I was never into He-Man has a child or teenager. It wasn’t big where I grew up (outside North America).
So when the Kevin Smith directed Masters of the Universe showed up on Netflix, I had no idea what it was (yes, I know who Kevin Smith is).
There are hundreds of reasons why I absolutely loved this show, but there is one really big one.
But, let’s back up a bit…
Like most people, I really struggled with empowerment. I don’t blame myself, or anyone else for that matter. The way I see it, we all inherited a world where we are taught a lot of weird things about power.
Like, it comes from external sources - money, jobs, status, titles.
Or, that the only way to be powerful is to take it from others. This is what is sometimes called (by me), the ‘Power-Over’ mentality.
We are not taught about power within and what inner empowerment and radiance looks and feels like. Often, our natural gifts and abilities aren’t encouraged or honed, which doesn’t help either. Most of us have to learn, as adults, how to lovingly and responsibly wield our newly realized power, towards our dreams and illuminations; giving care to not power our distortions in moments of pain or anger.
That I have an inner power, a voice and a choice was absolutely news to me. When I first realized it, it took me years to believe it, and years still to actually allow myself to be who I am, from that place. And then some more years to behold others in this way - whether they saw it or not.
Back to Masters of the Universe
So, here’s me having gone through my big little journey around power some for years, now sitting on my couch watching Masters of the Universe, on Netflix on a random Thursday.
Then comes this part, when one of the characters mid-battle, has to surrender who she thinks she is (a warrior) and descend into something uncertain and watery (actually watery, like a lake but without a bottom).
This isn’t easy for her, as she has to battle with a sense of abandonment, resentment and ideas around lack of freedom that closely tied into her family. So, there’s a lot of emotion and tension around this moment for her, but she finally does, in her own way, and as she descends, she becomes something else entirely.
She is still herself, but… more herself and more connected to what gives her power. In this case - those she loves. She is shown to see, know and realize things, and as she rises out, she says:
‘We have the power’
(For those unfamiliar, ‘I have the power’ is apparently something He-Man says in the cartoon a lot. Again, this was my first time watching anything He-Man and friends)
Our character, now fresh from her watery transformation barely takes two steps when she is thrown back into battle with an incredibly powerful (evil) witch.
The battle ends in victory, And this was where I had to pause again, and commence sobbing 2.0.
Victory here was not from a power-over place.
We get to see this character actually live and act out her transformation by repeatedly and fiercely showing the “evil” witch the root of her suffering, while battling in a very physical way.
My description is vague, because if you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to ruin it.
If you have seen it, perhaps you remember this part.
I don’t think they say it obviously in the show, but the sense I got from these scenes was that our transformed character had to accept and face her pains and points of tension and anger, and because she did, she was able to recognize it in the ‘evil’ witch she battled.
I think I loved this part the most, because in my head, I had to redefine what the word Victory meant.
To me, it no longer means one person winning over another, but rather, when we all have our power, we are all illuminated for it together.
That illumination is victory worth celebrating. Huzzah!
I also loved, that because it wasn’t a power-over dynamic, the whole labelling of something as good and evil didn’t really hold with these two characters. This was great, because they were richly layered through the whole series.
So we get to see two power-house characters battle viciously, while also witnessing how the compassion and understanding of one overrides the pain of abuse and abandonment of the other. Like… what!?!?
This, and way more, is totally not what I thought He-Man and Masters of the Universe would be about.
I was absolutely and tearfully delighted!
Thank you Jakub Novacek for the image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/time-lapse-photo-of-stars-on-night-924824/