That Moment In ‘The Flintstones’ When Fred Does Right By Miss Stone

The Flintstones is a 1994 live-action family comedy based on the classic animated television show of the same name.

THE STORY: After Slate International’s new CEO Cliff Vandercave (Kyle MacLachlan) and his secretary Sharon Stone (Holly Berry) scheme to embezzle a fortune from the company, they need to dump the blame on a rock-headed stooge. Enter quarry worker Fred Flintstone (John Goodman), the perfect candidate, who, with some secret help from his best friend Barney (Rick Moranis), earns a spot in a management training course designed to snare such a sucker. Meanwhile, life in Bedrock continues, with Fred dealing with a whacky mother-in-law (Elizabeth Taylor) and Barney getting a new baby boy.

THE RUNDOWN: The choice to turn a decades old animated classic into a live-action comedy was probably one that should have been put out to pasture well before it got made, but given that is wasn’t, well, at least the studio put impressive effort into building the sets and bringing the cartoon to life. An absolute marvel of production design, every frame of the film is fun to watch just to see the clever and often funny props, though everything else around it falls mostly flat. Hardly playing into what would seem an obvious children’s market, themes of corporate shenanigans and marital ups and downs are dull and yawn-inducing when so much potential rests right at their feet, even though the cartoon put a lot of focus on these themes, somehow live, it doesn’t translate. Not too mention there’s this angry mob, an attempted lynching scene, and a kidnapping to boot. It’s kind of weird. The whole thing is a perfect example of a studio all too caught up in the packaging and not much else. Yaba-Daba-Boo.

THAT MOMENT: So poor ol’ Fred just can’t catch a break. That’s the cornerstone of life as Fred Flintstone. He’s been toiling at the quarry for years and never seems to get ahead, happy only when the whistle (bird?) blows ending his shift so he can head home with his best pal and next door neighbor, Barney, where his adoring wife Wilma (Elizabeth Perkins) and young daughter Pebbles await, though there’s always the gruff and abusive mother-in-law there to make sure Fred always feels inadequate. Why can’t he be an executive and give his family what they deserve?

Fortunately, the conniving Vandercave has concocted a scheme to get himself a wannabe up-and-comer from the rock pit to take a seat at the big table via an aptitude test, though, on the day of the exam, Fred, well, can’t seem to chisel out the right answers, stumped by just about the simplest of questions. Barney, who breezes through it, notices Fred’s frustration, and since Fred recently gave him a substantial sum of money from his savings in order to help Barney and his wife Betty (Rosie O’Donnell) adopt their new son Bam-Bam, feels indebted to the big galoot. In the ultimate act of friendship, without Fred seeing, switches his test for Fred’s and hands them in. Guess who gets the job? It ain’t Barney.

Thinking he’s made the big time, Fred gets himself a big office overlooking the quarry and learns he’s not only got a fancy feathered Dictaphone (voiced by Harvey Korman) on his desk, he’s also got the lovely Miss Stone as his new secretary, she in clothing that even in this caveman era is dressed entirely inappropriately. #MeTooBedrock.

Either way, Fred sets about trying to figure out what exactly he’s supposed to be doing, though pretty much finds himself way out of his league, with Miss Stone mostly dropping by with sultry allure, asking him to chisel his name onto a stack of boring forms, Fred not realizing that he’s fallen right into the trap.

After a few weeks, Fred grows kinda overwhelmed by the pace of it all and spends a lot of time dourly staring out his window at the old gang down in the pit, longing to be back with the boys. It’s during one of these moments in the conference room, where a scale model of Vandercave’s new manufacturing process sits on the table, that Fred finds himself pondering his future. Unfortunately, while playing with the gadgets, he accidentally catapults one piece into the main workings and damages the model. Whoops. This is just when Miss Stone slinks into the room.

Fred, not the brightest bulb in the patch, isn’t quiet so dumb though, and manages to make the connection that this expensive contraption, once in operation, would put his old friends down in the quarry out of work. He then ponders this notion to Stone, who seemingly involuntarily giggles and chimes in that how would she know, she’s just a little ol’ secretary.

Fred isn’t having that though and tells her, no way, that there’s a lot more to here than just, well, you know, her assets. This sort of surprises Stone, who drops her usual flirty flair and genuinely thanks him. She clearly hasn’t been treated this way before. She then apologizes for her overtly sexual behavior, especially when Wilma dropped by the office earlier, to which Fred just smiles and assures her it’s all okay because Wilma’s the best, and always forgives him, knowing he would never hurt her. He loves her like no other. And it’s right here where Miss Stone turns the corner.

WHY IT MATTERS: (SPOILERS) This brief moment is crucial, with Fred learning that life in the elite isn’t always what he thought it might be, a lesson that blossoms even more as the story progresses, but what’s more important is his honest impact on Stone, who to this point as been straight up in cahoots with Vandercave. Now sure,[bg_collapse view=”link-inline” color=”#d62020″ icon=”zoom” expand_text=”Show Spoiler” collapse_text=”Close Spoiler” ] the sidekick who turns to the good side[/bg_collapse] is hardly a new twist in the genre, with it almost a prerequisite before going in. Heck, it’s been done so often and so regularly, it’s about as surprising as finding apples in your apple pie.

That said, and as essential as this bit is, what I most like about this moment is how it avoids where it seems like it’s headed – prompted by myriad other films that do so – with Fred and Miss Stone never once getting romantically or sexually entangled. Fred is true to Wilma, unwaveringly so, even in the presence of a the molten hot Stone, who, in her barely there top and leggy skirt, not just oozes ‘come hither,’ she downright beams like a blinding beacon of carnal conquer.

It would have been easy for the filmmakers to bend here and have Fred trip over the line, given the already heavily adult-themed story a little racy kick, but that would have been only the tip of an iceberg (bedrock?) of problems, in which one of the most beloved character in television, who, despite his appetites for mischief, has always been the most decent of human beings. Kooky and reckless, yes. But always decent.

In fact, the movie goes out of its way to make this all the more obvious, Fred wide-eyed to the beauty of Stone but blind to her temptations, he actually noticing her for who she is rather that what she looks like. Pretty progressive there, Fred. I like how this scene spins this little glimpse in the character and how it has the best of influence on Stone.

And then, let’s not forget how the scene starts, where [bg_collapse view=”link-inline” color=”#cc2d2d” icon=”zoom” expand_text=”Show Spoiler” collapse_text=”Close Spoiler” ]Fred’s little mishap with the model becomes forecast to the film’s finale[/bg_collapse]. That’s pretty clever and kind of fun as it shows Fred, well, maybe ain’t so dumb after all.

The Flintstones is pretty much a disappointment, the cast and production more than willing to take its audience to a highly-imaginative old world of fun and nostalgia. However, it’s just poorly written with jokes that fall flat and plenty of gags that just don’t work. Still, there’s a kind of warm feeling about it now, watching it more than twenty years on, the attempt at least worthy of a look, and if you’re a fan of the cartoon, probably more so just to try and catch all the references. Either way, a short bit in a conference room where an honest man reveals his greatest strength to tremendous effect is all the reason to watch. It’s a great movie moment.