The Truly Outrageous Jem

It’s truly outrageous. Truly, truly outrageous!

If you have not heard of Jem and the Holograms, well I for one am shocked and encourage you to head over to Netflix and watch it for yourself. Because it is just one of those series you really have to see at last once.

With the new reboot of the cult classic eighties series only mere days away from being released into theaters, ads are coming at everyone left and right, hype increasing and thus making Jem once again take center stage. The movie alone is a massive subject in its own right, perhaps someday down the line I will do my review of that. This post, however is for that of the original Jem and the Holograms series that come October sixth will have reached the thirty year mark.

After catching a few interviews with that involving some of the cast of the upcoming film the fact that none had any pre-existing knowledge of the series was baffling. Sure, it has been a rather drastic amount of time since the days of the eighties and the series has not been quite as notable in the modern day spectrum of pop culture. However the series still holds up well and enchants fans new and old alike.

The series chronicles, as once can presume, a mysterious singer by the name of Jem and her rock band as they lead their lives filled with music, fashion, glamor and fame. But there is much more to both the series as well as titular band than your run-of-the-mill music filled slice-of-life, coming of age story. The origins of the formation of the band are contingent on the Benton sisters regaining control of their late father’s company in order to keep the Starlight Foundation afloat. The only way for Jerrica to reclaim her family’s business in full is to have a band compete against the newest act in town, the Misfits in a battle of the bands.  Something neither the Misfits nor Eric Raymond is willing to do and even go to great extents to prevent from happening. If not for a surprise final gift from their father, a sophisticated holographic computer specifically crafted to the ultimate audio and video entertainment synthesizer “Synergy”. One of Synergy’s great abilities is to craft life-like holograms, including one that allows Jerrica to become Jem and sets course for what lies ahead.

The series has a great deal of contraction on Jem, or rather her actual self-Jerrica and her doubling identities. Being that of the pop icon Jem and Jerrica, the CEO of Starlight Music and one of the main caregivers for the Starlight Girls. This alone offers up a wide array of conflicting points involving both professional and even romantic endeavors between her long-time boyfriend Rio and later Riot.

Despite being called Jem and the Holograms, and often having a great deal of attention drawn onto Jem, or Jerrica depending on plots, the series does a fantastic job giving all of the various characters in the series time to take the front and develop. Each member of the three main bands (The Holograms, The Misfits and The Stingers), secondary character such as Danse and Lin-Z and even some of the Starlight Girls are given a good amount of spotlight and even backstory. And what issues they face are not always light and simplistic as you might image. Dealing with being written off by a father, drug abuse, stealing and even running away are addressed among other themes in the course of the three seasons.

With memorable characters, strong narrative and the shear meaning of earworm music, Jem has still managed to retain a place of love and high regards for fans new and old. Imaging why is not a hard feat when you look at the series and realize that in a way of its own it was ahead of its times. There are some really great role models to be had in the series, Jerrica alone is a grand example of how a woman can be strong and successful yet retain that need for aid from time to time.

I must attest that it was only a little over a year ago when I was first introduced to the series thanks to some of my friends. And with Jem once again finding herself in the head-lines I reached out to fellow fans of the series to see just what made this show so special for them. What about it resonates three decades after first appearing? Some fans noted that it was Jerrica slash Jem that was truly inspirational and allowed themselves to find sides of themselves and feel empowered. The struggles that the Stingers faced as they slowly worked their way to fame was also a huge thing that really proves how far hard work and determination is when you are chasing after dreams.

There is a lot of great things about Jem. Perhaps too many to write and even then I am sure I probably would be missing one or two as I know there are many fans out there and each and everyone has their own special meaning and connection to the series and the characters they encountered.

Jem is a series that shows us who we just might become if we follow our dreams.

Join the conversation: if you have seen Jem and the Holograms how does it resonate with you?