Boing Boing: Wal*Mart "Apes" DVD listing: racist recommendation or fluke? -- This brief blog post from one of my favorite bloggers draws our attention to the fact that Wal-Marts automated recommendation system lists a string of movies about African-Americans as being "similar" to Planet of the Apes. While this could be a fluke or a vicious act of negative stereotyping, I wonder if the site hasn't picked up on the fact that there is a common theme throughout these movies -- Planet of the Apes was intended to be (and was generally received as) an attack on racism. The entire point of the film series was that if people divide themselves and engage in racism, they'll eventually destroy themselves. So there is a commmon "point" to these materials, even if the juxtaposition is jarring (and, I must admit, somewhat suspicious).