A few days ago I went to watch Transformers with my younger brother. A young man in his mid-teens he, doesn’t remember the Clinton years with any great clarity, let alone the Reagan era in which the original cartoon series and toy line emerged as cultural forces. Let’s cut to the chase. The special effects are amazing and awe inspiring. The characterization and plot are pedestrian. And of course the script isn’t a work of poetry. Nevertheless, the article in Wired which makes much of Optimus Prime’s Christ-like valence for a large group of young males who grew up with the original Transformers cartoon series points to a real dimension of the phenomenon. According to this story in Entertainment Weekly 1986’s animated Transformers: the Movie was a flop. This was news to me, in my pre-teen circles this film was a major cultural event. The appearance of swearing in the Transformers Universe was extremely transgressive. The death of Optimus Prime was emotionally devastating.
Any perusal of the original cartoon series or an honest review of the current film won’t return a verdict which implies any depth to the Transformers narrative. But checking Yahoo Movies reveals that critics gave the film an average B- rating, while viewers (“users”) agreed upon an A-. A B- from critics isn’t half bad (rule of thumb is that the critics will be “one grade” below the typical movie goer from what I can tell). There is something compelling about Transformers; but what exactly is that? My brother, who has seen the original cartoon series in syndication and its various reincarnations enjoyed the film but declared it “corny.” The “moralism” in Transformers is metaphorically cartoonish, the Decepticons are unfathomably malevolent while the Autobots led by Optimus Prime are motivated by an ethical compass which is broadly reflective of the “best in our natures.” The saintliness of the Autobots has practical consequences insofar as it handicaps them in making Machiavellian choices to arrive at victory. The Autobots must sacrifice to defeat their enemies. The Deceptions have at their disposal the full sample space of options; by any means necessary s their motto, though their aims are often as inscrutable as those of the Autobots are clear.
Some observers have suggested that the Autobots serve as proxies for the heroes which many of wish to believe in, but who no longer seem plausible in flesh in blood form. The emphasis on gritty realism, the innate understanding that man is flawed, means that our species concocts angels from our imaginations who are reflective purely of our godliness. To put into stark relief the pure motives and actions of these incarnations of the good we juxtapose them against an array of the armies of darkness, demons of pure malice; the Decepticons. I have often emphasized that religion co-opts natural human impulses, that it is not one thing by the interweaving together of myriad strands of our psychology. An analogy between the relationship between some adult humans and the Transformers world which exhibits a spiritual intensity is comprehensible via this model of religion; Transformers may intersect with a host of motifs and cognitive sentiments which are normally operant during moments of religious intensity. The original Optimus Prime died in the 1986 cartoon film, but he was subsequently resurrected. Prime’s rebirth was inevitable, the anger at his death, the emotional anguish demanded it. The writers and marketers and creators had to cater to an audience with needs and compulsions. Transformers had gone from cartoon to cult.
But as my brother’s statement suggests it is not a universal cult. Transformers flourished and emerged during the mid-1980s, and those of us who were elementary school age during that period look back to the series and its characters, to the figure of Prime, as touchstones. But today’s youth don’t have the same experience, the brand is relatively stale and uninspiring despite the flurry of activity surrounding the movie. A religious analogy can make this more understandable; Mormons often declare that the Book of Mormon is a literary masterpiece, while Muslims declare the Koran to be Muhammad’s one and only miracle. But looking from the outside these religious masterpieces are often seen to be simplistic and lacking in elegance. The emotional valences which the believers imbue a divinely inspired work elevates its characteristics above other books, but for those whom a book is just a book it is interpreted as a work of man and so it often suffers. Similarly, the experience of today’s teens and men around the age of 30 as they watch the film differs because for the former it is only an action movie with incredible special effects. Prime has no significance as a figure who looms over their childhood, he is not the gods come alive. For the older set there is no denial of the film’s corniness and implausibility, but to some extent they believe because it is simply so absurd.
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