There’s been talk about Jem and the Holograms, the movie and the comic re-visitation by IDW.  Jem is near and dear to my childhood heart and a solid evening filler from my DVD shelves.  ‘Trick or Techrat‘ is on our list of Halloween viewing every year, so I felt a little compelled to add my voice to the cacophony over the movie trailer’s laying out a to-be-successful-and-like-yourself-you-must-become-someone-else story without actual holograms.

I could re-iterate arguments on how the original Jem was empowering and the movie looks anything but, however, in thinking about just what about Jem was most important, I made an amazing discovery!  Jem is the pink fashion plate Batman of superheroes!  Consider, for one reason or another both Jem and Batman have to adopt alter egos.  They do so with pretty amazing technology and run around fighting bad people and protecting children.  They are both orphans, live in mansions, and have pretty successful real life identities.  Because of their complicated issues, alter egos included, they are ridiculously bad at romance.

Now, who would go to watch a movie about how Bruce Wayne get’s a lifestyle coach in order to come out of his shell and finally have a good relationship with his sweetheart?  No, Bruce Wayne’s story is great because of Batman.  And Batman isn’t just a handle Bruce uses on his fitness and training discussion boards, Batman is the costumed, tech-ed out, fighter of evil doers and symbol of justice.

Similarly Jem isn’t just make-up and a costume that a paralyzed performer puts on to get through the day.  Jem is a hologram extended to the entire band, misdirection that foils enemy plots, and a message to women and children a like to “Believe in Yourself,” and “Share a Little Bit of Yourself” because “Love Unites Us” and “We Can Make a Difference;”  “You Already Know” that you are “Truly Outrageous.” (Wikipedia)