Jem & the Holograms fan culture expands

**Hypestyle** · 12-19-2018, 10:02 AM

Well, I guess they tried doing a live action movie a few years back, but it didn't work commercially. Maybe Hasbro will try again eventually, and lean in to the 1980s aspects.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...s-toys-754429/

By day, Jennifer Turner works in law enforcement in Vancouver. But on this particular late August weekend, she’s in Cleveland, attending JemCon, an annual gathering for devotees of the colorful Eighties cartoon Jem and the Holograms. Turner’s fandom runs deep. She grew up with a single father who supported her love for all things Jem. One Christmas, she woke up to find he had bought her every single Jem-related doll available at the time; other times, he would set an alarm and wake her up early so she could watch the show before school.

“It was such an escape, and so different from the regular narratives that you had about mom and dad,” Turner says of the cartoon, which follows the adventures of a philanthropic-minded orphan named Jerrica — proprietor of an orphanage for teenage girls, the Starlight House — who has a rock-star secret identity/alter-ego, Jem. “I think I identified a little bit with Jem losing her parents.”

In hindsight, Turner, who sports a detailed, full-color tattoo of Jem on her right calf and ink depicting a rival bandleader named Pizzazz on her left calf, also recognizes how the show informed her feminist worldview. “Here was a heroine that owned her own business, was a humanitarian, ran an orphanage, took care of her sister. [She] had a romance, but it was never the whole point of the story. It was about her, and her career. It whisked me away.”

For many, Jem is a forgotten retro footnote. The cartoon had a relatively short lifespan — 65 episodes aired between 1985 to 1988 — and the accompanying doll line enjoyed only a brief burst of popularity. But for fans such as Turner, Jem was a life-changing phenomenon.

Thirty years after the cartoon initially went off the air, and three years after a poorly received live-action feature-film reboot, the Jem universe — or “multi-universes,” in the words of Samantha Newark, who provided the speaking voice for both Jem and Jerrica on the cartoon — remains a vibrant, creative space. Jem lives on via fan art and detailed websites dedicated to the brand. T-shirts mash up Jem characters with art in the styles of Duran Duran, Queen, Mötley Crüe, Poison and the Misfits (who share a name with the Holograms’ rival band on the show). There’s also Truly Outrageous: A Jem Fan Film, a Kickstarter-funded live-action short named after a key line in the chorus of the show’s theme song, and a Spain-made short film, MisfitSized. Newark has even compiled a “Jem Drag Stars” playlist on her YouTube channel, featuring detailed makeup tutorials and drag performances themed around the characters.

That same dedication permeates “How Rock & Roll Infiltrated Saturday Morning Cartoons,” an unofficial JemCon kickoff panel discussion and Q&A. Held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the event features appearances from three luminaries in the Jem universe: Newark; series creator Christy Marx; and cartoonist Keith Tucker, a storyboard artist on many of the show’s music videos.

Newark, a beaming presence with cascades of auburn hair, trills one of her character’s signature lines into the mic: “It’s showtime, Synergy!” All three speakers have an easy rapport as they share behind-the-scene tidbits from the cartoon. At one point, Marx draws gasps of wonder by revealing she once pitched a Jem episode set in the Rock Hall that never moved forward.

As the Q&A wraps up, a young woman standing against the wall raises her hand and shares that her name is Jherica —and that she is, in fact, named after Jem’s non-rock-star persona. Incredibly, Jherica Belle isn’t from Cleveland and hadn’t heard about JemCon but just happened to be in town for a work conference and decided to visit the Rock Hall, where she came upon the panel. Her close friends and family call her Jem, Belle shares later via e-mail. “No more than a handful,” she writes. “Not everyone can call me Jem. That name is special.”

**more at the article**

**Personamanx** · 12-19-2018, 10:12 AM

Jem holds up more so than many cartoons from the late '80s. The film wasn't particularly good, but the franchise was definitely able to survive it. I don't know if we can expect another cartoon in the foreseeable future, but I definitely respect the original series as well as the more recent comics reboot.

**Immortal Weapon** · 12-19-2018, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Personamanx

Jem holds up more so than many cartoons from the late '80s. The film wasn't particularly good, but the franchise was definitely able to survive it. I don't know if we can expect another cartoon in the foreseeable future, but I definitely respect the original series as well as the more recent comics reboot.

There's a franchise? What's exists outisde of the cartoon other than that crappy movie?

**Personamanx** · 12-19-2018, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Immortal Weapon

There's a franchise? What's exists outisde of the cartoon other than that crappy movie?

There was a cartoon, a toyline, a movie, and a comics series featuring similar premises as well as characters under a singular name. It being dormant for long periods doesn't mean it isn't a multimedia franchise.

**Vakanai** · 12-20-2018, 03:45 PM

Maybe a CW live action show like Riverdale could be good (or would it be more like their DC shows?), or even a Netflix one?

**616MarvelYear is LeapYear** · 08-13-2020, 02:36 AM

The return of Jem And The Holograms for their 35th anniversary! https://fashiondollchronicles.com/fa...th-anniversary

Showtime, Synergy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxIMu3FUAHg

**616MarvelYear is LeapYear** · 08-13-2020, 02:37 AM

2020 is Jem’s 35th anniversary and JemCon’s 15th https://twitter.com/jemconnews/statu...55682908393473

Glamour and Glitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNiRrQzSoVU&t=503s

**Nate Grey** · 08-13-2020, 08:53 AM

Funny the movie was garbage on a stick...then they get to that final scene with the Misfits and I'm like wtf they're perfectly cast, I wanted to see more of THEM.

I've always said any live action movie needs to embrace completely the 80's-ishness of the franchise or don't do it at all. Synergry, holograms, the whole nine.

In any case, 35 Jem!

**titanfan** · 08-13-2020, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Nate Grey

Funny the movie was garbage on a stick...then they get to that final scene with the Misfits and I'm like wtf they're perfectly cast, I wanted to see more of THEM.

I've always said any live action movie needs to embrace completely the 80's-ishness of the franchise or don't do it at all. Synergry, holograms, the whole nine.

In any case, 35 Jem!

They could only get 5 million for the movie budget. They were so sure they could get enough fans to turn out and that it would be a hit from a movie multiplier standpoint--that they could then get a bigger budget one approved in the future.

But alas, the movie they delivered was really nothing like the fans were expecting. That said, I still listen to several songs on the sound track I thought was catchy.

**Nate Grey** · 08-13-2020, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by titanfan

They could only get 5 million for the movie budget. They were so sure they could get enough fans to turn out and that it would be a hit from a movie multiplier standpoint--that they could then get a bigger budget one approved in the future.

But alas, the movie they delivered was really nothing like the fans were expecting. That said, I still listen to several songs on the sound track I thought was catchy.

I wonder how much Ke$ha charged for her cameo as Pizazz? Ah well.

I did like the idea of gender-bending Eric Raymond and then making Rio her son. Its weird in retrospect everything BUT the titular characters/Synergy was ok or had potential.