Thursday, April 18, 2013

First Impressions of a Princess

First impressions are everything. Or at least that is what they say. "They" being the ominous and mysterious group of beings that tell all mere mortals the social cues of life. Personally I suck at first impressions. Well, most of the time. There are those rare occasions where I am not clumsy or awkward; those times where I can actually speak in a coherent sentence without bumbling anything is truly a miracle. Sometimes it takes me a second or third impression before people are like, "Hey, this chick isn't half bad."



The exciting thing is when a piece of Pop Culture totally nails a first impression forever imprinting on our minds and hearts. That is the basis for this week's topic from the League: You never get a second chance at a first impression–what moment in pop culture had you saying “Now, that’s how you make an introduction!”

So this week's topic was far more easier than the topic from last week. There may be many wonderful pieces of pop culture first impressions, but the one that can still make me get up and dance in my living room is this one:


I had certainly already been exposed to the cool opening of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, but there was just something remarkably special about that first time I watched She-Ra: Princess of Power! That music! The animation! Those characters! I felt like I was looking at myself! Yes I realize I was a pasty pale white girl with mousy brown hair and bad bangs, but watching blond and leggy Adora raise that sword and have that flashy introduction about her, it was special. It was nice to see a character like She-Ra. I knew then that I was a part of something very special.

There were really no other cartoons like that at the time. Of course there were plenty of girl cartoons, but I can't recall a cartoon like She-Ra. There wasn't a slew of Wonder Woman and She-Hulk cartoons. That Pryde of the X-Men cartoon would have been something to behold, but it never made it past the pilot stage (Kitty Pryde still deserves better.) There just wasn't a heavy emphasis on heroic women driving their own shows at that time.

Watching that introduction to She-Ra made my young self realize that I could be the creator of my own story. For the longest time I had relegated my role with the other neighborhood kids to being the constant damsel in distress. I would pretend to tie myself to trees and wait to be rescued. Eventually the neighborhood kids would be like, "Can't you just save yourself?" She-Ra showed me that I could indeed save myself and I could do it on a flying unicorn to boot.

This first impression has stayed with me too, well into my old age. I still enjoy watching She-Ra, the show has never gotten old for me. And the excitement for She-Ra is just growing! Who would have thought that she'd have a comic cover released this week? Granted the cover was for Masters of the Universe and a variant, but still, I never would have imagined in a million years that She-Ra and Swiftwind would be on the cover of a comic in 2013. She-Ra fans everywhere need to pat themselves on the back for that one, because all of our conversations, dedications, and honorable mentions for the Princess of Power led to this moment. I am sure of it. We are keeping her alive and I have no doubt that there will be more to come! This is truly a great time to be a She-Ra fan!

So what are other people's Pop Culture First Impressions? LeAnn addresses a major first impression from a galaxy far far away. Pop Rewind is a little more interested in some impressions that came back a second time. Stunt Zombie's first impression could very well be Earth's last. To check out more about this week's topic and what else gets posted, head over to Cool and Collected.

And be sure to check back here, because in honor of She-Ra's variant comic cover there will be some more She-Ra fun this week! Take care everyone!

10 comments:

  1. Awesome. I know there are tons of boy-empowering cartoons... but full on girl-empowerment (where the female hero is equally or more powerful than the males AND the main protagonist) are always harder to find. It really is interesting that they went in this direction with She-Ra when she could have so easily have become another passive sort of hero like Jem. Awesome post!

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    1. Ya know it is crazy how much they put into She-Ra. Because they could have totally gone into another direction with her. I love Jem too, but I agree, there were times where Jem was a bit more passive. I mean the show was about music, it wasn't like Jem and the Holograms were going to be wielding swords and such. Though they should have been with all the times that the Misfits tried to have them killed. lol

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  2. I knew that there was a pretty good chance that She-Ra would be the character that had the most heavy impression on you since she has remained so close to you after all these years.

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    1. Yep! : ) She certainly has. This was a very easy post for me. lol

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  3. I loved She-Ra! I just recently introduced the show to my 5 yr old daughter. She loves it

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    1. Hi LeAnn! I am so glad that your 5 yr old daughter is watching She-Ra! If i had kids I would totally be introducing them to She-Ra. It is such a great cartoon.

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  4. I think it is sad that so many kids shows and super short opening sequences or just a title card now. There are so many classic openings that are burned into my brain. He-Man, She-Ra, GI Joe (2nd Season), and TMNT all had great songs with awesome video sequences.

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    1. I know! The openings were always the best because they just got you so thrilled for the show. They even do that with other shows too. I loved the old days of Melrose Place and other night time shows where there would be an opening intro, now that is just a rarity.

      I hope you are doing well! It is nice to hear from you.

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  5. Great selection for the first impression topic! I absolutely love the She-Ra opening title sequence. The music, the voice over, the visuals, the hommage to the original He-Man intro. The show itself is very solid and I enjoy watching as well. I think a huge shame is that when I was a little boy I only saw a few of the episodes. They are every bit as great as He-Man episodes.

    I had a She-Ra related blog post recently too!
    http://sideshowcinema.blogspot.com/2013/02/masters-of-universe-secret-of-sword.html


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    1. I couldn't agree more! It really was a great show. It had everything. Thank you so much for the comment and for the link. I will be checking it out!

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