He-Man & The Masters of the Universe

Truth is, He-Man & The Masters of the Universe was not a well written show. The animation was sketchy and the dialogue was cringe worthy. Yet, in the early 80s, the under 10 set could find no fault with this series which was originally intended to do nothing more than sell action figures.

But, there's something else there. Whenever someone who loved the show sees something that reminds them of it or happens to see an old episode, it's almost as if they're caught in a time-warp. Time starts backing up and pulling out of its present day parking lot.

When I think of He-Man, I don't think about the plots (can't really remember a one of them, to be honest) or something very poignant such as when I recall Yoda saying, "Do or do not. There is no try." in The Empire Strikes Back. What I remember is the taste of Nestle's Quik and how every viewing was almost always accompanied by it. I remember the smell of fresh cut grass teasing me from outside. I remember how all the kids on the street watched one or two shows after school before joining their friends once again outside where we would remain until the sky grew dark. I also remember how I was the only girl on the block that watched He-Man. A fact that weirded my guy-pals out more than anything else.

I also remember how I came to watch it. How the boy behind me in class said that I "couldn't because it was for boys." So, when I got home that day, I clicked the knob through the nine or so channels on the television until I found this boys only club and became a member myself. I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but for some reason, I did. Perhaps it was partly because I thought I wasn't supposed to.

When you're a kid not everything has to make sense. It either does or it doesn't, but neither you nor your friends could care less. Superman can fly and Santa Claus will always find you. It doesn't make sense, but no one cared. It's only when you get older that you begin to insist things make sense.

With He-Man, very little of it made any sense. Like a good dream, it was completely surreal and cheesy. And that's what was good about it. Because it was cheesy and it didn't make sense. It was purely the stuff of childhood - something we didn't realize back then that we would forever be grasping for in our adult life.

For children of the 80s, that's basically what He-Man is: a vehicle back to the days when nothing had to make sense and all you had to do was have fun and believe.