s ability to say what we can’t. His carrer long examination of race, politics and pop culture, coupled with his love of adventure and travel makes him the perfect host for this show...and in an almost post-pandemic world he really needs to get out to the house.
FORMAT INTRO CJ will start off every episode behind his desk in his man-cave of conspiracies, introducing the “new myth of the week”. He’ll present the generall background informaiton, and point to where we need to travel to go uncover more. ACT 1 CJ will travel, by boat, dune buggy, hang glider, whatever method is most exciting, to get to his first location. This could be CJ biking through the Peruvian Jungles to locate an Incan temple, or helicopter diving to see the Native American burial lands from a birds-eye view. In the first act we’ll disprove theory set up in the intro, and eventually well have to travel again and see how this theory spread out into cultral lexicon. ACT 2 CJ will travel againi to another location to see how this theory spread into pop culture, influnced a historic momeny, or eventually became engrained in the cultural psyche. He’ll visit the second location, and interview an expert, giving us more detail on how these myths persist to this day, whats being done to re
EXAMPLES OF EPISODES
EPISODE 1
ALIENS, PYRAMIDS & CHARIOT OF THE GODS Remebr tha e uncl who spout conspiray theoris at the Thanksgiv after showing ouy an hour ong l video on “ Junkig Park in Switzerland is an actul muse curated or f the most ludacris theoris om,fr alien-built Stone Henges, 30 ot f giant men ,ot ouy geusd it, yramidsp Egyptians ,author Erich onv Däen.ik We’l se how in 2022 po cultre and inter comunties stil
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EGYPTIAN ALIENS? By far the most popular theory of White Exceptionalism is the outlandish claim that the ancient wonders of the world must have been built by aliens—because people of color could not possibly have been capable of it. In Egypt, CJ will dune buggy through the sandy terrain of (specific location) — hopefully he brings his goggles, CJ does not have replacement glasses. He’ll meet up with reseraches and archeologist like, Dr. Sarah Bond, ocial Justice and Archeology expert (yes! that is a real thing) and search through the catacombs of the Great Pyramids of Giza, Khafre, and Menkaure. Through these subterranean passageways and burial chambers he’ll uncover what evidence can we fnd in 2022 that acutally proves these structres we’re built by Egyptians.
EPISODE 2
BIGFOOT, RACIAL PURITY & EUGENICS A ot f print sightn in the snow yusal refncs the ocal habit of the are, was ther a ,bear a ox,f or env a mountai lion ound.ar Not in the 1950’s when Britsh orexpl Eric Ship be homind. He estak a picture and named the myster print, Yeti. In this episod CJ wil eltrav ot Mt.Eerstv ot erstav oughtr fridge tempraus and slick snow o t estiganv how 20th cenutry Eugenics — a racist emntvo suported yb env
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EP 2: THE MISSING LINK Throughout CJ’s Mt. Everest jouurney, he’ll meet up with Alexandra Minna Stern, Professor of History, American Culture, and Women and Gender Studies, who literally wrote a book called Eugenic Nation, detailing the rise of Eugencis in the American West. We’ll also dive into the prolific list of films and shows that add fuel to the fire by sensationalizing these creatures—often depicting them with violence and aggression. From King Kong to the conterversial Lebron James Vouge cover — the one that depicted him as an ape?— we’ll cover “the missing links” lasting effect on pop culture.
EPISODE 3
SANSKRIT, SWASTIKAS & THE MYTHICAL AYRAN RACE Mistranlig anciet sancrt is one thing, env if its omfr an Anoidr o t iP,hone but its another o t cre ate a new racil myth after it. Thats y exactl what hapend when Euopeanr acdemis mistranled the Riedagv and other Sanskrit . texs To strengh this ,lie ythe entdiv the Aran y Race Th,eory whic claimed tha the Arans,y a mythical ,race wer y actul the ones who edconiv Sanskrit, and thus wer ersponibl or f eryv oughbreakt tha came omfr the anciet . langue
In this episod CJ with ore xpl the depths of anciet Indian and Anorgk .estmpl We’l se staue of Hindu diets, luxrios shrine, and witnes otevsd cirlng the shrine as a symbol of respct or ering of erspay in ontfr of .shrine Tracking the oryhist in person CJ wil show how Euopeansr used a orced f interpao of sankit ot evopr tha sankrit are a Pro-t Euopeanr . langue
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RE-WRITING MOTHER INDIA Throughout the episode CJ will explore the birth of the Aryan Race Theory and the abuse of the swastika, and how its appropriation by Hitler corrupted a religious Indian symbol and irreparably damaged the public psyche. CJ will be guided by Moudy Al-Rashid, a junior reseacher fellow and Assyriologist at Wolfson College and Sarah E. Bond, whose written extensicmly on racism and psudearceolohy. Together they’ll figure out how Indian symboles became Nazi-symbology.
EP FROM 4: THE ARYANS LONDON TO THEORY VAMPIRES Once again we find ourselves in turn-of-the-century Europe, where Aryan Race Theory is being used to stoke fears of yet another group of people. This time it’s a distrust for the wave of Jewish immigrants arriving from Eastern Europe. The already existing myths of blood sucking group of vampiers now became cautionary tales about Jews, and for some reason not divorce lawyers. In this episode CJ will travel throughout ancient Mesopotamia and through centuries of time to discover how vampires have persisted as a discriminatory myth. Well talk to Stepheniie Mulder, an archeologist and associate professor hisotry who researches how medievel Europen societies interacted with the Islamic world.
EP 5: THE SOULS OF ZOMBIES
Contrary to popular belief, the first beings known as “zombies” didn’t crawl out of a tomb in the dead of night. The word was actually created in the 18th century by Haitian slaves, who believed that those who died from unnatural causes could be revieved by a witch doctor. Sounds like a sweet deal until you realize those courpses could only existit in between life and death—thus the term “zombi.” In this episode CJ will travel to Haiti to investage the origins of the term, from visiting witch doctors to slave burial sites and royal slave master ruins. We’ll also talk to Whitney Battle-Baptiste, an archeologist who focuses specifcally on race, class, and gender.
EP 6: VIKINGS AND THE ALT-RIGHT
In this episode, we’ll learn the real history: that Viking civilizations were actually multicultural, NOT monolithic or isolated as a pure white race. We’ll explore how this mythology has been further upheld by irresponsible academia, journalism, media, and pop culture. CJ will go to Greenland to uncover the history of the Viking voyages throughout the coasts of North America. We’ll explore how this mythology has been further upheld by irresponsible academia, journalism, media, and pop culture. We’ll also talk to the export Sarah E.Bond, an Assitant Professor of History at the University of Iowa, who has done immense reseach on how far-right groups have co-oped Viking symbols and imagery.
STYLE GUIDE INTERVIEWS:
We’ll interview a diverse group of experts who can pull together all the pieces from ancient history, racial justice, pop science fiction, and more. These are the people who have dedicated their lives to studying these issues and helping return a voice to BIPOC whose stories have been taken from them. Potential experts for the documentary are listed on page 17.
CINEMATIC IMAGERY: To bring these vast places to life, we’ll shoot filmic B-roll around the world and dive deep into the archives for ancient, historic images that pull the pieces of the story together.
ARCHIVAL
We’ll also use high-end graphics and animation to bring a treasure trove of archival footage to life.
TONE
We’ll bring on a narrator who connects culturally and emotionally to the story to serve as a guide. They will have understanding and respect for the material, while also carrying a sardonic wit to acknowledge the outrageous absurdity of these theories.