If you grew up in the 1980s or at least some time relatively close, you probably remember most of the shows of that time. Some favorites may include Full House, The Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Pink Panther, etc. But no show was truly truly outrageous. With no contagious music and that featured glamour, glitter, fashion, and fame... Except there was, and it was an interesting show called Jem and the Holograms.
Jem and the Holograms was a show created in 1985 that featured over 150 songs and ran for about three seasons(it also got an updated comic in 2017). And besides the love and dating aspects, the technically cheating, and attempted murder, it was a damn good show.
The show followed a rock group called Jem and the Holograms (no surprise there) and a rival rock group, the Misfits. Jem and the Holograms comprises Kimber, Aja, Shana, and Jem/Jerrica. Jerrica is a carer for a foster home for girls along with the other members of Jem and the Holograms. See, Jerrica Beneton's father died sometime before the show takes place, but he left behind a supercomputer named Synergy that allows her to take on the persona of Jem using earings, the rock idol (as well as other holographic projections and sound effects Synergy can do a lot).
Then there's the competition, The Misfits. The Misfits are- exciting, to say the least. They'll do anything to win, even if that means destroying a building with people inside it, kidnapping Jem or the others, cheating, stealing from charity, or blowing up a boat (that people are also in). This is all stuff that happens within the first ten episodes of the first season. They're nothing short of arsonists, assaulters, and murderers. These girls are not against breaking any crime in a heartbeat.
And for as absurd as it sounds, this show was actually really good. It featured a lot of different places and a lot of diversity. Both groups were comprised of girls, and while Jem herself was white, Shana was black, and Aja was Asian, and they weren't that stereotypical (they were stereotyped in the way that both their voice actors were white...). But they had their own individual storylines within the show with their own interest, hobbies, wants, and desires. Which is revolutionary for a show released in 1985. The creators weren't afraid to give the POCs actual personalities or correct features. Not to speak on Aja, but Shana had incredible drawn features for a black adult in a cartoon, giving her an afro, more almond-shaped eyes, and even broadening her nose a bit. Most black characters in kids' shows were either girls or large black men whose's primary purpose was comic relief.
There's still more though since the show followed a popular worldwide rock group they also commonly tour. Exposing younger audiences to different parts of the world (which often was also stereotyped), they visited places like China, Hawaii, Italy, Mexico, etc. Jem frequently mentions charities. They usually do performances to help the girls in the foster home and perform for other charities as well. Teaching kids the importance of giving to charity, volunteering, and the different causes people can donate to if one is in a fortunate enough position to do so.
Jem and the holograms was by no means perfect. Not in the slightest, the accents they'd give to Asian characters were thick and not great, especially when considering it was a white person just doing a caricature of an Asian person.
It showed a lot of explosions and selfishness. But for the time, it was good it was progressive. And in some cases, it still is. All in all, if you can stand the overdone accents and the public endangerment/vandalism, it is something you should watch.
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