The Cartoons That Made Us Gay: Jem and the Holograms
Added 2021-11-23 22:44:34 +0000 UTCProgramming note: The regularly scheduled episode of GEE will be released later this week.
In the second installment of this spinoff series, we look at the episode of Jem and the Holograms, titled “The Bands Break Up” even though the bands don’t break up at all and instead Kimber and Stormer pair off to make their own beautiful music. Intentional or not, it is hard to dismiss these girls’ relationship as just platonic, to the point that we don’t have to work hard at all to find the queer elements — especially in a show that already offers a lot for LGBT viewers. Showtime, Synergy!
You patrons made this happen! Thank you. We really appreciate your support.
Coming up next: G.I. Joe!
The logo for The Cartoons That Made Us Gay was designed by Jeff Hinchee. This is a TableCakes podcast.
Show notes:
Watch a featurette on Jem’s speaking voice singing the main theme for the anime Project A-ko.
Read the L.A. Times story on Barbie’s victory over Jem.
Read all about Bill Sanders, creator of Jem and (we’re guessing) a gay person.
Comments
I'm not sure if y'all are aware of the Jiz parody on YouTube but it covers this episode pretty much beat for beat but the lesbianism is more explicit.
John
2024-04-20 22:35:25 +0000 UTCTruly Outrageous episode! I still love Jem - I watch it on tubi now and find it holds up pretty well! When I was a kid Jem was also in syndication so while the show ended it ran on cable (so watched it on the USA network) for years, it was on before and after school! What I liked about Jem is it never felt like a show dumb-downed for kids - it felt like the show talked with you rather than down to you and treated kids in a way I hadn’t seen in a show before. Also, I loved the stakes -I mean the Misfits would actually plot to kill Jem and the holograms and it had a lot of action for a “girls” show. It is implied in the show in Episode 10 Adventure in China that Aja is Chinese American as she is looking forward to brushing up on her Mandarin while the band is there. The third song: Getting down to Business is actually from the first season, where they could the writers would re-use previous songs. In regards to the toys: Mattel found out early on about Jem while someone was in a toy factory and China and pulled a Jem box from the trash - so they quickly pulled together the Barbie version of Jem and got to market as fast as possible. The Jem doll also featured a more proportional body and a much smaller bust that Barbie. And wanted to point out that it’s pronounced Shay-Nah and Ray-ah vs Shaw-Na Raw-ah. Also please feel free to bug me on a Sunday if you need/want to talk toys haha!
Garrett Sander
2021-12-10 20:15:04 +0000 UTC
