Adora and She-ra make me feel like nothing

[dura_grip]

I admit I have a problem with strong, smart, independent, beautiful, powerful women like Adora/She-ra because I've been rejected by them.

I resented She-ra being as strong as He-man and having so many more powers. I resented Adora getting a better sword than Adam, with an added jewel. I was jealous of the fact that she got a longer and more spectacular transformation sequence. A woman like this I want to keep down because of my own insecurities, inadequacies, and shortcomings as a man.

[wolfsfang]

so first you were depressed that she didn't get to live with her family and now you hate her because she is strong, smart, independent, beautiful and powerful


erm........ ohhh kay





I predict this thread will devolve very quickly

[Mantisaur82]

There are qualified people who can help you with your problems, try them, they could be more helpful than He-Man.org
Good luck!

[Angel-T]

There are other fans out there who can't stand She-Ra for these very reasons. There's nothing wrong in stating it, it's a valid position to take, her existance is very jaring for some vintage fans. But there are many fans out there who LOVE She-Ra for all of the reasons you had a problem, felt rejected or resented She-Ra.

As a child from a single parent family, I could never fully buy into characters like Superman and Batman as I felt rejected by the importent men in my life. But She-Ra was the embodyment of what I saw my mum doing every day, being strong, standing up and fighting for me and doing what was right, all while putting her needs second. It's fine if you don't like seeing She-Ra as a symbol of strength & power, thats your right. But that dosen't change the fact that this is still the reality of what She-Ra was/is & will be hopefully in times to come. I totally celebrate She-Ra....If I didn't have her in my life as a kid I honestly don't know how I would have made it through my childhood! (Sorry if this is a heavy responce but this is a weighted issue for a number of fans)!!!!

[dura_grip]

I also felt jealous when I saw She-ra get a sidekick (ie. Swiftwind) who could fly. It made Battlecat look like nothing.

She-ra got better music (eg. awesome guitar instrumental) and more vibrant, colorful animation too.

She got the Crystal Castle on top of Castle Grayskull.

She-ra's villain, Hordak, was the teacher of Skeletor. It made Skeletor look weak and less of a force because he was just a pupil.

The least Filmation could do was make She-ra He-man's girlfriend.

[Matthew L. Martin]

I think we're dealing with a dragon's friend here (cf. MotU "The Dragon's Gift" ), but just to put my two cents in:

I also felt jealous when I saw She-ra get a sidekick (ie. Swiftwind) who could fly. It made Battlecat look like nothing.

Swiftwind has the edge in mobility, but Battle Cat can fight. And He-Man didn't need the help as much as much as She-Ra did, since he had Man-at-Arms' vehicles backing him up.

She-ra got better music (eg. awesome guitar instrumental) and more vibrant, colorful animation too.

Benefits of being the later spinoff of the successful earlier series.

She got the Crystal Castle on top of Castle Grayskull.

Hardly counts--does She-Ra ever make extensive use of Castle Grayskull? And Crystal Castle is almost tossed into the Filmation mythos, and I'm not aware of any other version that makes it important. This ties into one of my complaints with the handling of She-Ra, which I'll discuss below.

She-ra's villain, Hordak, was the teacher of Skeletor. It made Skeletor look weak and less of a force because he was just a pupil.

Now this complaint I have some sympathy with--in the other direction. In the MotU canons where he's brought in, Hordak is really pumped up as this incredible terrifying power that even Skeletor feels cautious about. PoP reduces him to Skeletor's level and arguably weaker, since he has to answer to Horde Prime.

Tangent: When thinking of 'how to do PoP 200X', my personal approach is to bump Hordak up to the level of the 200X cartoon or Horde Prime, leave him in Despondos until the darkest hour of the Horde Invasion, and let Shadow Weaver be the leader of the Horde on Etheria. This places Shadow Weaver as the counterpart to Skeletor--the Faithful Devotee as opposed to the Faithless Student.

The least Filmation could do was make She-ra He-man's girlfriend.

This could have worked, but it would require some dramatic shifts in tone and story, and I don't know that it's automatically superior to the 'stolen sister' approach.

My only 'problem' with PoP is the fact that the story isn't MotU's equal in importance despite often being promoted as such. I grant that Adora's got a much more developed and tragic backstory, and a much harder fight, but it can't help feeling like a side story to me because compared to the 'War of Grayskull', it just feels provincial. Eternia has cosmic significance--if Skeletor wins, it could be an incredible triumph for the forces of Evil. Etheria, by contrast, is just one lonely planet in the Horde Empire.
EDIT: And let me state that I feel this way about the New Adventures, only moreso. That series lacks a sense of anything that He-Man and Skeletor are fighting for--at least on Skeletor's side, it appears to be all personal now. And Primus is far less interesting than Etheria or Eternia.


I think any new approach to PoP needs to either be consciously smaller-scale than MotU (which means toning down the tie-in elements) and focus on the personal and the importance of individuals, or find some way to make the Etherian Rebellion feel just as significant as the War of Grayskull. There are elements of the PoP mythos that could be used in the latter way (the Crystal Castle is remarkably underdeveloped), but also elements that probably need to be removed or reconceived (Horde Prime is a major issue--either get rid of him or play him and Hordak up so that Hordak can be Skeletor's equal/superior and still bow the knee to Horde Prime. It's not easy, but it can be done.)

[Masamune]

I admit I have a problem with strong, smart, independent, beautiful, powerful women like Adora/She-ra because I've been rejected by them.

I resented She-ra being as strong as He-man and having so many more powers. I resented Adora getting a better sword than Adam, with an added jewel. I was jealous of the fact that she got a longer and more spectacular transformation sequence. A woman like this I want to keep down because of my own insecurities, inadequacies, and shortcomings as a man.

MV5BNDY0ODA5MjU4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDAxNzIzNQ@@._V1._SX640_SY360_.jpg

*sigh*
IT'S A TRAP



I mean, come on. What did you expect?

[Barezz]

Adora is a 80's cartoon character that somehow has a better grip of reality. Plus she never even tries to make out with her brother.

Yea I can understand the jealousy.

[H.A.L.9000]

[Krueger]

Are you sure you don’t suffer from caligynephobia, or just a fear of women in general? You need to go and get that seen to.

[Rodster6]

Awww, someone needs attention.

[krosfyah]

The least Filmation could do was make She-ra He-man's girlfriend.

IF I recall, that's what mattel wanted, but it interfered with the Teela Angle.

[dura_grip]

I like the part in "The Secret of the Sword" where She-ra debuts herself to He-man and his friends at Snake Mountain after beating up Skeletor.

At the end of the scene He-man says to She-ra, "Let's go." And She-ra and He-man walk off across the screen almost arm-in-arm, with She-ra's gorgeous long, flowing blonde hair following them. The two of them looked beautiful and spectacular together as the most powerful man in the universe and the princess of power.

And Teela with her mouth wide open and a jealous look on her face says, "I can't believe this!"

[Eternian-King Paul]

Despite the childish harassment from some people on this site, with nothing better to say..

Making She-Ra powerful and not so strong is a very important story material.

..in my work He-Man says 'I have the Power!' and She-Ra says 'I am the Power!'.

Some people care alot about story and structure of character, which is also easy to say now that the show can be re-watched and analized.

..(I am also not sure why anyone from hollywood or important people or even smart people would ever spend any time on this site with all the childishness.)

[Barezz]

You know...I was going to write a rebuttal. I really was. But then I realized that I would probably have a better chance of convincing a brick wall. So I gave that a go. It is hard to tell...but I think the brick wall actually agrees with me. So I'm going to take that victory and call it a day.

I'm also going to look into how the /ignore feature works on these forums. I'm fairly certain that anyone from hollywood or important people or even smart people have made good use of this feature by this point.

[dura_grip]

I valued He-man less when She-ra came along.

He-man always had to strain himself when he performed feats of strength. She-ra always lifted objects effortlessly, so it seemed like she was actually physically stronger than He-man.

And She-ra already had a better sword and all these extra powers (eg. healing, talking to animals, sidekick that could fly, better transformation sequence, etc.).

He-man had nothing over She-ra. So, to me, He-man became a nobody, nothing. He had become depreciated, deflated in my mind. I didn't respect him as much anymore. He was less of a hero to me because I always felt bad and embarrassed that She-ra was better than He-man

She-ra fans would always say she is more powerful than He-man and I had no comeback; I had nothing to say because in my heart I knew this was true and it made me feel small and sad and less proud to be a He-man fan.

[wolfsfang]

You know...I was going to write a rebuttal. I really was. But then I realized that I would probably have a better chance of convincing a brick wall. So I gave that a go. It is hard to tell...but I think the brick wall actually agrees with me. So I'm going to take that victory and call it a day.

I'm also going to look into how the /ignore feature works on these forums. I'm fairly certain that anyone from hollywood or important people or even smart people have made good use of this feature by this point.

^ sounds like a good rebuttal to me

[dura_grip]

I want a girl like Adora.

[DisneyBoy]

Hi Dura,

When I first read your post, I thought it was a clever, sarcastic take on why so many He-fans feel threatened and annoyed with the She-Ra character and mythology.

Reading on, I'm getting the sense that you're being sincere.

So here's the thing...this is a lot of honesty to be sharing with us, and it reads a little bit like something you might have written in a particularly sad moment. In any case, I definitely think if you feel insecure in these ways, you should look into having a face-to-face discussion about it with someone mature and qualified in your day-to-day life. It'll help.

As for how the existence of She-Ra alters the MOTU mythology...just ignore it. Just pretend She-Ra never came along, and He-Man continue to fight Skeletor with Battle Cat, and just push the rest out of your mind. Every fan can decide for themselves what parts of continuity "work" for them, and clearly She-Ra doesn't work for you (right now). So if you can't come to terms with her without thinking less of He-Man, then just pretend she doesn't exist.

I do think, however, that it's really sad how threatened people like yourself can feel by She-Ra. She's a character who stands for a lot of good things...so what if her music was better and her horse can fly? If you love He-Man, then that's great! No one's saying his battles and personality aren't good too.

[Eternian-King Paul]

I valued He-man less when She-ra came along.

He-man always had to strain himself when he performed feats of strength. She-ra always lifted objects effortlessly, so it seemed like she was actually physically stronger than He-man.

And She-ra already had a better sword and all these extra powers (eg. healing, talking to animals, sidekick that could fly, better transformation sequence, etc.).

He-man had nothing over She-ra. So, to me, He-man became a nobody, nothing. He had become depreciated, deflated in my mind. I didn't respect him as much anymore. He was less of a hero to me because I always felt bad and embarrassed that She-ra was better than He-man

She-ra fans would always say she is more powerful than He-man and I had no comeback; I had nothing to say because in my heart I knew this was true and it made me feel small and sad and less proud to be a He-man fan.

He-Man and She-Ra are a good match for eachother.

..of course on a chess board, a queen is alot more talented than a king, and in a masquline-regal order, males just ignore females anyway.

[Cosmic Falcon]

Oh dearie my! You guys need to get a life. We're talking about a fictional character in a fictional world...it's all make believe & fantasy, why try to relate to Adora/She-Ra as a real individual. She's not. She only comes alive in your fantasies, imagination & dreams. The best thing about fantasies, imagination & dreams is that you can be whatever & whoever you desire too, why drag your own real life hang-ups & inadequacies into those fantasies?

Me...? I'm a woman. Adora/She-Ra runs rings around me in looks, skills, stamina, intelligence, heart & wisdom but I don't hate her & am not jealous of her. It's not a perfect world we live & I accept that there is a difference between my dream self (so much more on a par with Adora/She-ra) & my waking conscious self.