By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I’m angry. I’m so angry. Just like my best friend Meghan Winkler and so many other women from my generation, we’re angry and we’re not going to take it. Jem and the Holograms belong to us. It’s our show.
Growing up, it was my favorite cartoon. Most cartoons aimed at girls followed animals or women from unrelateable fantasy places (a.e. My Little Pony, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, She-Ra, Rainbow Brite etc.) while boys had cartoons that had relatable male characters that personified both good and bad. It also showed men in positions of power and strength. For example, G.I. JOE, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, The Real Ghostbusters, Speed Racer, – the list goes on and on.
To see themselves in a semi-realistic place with tough-as-nails girls, we had Jem. She was our idol. Jerrica Benton was a strong independent woman who owned a music company named Starlight Music. She had an alter-ego where her hair would change and she’d have make-up reminiscent of a female KISS with brighter, neon face paint placed on a bit more sparingly. She owned a computer which connected to her earring allowing her to change from Jerrica to Jem. Her earring allows her to escape danger as well as it creates holograms, thus the name of her group is Jem and The Holograms. Though battling with whether to continue singing or focusing on her charity work with the orphanage and running the music company, she never turned on her friends nor would she. That isn’t to say there wasn’t outside conflict.
The Misfits were a harder stronger all woman band that were rich bitches. I loved Pizzazz aka Phyllis. She had green hair and a tough attitude. Now these women were not teenagers. They had jobs, they had rivalries and they fought over guys once in awhile, but mainly the show was the basic good vs evil story with a strong female lead.
The new film that sadly shares the name of the movie but is nothing like it follows a teenage girl who is shy.
She becomes a YouTube sensation when her friend puts up a video of her without telling anyone. She is then reeled in by an evil music producer who attempts to put a rift between Jem and her friends telling her that she’s the star. Jem turns on her friends until they unite in the end. That’s the story. Sound familiar? Perhaps, you remember Alvin and The Chipmunks Movie, Lemonade Mouth, Hannah Montana, – the list goes on and on. I would bet my life savings that the producers of this film had it lying around and just through the name of Jem on it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the show and is a disgrace.
That isn’t to say that a modern live-action adaption of the cartoon is unable to be made. In fact, it would be quite easy and really popular with the teen demographic and the nostalgic 30 something-s. It could have been a hit. This is how.
Cast someone like Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor or Carrie Underwood as Jem. She has to be strong but sweet. She needs to be caring but kick-ass and she needs the appeal of the youth. As for the band -that’s easy: Victoria Justice as Aja Leith, Yara Shahidi as Shana Elmsford or if she is too young, Ariel Winter would be a great Carmen Raya Alonso if they wanted her in the band too.
For The Misfits, Pizzazz could be portrayed by Miley Cyrus or Nicki Minaj. They would do a great job at being wild and crazy. Roxy should be cast by someone like Hayden Panettiere would be perfect. She’s spicy, pretty and can rave with the best of them. Anyone who was watching her while her husband was in the rin
g, can vouch for that. An actress with Emma Stone’s unique look and talent would be great as Stormer. Maisie Richardson-Sellers would be perfect for Shana.
The men too would be simple. Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be great as villain Eric Raymond. His popularity and sex appeal would make him ideal for the bad guy role.
Daniel Radcliffe would be a great Rio. He’s very attractive, has a sweet side, and has proven himself a great leading man both in the Harry Potter series and the Lady in Black.
Most importantly, the plot should follow a similar structure and concept of the show it’s attempting to recreateand reimagine. You need to respect the characters while modernizing them. They need to be true to form and act in a realistic way. They need to reflect the aspects that made us fall in love with them the first time.
Here is a quick plot off the top of my head: The Origin Story of Jem and The Holograms
Jerrica volunteering in the orphanage and being a CEO of Starlight still feels her life is missing something. She sees music acts come in and out all of the time but still something is lacking. She confides in her younger sister Aja and her foster sister Shana. They begin reminiscing about their young school days and how they once were a band. She thinks about it hard and then asks them if they ever want to start it up again. They still have the instruments. For fun, they begin doing it and Jerrica wants more. She decides to take on an additional identity as JEM and the band follows. As she is the CEO of the company, she decides to rub some elbows and talks to some promoters she knows well.
They end up opening for The Misfits on a local tour. From the start, Pizzazz is a real jerk and dismisses them as Bubble-gum music. This continues concert after concert with The Misfits even poking fun of them with the audience. One day, Jem can’t help but notice Pizzazz’s boyfriend Rio who is very polite and sweet. She can’t understand why he would be with her.
Eric is a shareholder in Starlight and also works directly underneath Jerrica. He despises her as she thrwarted his advances before. Not to mention he her job. Jerrica knows she can’t trust him despite how nice he pretends to be.
During the tour, Jem sees Pizzazz cozying up to Eric who is planning a Starlight concert with the hottest bands. Jem leaves wondering if she should tell Rio as the feelings for him are growing and it seems he has feelings for her as well.
Meanwhile, Pizzazz offers Eric anything to get top billing and to sabotage The Holograms as she has noticed the crowd chanting for Jem more than for her own band. He agrees as long as she drops Rio and is with him. Besides by now, he suspects Jem is Jerrica and wants to expose her with the hopes he can get the position of CEO of Starlight. As a bonus, he’s always had a thing for Pizzazz and sticking it to goodie-goodie Rio, makes it all the better.
Pizzazz agrees to dump Rio but has no intention of doing so. She just decides she has to be careful and tells Rio that they can’t show any type of affection as her manager wants her to appear single to attract a more diversified audience including more men. He agrees not wanting to destroy her career and decides to leave the tour upon her prompting. This news saddens JEM as her talks with Rio have become more intimate. They say an emotional goodbye.
As Eric’s plan begins to flourish and all the TMZ style media is all over Jem to expose who she really is. They question her popularity and talent because of her links to Starlight and how she rubbed elbows to get the spotlight she was given. Jerrica is about to give up everything and crumbles as she thinks back to her band, Rio, the orphanage and Starlight. She has nothing to go on for…..until they appear. Her strength, her sisters, her band. The Holograms builds her back up and gets her ready to fight.
Now that Jem is known to the world as Jerrica it’s up to her to make sure the audience sees her capabilities and love for all that is music. She successfully explains herself at the Starlight concert as fans clap in support of her in the audience. The group starts playing to the dismay of The Misfits and Eric, but to wild cheers from the audience. The Misfits rant and rave but its not of any use and its far too late. All of Jerrica’s skeletons are out of the closet and the people still love her. They go to take the stage as the headlines, but are relentlessly booed as they too are revealed for their evil deeds including bribery, sabotage, and deceit. Rio who sits front row in the audience, hears it all and just shakes his head in disgust.
Eric is fired from Starlight but swears revenge. The Holograms celebrate their victory and Jerrica celebrates being a woman with everything. She remains the CEO of Starlight, volunteers at the orphanage, and still has time to rock out and make millions as the biggest act in the nation.
And as for Rio…..he sees Jem for who she is and decides he not only wants the whole package, but is in love with her.
Now that’s a movie about Jem I can get behind. As for the powers that be behind this trash, sirs and madams, I lived through and loved Jem and The Holograms, your movie is not Jem and the Holograms. Take your generic scripts that have been done 1 million times over again, and go screw.
