Musings In Disguise

First, I would like to say that reports of my Canadian-ship are greatly exaggerated. That out of the way...

One of the things about having a new bunch of people handle a classic series is that, inevitably, they are gonna fudge a few things. It's artistic licence. No one wants a remake to be word for word, beat for beat, the same thing shown 20 years ago. Heads would ROLL if the upcoming live action Transformers movie were simply a live-action adaptation, a re-reading, if you will, of the 1986 animated feature. Oh, undoubtably it would be visually and technically impressive, but that's not what we want. One of the greatest things about following the Transformers from a kid on to today is that, aside from the abberations that you see in Saturday Morning Cartoons, the series has matured.

Back in the 80's, I'll admit it, Transformers was a immature and simple slap-and-paste maneuvre. "Kids like toy cars. Kids like toy robots. If we sell them one toy that is both, we can double the price on the same toy." Or something like that. And people will tell you, and I'll be one of the first to agree, the toys were bricks with arms. Very little posablity, if you wanted it to stand up. Arms could go up or down, and every so often a head might spin, or a leg might bend at the knee because that's where a transform mechanism was. It was simple, but still, I don't consider my old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that poseable either, so maybe I'm being unfair there. And the Turtles couldn't very well turn in to cars, usually. The cartoon was a cut above, too, though a cut above 80's Saturday morning cartoons isn't much. It was pretty standard good vs evil, us vs them gunplay, with the good guys usually winning at the end. When they lost, it was because the bad guys had cheated them somehow. Interestingly enoguh, if the Autobots had done the exact same thing to win, they would have been hailed as brilliant strategists and cunning warriors. It's all about perspective, I guess. So yeah, it was a great kids show, which is why it has endured through the ages, and why, for instance, China declared Optimus Prime a National Hero. A good show, but it was still just a kids show.

So then we get Beast Wars, and eventually Beast Machines. The series gets extremely more complicated. Discussions of allegience, morality, and even spirituality that would never have been seen 20 years ago creep into the plotlines of the series. I initially wrote it off as a crass attempt to cash in on a classic cartoon, but that honor now belongs to RID and the Unicron Trilogy. I have given the Beast Saga a second chance, and am planning on buying them on DVD for further screening.

Like I said, the shows after the Beasts series were train wrecks. Beast Wars and Beast Machines were still a part of the Generation One continuity. In fact, they practially reveled in it. Armada, Energon, Cybertron, and ESPECIALLY Robots in Disguise, on the other hand, were terrible MASHINGS of the characters and universe we had grown to love. I liked the toys, though, as Transformers toy technology has always been at the cutting edge, but it made me cringe to think of the inane plot lines these characters were supposed to be following.

Okay, so that brings us to today. After 20+ years of maturation, the Generation one continuity has finally come of age. The toys released are either the nostalgia-ridden brickbots from 20 years ago, cleaned up so you can finally complete your collection now that you've got a job, or, and I think this is the greatest part yet, the Alternators Collection, reinvisioning the classic characters in modern, ULTRA-REALISTIC Alt-modes. I love them. They are everything a Transformer should be, twenty-years later.

And then we have the comics. I think the comics were a bit more mature than the animated show from the beginning. It was produced by Marvel, owners of one of the longest running continuous storylines ever. In fact, the Transformers are linked to that story, meaning that the same time the X-Men were running around fighting Magneto, and Spidey was duking it out with Doc Ock, the Decepticons were causing havoc for the Autobots. Come on Marvel, you've got a mega crossover series coming up, right? Bring back the Transformers! (Despite you not having the comic licence anymore...)

Today's Transformers comics, though, they're something else. Where the original cartoon series could almost be viewed as an Autobot-produced propaganda piece, these comics show the war like an embedded soldier, showing the heroism and the cowardice on both sides, that each character has their own personality, ideals, wishes and desires. You've got Ratchet, the conciencious objector, and Prowl, the dutiful leiutenant. Starscream is the insane, greedy schemer, of course...

And that leads us all ot this. The thing that's been on my mind all night:

In IDW's series, the Transformers have, as I mentioned, been re-thought. The yellow fellow to the left, despite a few design changes, should be instantly recognizable as Bumblebee. I like the changes, they're very spiffy, and I can see how this new model works just as well as the original mold. In fact, it almost fits, and it feels somewhat like IDW was trying to unify the Transformations going on in al the Autobots. They all go belly down, including the remodeled BB. The other new change, and the one that's been bouncing around in my mind the last few nights, is the lady to your left. Or rather, the hologram of hhe lady to your left. Transformers with holographic drivers is nothing new. They've been around since MTMTE part 2, in fact. But here, Bumblebee has been given (or chose for itself) a female avatar. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, on one level. I mean, though we all prefer to think that they are masculine, robots really have no gender (female Autobots excepted). So the gender of an avatar is not really a big deal to a robot. I mean, be reasonable. Look at some ducks. Can you tell the difference between a male and a female duck? Unless you've had proper training, you probably can't. And Bumblebee isn't really a humanologist (or whatever), but a soldier, who you wouldn't expect to study the local wildlife, i.e.: us. On the other hand, Bumblebee was always the closest bot to the humans in the cartoon. It's possible that the female avatar was picked with the rational that it creates a more pleasing reaction in the majority of humans. Or maybe, and this is the part that's had my mind racing, maybe Bumblebee is supposed to be female? In the IDW continuity, at least. She's one of the most empathetic of robots. Ratchet cares about humans because he's both a Doctor and an Ambulance. It's built into him. But Bumblebee? She seems genuinely attached to her friends. Motherly, almost. Definitely big-sisterly. I can see Bumblebee as a chick. It explains the pink seats. And it also adds a bit of tension to Spike's relationship between both her and Carly.

I looked up into his cold, steel blue eyes. His arms were around me in a grip i knew would never let me go.
"Oh, Optimus," I gasped. "...we shouldn't. We..."
He held one metal finger to my faceplate. "Hush Bumblebee. I'm here to care of you."
Even as he whispered to me, I felt Cybertron melt away underneath my chassis.

Jackie says that's disgusting. On the other hand, she hadn't read this post when she said that.

One final thought, completely not about robot sexuality. I had heard a rumor that the Wii was set to launch worldwide in like July. But today I hear stuff about a 4th quarter (holiday season) launch. What gives? X_X

Okay, I've got to start babysitting at 9AM, and then work from 12-6. WHEE.

Ahem. Wii.