TOTAL RECALL
New editor Darren waggles the Sword of Protection for She-Ra: Princess Of Power.
Despite being the oldest of three boys and therefore pretty much having every action figure known to man at the time – oh, how I wish I’d kept them all – I wasn’t really that much of a fan of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe. Shock! I enjoyed the cartoon – and later absolutely adored the live-action movie – but really it was just the villains I was interested in. In particular, Hordak and the Evil Horde. Those toys came first – and really played a part in sparking what was to become a life-long appreciation of all things horror. So I’d like to say that Filmation making them the antagonists for the He-Man spin-off cartoon was what I loved about She-Ra: Princess Of Power. But it wasn’t.
It wasn’t until many years later that I realised on some subconscious level that my love for She-Ra came about because inside of me there was a fierce (but compassionate) diva waiting to burst out – with a theme song, sparkles, and legs to die for, of course. She-Ra: Princess Of Power was probably the gayest thing a gay boy in waiting had ever seen in 1985. I didn’t want to play He-Man – though as I grew older that would
change in, errr, different ways – I wanted to play She-Ra. Hell, I wanted to be She-Ra!
Before she even realised who she truly was – the twin sister of Adam, aka He-Man, and therefore Princess of Eternia, stolen at birth by Hordak – she was Force Captain Adora. Beautiful and a bit of a bitch. The ’80s seemed to be a time for women in power to be harsh, and my baby-gay self couldn’t get enough of it.
The Crystal Castle is camp. She-Ra’s winged unicorn Swift Wind is camp. Her only male friend wears a harness with a heart on it and bickers with a camp talking owl. There are rainbows everywhere. They thought they were making a series for girls, but actually it was gayer than Christmas, and I could not get enough.
Finding her true place – and her chosen family – She-Ra resonated with certain men of a certain age, pre-empting girl power by over a decade, as well as teaching a generation of kids that sisters really could do it for themselves.
Darren has loved fabulous secrets being revealed to him since 1985.