….Bonehead. Dolt! Moron!!
These were the major insults being hurled back during the Reagan 80s..
And parents were so worried about that and some other choice insults, HE-MAN was front and center in the controversy!
Let’s take a quaint stroll back to amnesia lane.
TOUGH GUY CARTOONS
The Philadelphia Daily News, and many others, ran some articles in 1986 decrying tough guy cartoons and what they were teaching the youth of America!
Mary Sue Pruitt was a graduate assistant and pre-school teacher at The University of Tennessee Child and family studies program. In 1986 she said that name calling and “running over the bad guys with super powerful vehicles are prime examples of what happens during a 30-minute HE-MAN and the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE cartoon” ..
According to reports at the time, any day-care centers across the fine states of America refused to let children play HE-MAN while they were at school!
Pruitt says that HE-MAN as based on plotless violence and aggression.
Candace Irving, a spokeswoman from Mattel, was also quotes in articles disagreeing with the assessment. She said, “Nobody ever gets hurt. It’s kind of a Bugs Bunny type of action vs reaction.”
Pruitt was not impressed. She was continued to be quoted in national fishwrappers saying,
“The show is justified aggression. He-Man hits Skeletor but it’s OK because Skeletor is bad. Young children have a hard tie distinguishing types of aggression. The message of ‘Masters of the Universe’ is that fighting is fine as long as it is for a good reason. That’s not the message most parents want to relate to their children.”
He-Man died in the latest 2021 Kevin Smith series–but promises to come back again.
As time goes on, perspective is interesting..
I was 6 years old when Mary Sue Pruitt started her campaign against He-Man.
In 2nd grade I recall a moment in Catholic grade school when I got onto my teacher’s desk, and announced “I have the power” just as He-Man would do. Unlike He-Man, I recall St. Clemence spanking me over her knee.. just memories now…
Mary Sue may have been right after all…
But Mary Sue’s words could not not stop my 2020-2021 HE-MAN toy collection.
For better or worse..
