Revisiting the 80’s: Jem and the Holograms

Say it Rah-shay By Oct 01, 2013 1 Comment
jem

Image from the Wikipedia page of Jem

When The Bee was younger I was so excited to share the world of Jem and the Holograms. For some reason I could vividly remember the songs and would sing bits and pieces with her until one day we did a YouTube search and were able to watch a few episodes. She was just as enchanted as I when we talked about Synergy, the Rock and Roadster and just how cool it would be to be in a rock band. We purchased a box set from eBay and would have Jem and the Hologram watching marathons.

But Jem and the Holograms is not quite the same show that I remember from my childhood. Watching it now I find myself not quite able to suspend disbelief as we check out the antics of Jerrica Benton/ Jem and the Holograms, the trouble making Misfits and the rest of the gang.

Click here for complete info about the show although I am arrogantly assuming that you all loved and watched Jem as I did.

Ahem

 

Jem as a victim I think this bothers me the most because she never fought back.  The Misfits would commit actual crimes and Jem/Jerrica and the gang would turn the other cheek. The Holograms, their friends, the Starlight Girls and more would be drawn into the craziness and instead of going to the police, instead of reporting these things to the authorities, instead of giving Eric Raymond or The Misfits their due Jem would write a song. Rio was a roady; didn’t he know some baddies who could go mess up Eric?

The crimes committed by The Misfits and Eric Raymond

These things happened in episodes (and dude, I’m going off of memory; I’m sure there are more!)

  • Kimber kidnapped and left in an active volcano
  • An underaged child transported across state lines and held against her will
  • Embezzelment from Starlight Music
  • Theft of the Master Tapes and songs recored by Jem and the Holograms
  • Theft of money from a concert
  • Theft of Jerrica’s earrings (in China)
  • Destruction of  property: The Misfits and Eric Raymond get a wrecking ball and try to knock down an occupied building (With you know who inside)
  • Eric and Zipper cause a fire at Starlight House
  • Pizazz throws a hissy and turns on the fire hydrant during a taping of the Lindasy Pierce Show. Jem (natch) is hit by the water and needs Rip to comfort her.

The whole Love Triangle: For reasons not really made clear, Rio was deemed not trustworthy enough to learn that Jem was actually Jerrica. Because Jerrica would forget that and at times when she was Jem she would flirt with Rio and chat him up. When Rio would respond in kind, Jerrica would get upset.

Synergy: So Synergy was the computer which could project holograms. She could also read minds cause on more than one occasion Jerrica/Jem would say something like “Synergy, you know what to do!” or “Synergy, I need help.” Her projections and malfunctions were so plot convenient. At times she ould work in water and then there were times when a mere mist of rain would make Jem disappear. And they flew to China. CHINA and worked.

The Hologram of Jem: Check it, why didn’t Jerrica just, I don’t know, have clothes and makeup for those times when Synergy failed? Her absence could have been explained away (at home with the Starlight Girls, working at the company) but NO! There was always that near miss moment when someone would ask for Jerrica/Jem and the other would be running about like a chicken without a head.

Why did no one get PIzazz the help she desparately and obviously needed? Pizazz was psychotic, murderous, devious and just out to destroy. She would act out by stealing, throwing tantrums and being a royal pain in the butt and no one would do anything. Even her fellow bandmates seemed a bit afraid of setting her off. Also, Pizazz always looked like she needed a good scrubbing. I don’t know if it were the hair, the clothes or what but she looked a hot mess more often than not.

The Starlight Girls: The girls themselves seemed to have a relatively nice life (single rooms in a mansion, knowing rock stars) but who was watching them? There was that one lady, Mrs. Bailey, who took care of the girls and the rest of the band? Who, presumably, would be on tour, promoting and such. Mrs. Bailey didn’t know that Ashley was sneaking out of the house, let alone going across state lines and had to have Jerrica take Ba’nee to the ophthalmologist.

Enjoy this article from BuzzFeed and the opening sequence below. Let me know if you have ever watched Jem and the Holograms.

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I am mom, daughter, sister, yarn lover, word lover, crazy cat lady and library chick. Find me with book or with hook and a hot cuppa.

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