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New Eyes on He-Man and She-Ra
My friends had tons of He-Man toys and watched his show religiously. Not me. I can only remember seeing it for a few minutes at a time, when at one of their houses. I thought it was weird and dark. Cartoon characters drawn in a realistic style were also strange for me. In fact, I barely understood action figures, and my budget-conscious parents weren't about to encourage any change in that area.
image credit: My Toy Museum
Yes, this was too "grown-up" for me.
But "weird" and "dark" don't put me off any more. As I grew up, I came to understand the fantasy genre. Now, with the influx of "retro" channels appearing on broadcast TV since the digital transition, I've been able to discover these action cartoons for the first time, and I like them.
For real, this is cool stuff!
The shows are mainly hurt by the rule against violence in children's programming. Swords are more props than weapons. People can never be punched or kicked, but doing so to robots is fine. ACT and the FCC, working at cross purposes, created the mediascape that practically required cartoons to be half-hour commercials.
I understand that, so I can look past it. I quite enjoy the supernatural worlds with science fiction devices thrown into the mix. And some of the writers, like Paul Dini, aspired to transcend the hack level of their assignment.
Many of the "messages" or "lessons" are good for kids, and they are not all relegated to the closing segments. A common theme demonstrated by the heroes is that we should be nice to everybody, even if they're mean at first. She-Ra helps animals and stops The Horde from burning books. Some of the more childlike characters often make mistakes, yet it's always OK, as long as they are honest about it. And Orko usually needs to clean his room.
What a Whale!
We felt your pain, Orko.
I've noticed an interesting dichotomy in my late night binges on these shows. I have no illusions about it; plenty of stuff here is cringe-worthy at best. Which show is better (or worse)? To my taste, one has the better evil warriors and hero, while the other has the better heroic warriors and villain:
He-Man is a beefcake with a pageboy haircut, a weird bondage harness, and furry underwear. As Prince Adam, he pretends to be a pampered layabout. She-Ra is a more realistic role model. She looks like a normal person. As her alter-ego Adora, she is always in charge and on the ball. Her sword can turn into anything, which allows kids pretending as her more options to be creative.
On the other hand, I like He-Man's friends better than She-Ra's. Teela and Man-At Arms are smart and strong; Orko is a goof but sometimes he can be funny, or brave. By contrast, Bow and Madame Razz are annoying, and Kowl is just a conceited little coward.
Funtime Internet
"Let's get tacos!" "No, pizza!"
Both villains have their strong points. Hordak, despite being Skeletor's old master, often fails by overreaching his capabilities in bouts of hubris. I have a hard time deciding who looks cooler and has the more awesome lair, but Hordak will do something like crash the air ship he's riding in with alarming frequency. For that reason, Skeletor is the more threatening villain.
As for the henchmen, overall I think those in Princess of Power are better, Mantenna notwithstanding. Shadow Weaver, Catra, and Leech are cooler than Beast Man, Evil-Lyn, and Tri-Klops.
Michelle C Mike's Collection
Seriously, could you guys both just shut up? Thanks.
To be honest, I enjoy watching She-Ra: Princess of Power more than I like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. But to be fair, I have to give them pretty even scores. I could go on to analyze the soundtracks or more non-leading characters, but it will all shake out the same way. So I'll leave it at that, put some mozzarella sticks in the toaster oven, and settle in for an hour of adventure and morals with my new favorite old cartoons. Which show do you like better? Would you rather be on Eternia or Etheria? Are you more about Power or Honor? Let us know in the comments!
The midnight snack of kings
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