It’s funny that I’ve never written on this topic before, but I thought it is appropriate now since there is such a massive campaign to promote the new Masters of the Universe movie that's arriving in June. I became a fan of He-man and the Masters of the Universe when I was three years old. This was at the height of the toy line's popularity in the 80s. The wild heroics, the colorful villains, the iconic theme song to the cartoon that still echoes loud and clear in my brain, there were few kids from my generation that didn't know who He-man was. When Prince Adam held aloft his magic sword and said, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!” it literally felt empowering to watch, thinking to myself “I have the power! I got this!”
Growing up, kids feel the need to be in control, which is why some of them push back against their parents so hard. The marketing crew at Mattel, the toy company, understood this and specifically created Prince Adam’s line to appeal to unempowered youth. Masters of the Universe was a mishmash of ideas that Mattel put together and decided to market through a cartoon that became a massive hit. It was the story of a prince who could turn into a musclebound super warrior, who defends his homeworld, and the secrets of the universe contained in Castle Grayskull, from Skeletor, the Lord of Destruction. As an adult, I realized that this contained elements of Captain Marvel (the Shazam one from Fawcett Comics), Superman, and Frank Frazetta’s Conan artwork. It was a strange combination of sword and sorcery and sword and planet that pre-dated similar combinations seen in Final Fantasy. The creation of He-man and his world Eternia ,and all of the elements that make Masters of the Universe what it is today, came from creators at Mattel throwing metaphorical spaghetti to the wall and seeing what stuck.
The character resonated with me. Looking back, He-man was a symbol of selflessness and goodness. It didn’t matter to him what a person’s beliefs were, what their economic situation was, or how dangerous the task was, he cared about everybody and defended them from harm. He was an idealized version of heroism and it inspired me to be a good person in turn. It helped that each episode of the cartoon had a Public Service Announcement (those good old 80s PSAs) in which He-man or one of his friends points out the lesson from the story, whether it was about honesty, friendship, good citizenship, or any number of positive things. These formed a good moral center for kids to learn from, especially kids who needed a little guidance but had no good examples to follow.
Because I was so young when I became a fan, He-man was the first fictional hero that I looked up to. This is saying a lot because I’ve been inspired by many, many heroic characters in my time including Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Luke Skywalker, Spiderman, Batman, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Hellboy, John Carter of Mars, Mega Man, Aragorn (of Lord of the Rings), Solomon Kane, Conan the Cimmerian, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct, and others. I am a habitual hero worshipper, and that’s not a bad thing because it motivates me to be a good person even when it doesn’t benefit me directly. That feeling of caring for others for their own sake. The impulse to smile after doing someone a good turn. The realization that, in seeing after the needs of someone else, you forgot about your own worries and maybe even realize a sense of strength in yourself that you haven’t seen before. The act of being able to lift yourself up in adversity and directing your strength to lift others is one of the most transcendent and noble of human aspirations.
Is He-man just an action figure and a cartoon character? Of course. He was created to sell a toy line, and during the 80s, it was a billion-dollar franchise. He-man stays with us, not just because he is cool and Skeletor is probably the coolest-looking villain ever, but because at his core, much like Superman, he embodies the best of humanity, and the best of humanity is not only capable and strong, but cares about others too. This is different than my usual posts because this focuses on light and not darkness. I think, when the chips are down, beneath the exterior, this is closer to who I am. I hope the new movie is good and that it blows the competition into the next solar system. I have the power and so do you.
Written by Nick Montelongo
Growing up, kids feel the need to be in control, which is why some of them push back against their parents so hard. The marketing crew at Mattel, the toy company, understood this and specifically created Prince Adam’s line to appeal to unempowered youth. Masters of the Universe was a mishmash of ideas that Mattel put together and decided to market through a cartoon that became a massive hit. It was the story of a prince who could turn into a musclebound super warrior, who defends his homeworld, and the secrets of the universe contained in Castle Grayskull, from Skeletor, the Lord of Destruction. As an adult, I realized that this contained elements of Captain Marvel (the Shazam one from Fawcett Comics), Superman, and Frank Frazetta’s Conan artwork. It was a strange combination of sword and sorcery and sword and planet that pre-dated similar combinations seen in Final Fantasy. The creation of He-man and his world Eternia ,and all of the elements that make Masters of the Universe what it is today, came from creators at Mattel throwing metaphorical spaghetti to the wall and seeing what stuck. The character resonated with me. Looking back, He-man was a symbol of selflessness and goodness. It didn’t matter to him what a person’s beliefs were, what their economic situation was, or how dangerous the task was, he cared about everybody and defended them from harm. He was an idealized version of heroism and it inspired me to be a good person in turn. It helped that each episode of the cartoon had a Public Service Announcement (those good old 80s PSAs) in which He-man or one of his friends points out the lesson from the story, whether it was about honesty, friendship, good citizenship, or any number of positive things. These formed a good moral center for kids to learn from, especially kids who needed a little guidance but had no good examples to follow.
Because I was so young when I became a fan, He-man was the first fictional hero that I looked up to. This is saying a lot because I’ve been inspired by many, many heroic characters in my time including Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Luke Skywalker, Spiderman, Batman, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Hellboy, John Carter of Mars, Mega Man, Aragorn (of Lord of the Rings), Solomon Kane, Conan the Cimmerian, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct, and others. I am a habitual hero worshipper, and that’s not a bad thing because it motivates me to be a good person even when it doesn’t benefit me directly. That feeling of caring for others for their own sake. The impulse to smile after doing someone a good turn. The realization that, in seeing after the needs of someone else, you forgot about your own worries and maybe even realize a sense of strength in yourself that you haven’t seen before. The act of being able to lift yourself up in adversity and directing your strength to lift others is one of the most transcendent and noble of human aspirations.
Is He-man just an action figure and a cartoon character? Of course. He was created to sell a toy line, and during the 80s, it was a billion-dollar franchise. He-man stays with us, not just because he is cool and Skeletor is probably the coolest-looking villain ever, but because at his core, much like Superman, he embodies the best of humanity, and the best of humanity is not only capable and strong, but cares about others too. This is different than my usual posts because this focuses on light and not darkness. I think, when the chips are down, beneath the exterior, this is closer to who I am. I hope the new movie is good and that it blows the competition into the next solar system. I have the power and so do you.
Written by Nick Montelongo
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