'Jem' Gems: 5 Things the '80s Cartoon Rock Goddess Predicted
Long before Deacon strummed his guitar on Nashville or Hakeem dropped some beats on Empire, Jem of Jem and the Holograms was delivering piping hot, fresh new music to TV sets every week. On Saturday mornings. In heels. But that’s not the only way in which the pink-haired diva was truly outrageous. Guys, she was pretty much clairvoyant.
Before we get inundated with marketing for the new Jem and the Holograms movie — which, based on the trailers, looks to have very little resemblance to the cartoon that aired from 1985-88 — here’s a look at five Jem gems she prophesied. If you want to see for yourself, all three seasons of Jem and the Holograms has been streaming on Netflix since 2012.
Jem (Everett Collection), Pink (Getty Images), and Julianne Hough (ABC)
1. First, there’s the obvious…
Jem had pink hair. Was she the first? It doesn’t really matter. She was probably the biggest.
2. Then, there’s Miley.
The biggest difference between Jem and its Disney Channel predecessor, Hannah Montana, is a few years in age and a few light years in technology. Jem uses Synergy, a giant computer that uses holograms and is connected through her earrings, to go back and forth between her rocker alter ego and real life self, Jerrica Benton, badass businesswoman, owner, and manager of Starlight Music and Starlight House, a home for girls. What’s Miley got, wigs and the Internet?
3. Confusing love triangles will one day rule the small screen.
If you thought that whole Olivia-Fitz-Jake trio on Scandal was complicated, you don’t know the half of it. Jerrica has a serious love interest, Rio (seen together above), and he pretty much doesn’t know which end is up. He loves her, but he finds himself having feelings for Jem and really can’t make up his mind. He has no idea they’re one in the same. Plus, Jerrica gets jealous of the way Rio acts around Jem, which she knows everything about because, well, they’re one in the same. Our head’s already spinning.
4. The bad won’t be bad, they’ll be superbad.
Cookie may have put a pillow to Lucious’s sleeping face on Empire, but that’s only ever happened once. The Misfits, led by the green-haired Pizzazz, pretty much try to kill Jem and the Holograms (and anyone anywhere near them) every single week, whether they (or their hired thugs) are causing an avalanche at a ski resort or burning down the youth home where Jem’s alter ego, Jerrica Benton, lives and works. They were downright diabolical.
5. One day, we’ll accept everyone, no matter what.
Jem’s little sister, Kimber, has a new love interest all the time, but do her bandmates judge and slut-shame her? No, they do not. Is this the norm today? Nope, not yet.
So, you see, it’s really true what they say: No one else is the same… we’re still just trying to be.
The movie adaptation of Jem and the Holograms arrives in movie theaters on Oct. 23; the TV series is available on Netflix.
