#i don't like this woman's vibe but that doesn't mean i should present a biased selection of primary sources

[birindale]

Mattel on the creation of She-Ra

Janice Varney-Hamlin, former Mattel Director of Worldwide Marketing Fashion Dolls, was interviewed in the 2021 book “The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”, regarding her involvement in the creation of the She-Ra line in collaboration with Filmation. This interview is reproduced below in its entirety, featuring references to Greek mythology, a red-haired Adora, and hypothetical virtual reality powers. Never a dull moment with this franchise

You were director of worldwide marketing for fashion dolls at Mattel during the 19802. What did the role entail?

It was everything, actually, the way Mattel was set up. The way we were organized, project management reported directly to marketing, and we had corresponding members of cost accounting, packaging, and legal. The people on my team were responsible for those aspects of the brand. It was sort of a category management role.

Can you tell me how the Princess of Power line started and what your role was in it?

It's interesting because when I first started at Mattel I was part time, and still in college. I ended up finally getting in there full time, and I reported to a guy named Jack Beuttell. He came from a P&G background and funded an attitudes and usage study for Barbie. So we learned about the brand and what Barbie could do. One of the gaps was that Barbie couldn't be an action hero, a mom, or a fantasy doll. We looked for opportunities to grow flanker brands. Competition always came for Barbie, but never lasted. When it left it created a vacuum in the market, and we would create more products and suck up all those dollars.

Did you look to He-Man for ideas to create this flanker brand?

Barbie had plateaued--she stayed at less than $100 million for years. That's why we fielded the study. Jill Barad was there. We couldn't quite get a line going because we couldn't get it past buyers, because buyers didn't believe that little girls would buy it.

We tried to do it on our own first, outside of He-Man. Then we determined we wanted to take a second attempt a few years later because there was a belief we should operate from strength, and what was our strongest action brand? It was He-Man.

The boys' side of things developed She-Ra, but she was underwhelming. So then the girls' marketing side took over and it was quite a political battle from there. We did a lot of research on it and came up with this character, this female doll. We came up with She-Ra as a way to tie in with He-Man. We gave her a war cry and transformation powers just like He-Man had. The important thing with She-Ra was that she not only had to look beautiful, but also be beautiful within.

I've heard that a big proportion of the kids who played with He-Man were girls? Did that drive the creation of the She-Ra line? [[note: ~40% of MOTU sales at the time]]

No, didn't drive it. We already had the research that said girls were interested in this type of thing. It just reinforced what we already knew.

How successful was She-Ra compared to Barbie and He-Man?

She performed like a flanker brand. She was important because her job was to create and deliver on new play patterns for girls. We didn't expect her to outperform He-Man or Barbie. It was a nice flanker brand for girls to do role play and hair play. The sales volume didn't compare but we were pleasantly surprised with how well she performed.

All the female characters had to have fashion play and hair play elements, as well as some kind of feature. Catra had a claw. She-Ra had a costume change and a sword. She-Ra's horse had a transformation capability.

I've heard that early models for She-Ra were based on Teela. Is that true?

Yes. The misstep there was Teela was part of He-Man's world, which was rightful, but she had no characteristic features that appealed to traditional doll play, like rooted hair and clothing. She also lacked the transformation, the traditional world of role play. When She-Ra transformed she became superpowerful [sic]. She was empowered and she empowered others.

The marketing behind the He-Man line was all about empowerment for young kids, who often felt powerless in their relationships with adults: "I have the power." What was the driving theme behind She-Ra?

I think it was empowerment, and also making the world a better place for those around her. She took care of animals and people. She was a nurturer.

To your earlier point, Barbie wasn't either of those things.

Exactly. I was a lit major, there was this literary book called Bulfinch's Mythology [[note: this was written in 1867 expressly to unite Greco-Roman myth with contemporary (that is to say, Victorian) English literature. If you love expurgation and the British Empire it may just be the book for you]]. It covers archetypes through Roman and Greek mythology. A lot of our characters were modeled after those gods and goddesses, like Athena and Venus. Those were the inspirations. Even She-Ra herself looks like what you might imagine Athena to look like. That or Venus.

The original renderings for She-Ra had red hair, but it didn't test well for little girls.

In many ways She-Ra was ahead of her time and served as a strong, action-oriented role model for young girls. How do you think She-Ra fits into the world of today?

I think she's a good fit. I think she fits right in. I'm completely amazed with how mesmerizing she was. She has really maintained her original characteristics and inspiration. It's classic. Just like the mythical characters we emulated.

She stands for a lot of goodness. We took great strides to make sure that happened. Even in the research we did, we discovered that it was really important to young girls that She-Ra was a good person and did the right thing.

Every generation has notions of violence. That was played back to us by kids. Even with her enemies like Catra, she may try to scratch you or be mean to you. But little girls would still feel Catra should be forgiven. It was never a fight to the death.

Do you have any fun stories from your time on the brand?

When we did the press event in New York, we hired a model who rode on a white horse down the middle of the street; she actually rode bareback down the street with her entourage of people dressed as the characters. We went to a hotel, and Andy Warhol showed up at the press event. He invited us to his club for the evening. He thought it was the most amazing thing, and he loved the costumes. Apparently he had read about the press event that day and just showed up.

What was your personal favorite character?

I would say She-Ra was my number one and Catra was my number two. Actually, I would say probably her horse as well. She-Ra, Swift Wind, and Catra, in that order.

It was really a fun line to work on because you're making the stuff up in your head. There was another person I worked with, Cathy Larson, who was incredibly creative. I just really liked working with her. We came up with all these things. She was in the sales department, and I brought her in halfway through. We would just make up the story line and characters.

With something like She-Ra, you get to swing out creatively. With Barbie there were a lot of guidelines, and standards. We had some pretty fun meetings about She-Ra. Going from Barbie meetings to She-Ra meetings, it was a totally different attitude, more creative and more fun.

What about the Evil Horde? How did that come into the picture?

We were great toy designers, but that did not mean we could produce a great TV series. There were certain things we didn't get about the entertainment industry. One of the areas to bridge the gap between He-Man's and She-Ra's world was to infiltrate characters that weren't in our product line. When story lines from the cartoon came back, they were completely different from storybooks we were developing at Mattel. We had to make the two come together. We didn't want three different story lines for the same thing. That was one of the things, to have cross over characters that appeared in both places.

There was a lot of resistance to that, more on the boys' side. They had more restrictions too, and we were more or less an open book.

What can you tell me about the She-Ra cartoon?

We knew there had to be an animated series for the brand. There weren't a lot of strong female characters in cartoons at the time that had these abilities. Maybe a few, like Supergirl and Wonder Woman, were predecessors. But in terms of integrating her into He-Man's world, it was really important. We lucked out, we met with Lou Scheimer at Filmation.

So how did the She-Ra line come to an end?

There were two different challenges. First, She-Ra sales were slowing. The second problem was we shipped to much product into the marketplace. This was over my pay grade, but we would ship product based on what retail would buy, not on what would sell through. That creates a problem going to next year. If there's too much inventory left over, it creates the sense that the toy line isn't successful. At the end of year two that happened. Something similar happened in He-Man--they overproliferated [sic] characters that didn't even make sense.

What did you do after She-Ra ended?

I went and worked on other products because I was able to grow the Barbie business. It had been stagnant for twelve years. Jack Beuttell and I were able to introduce secondary dolls, more new dolls each year, to create synergy and new roles for Barbie. For example, we put out Golden Dreams Barbie, with a golden convertible, coordinated outfit, golden make-up, and we would advertise everything in one commercial. That created a halo effect which would sell the whole thing. Jack came up with that, and after he left I continued it.

If you could do She-Ra, how would you approach it this time?

I'd make her more modern. Her powers would have to do with AI and virtual reality. She would be in the modern era. I would retainn certain aspects of her. It would be traditional but also embrace technology in an exciting way and in a global way. It would be incredibly inclusive with world cultures.

Anything else?

I think She-Ra's a classic. I used to think, "Why do people want to talk about this?" It's because She-Ra is an empowered, self-confident woman. She empowers other people to be confident and do the right thing. One thousand years from now that will still be an important characteristic to have. Regardless of your background, do the right thing. I hope that's what she stands for; that's what she was designed to do.

[macgyverseries]

rebutting and debunking frequently used arguments against macriley

I made this 10-page google doc rant a while ago, but I never ended up posting it. Today, however, I woke up and chose violence. So here it is: my thoughts on frequently used arguments against macriley.

I took some quotes and arguments that people put online (reddit, tumblr..), and I debunked them all :p I feel like I always see the same arguments all the time, and I’m honestly getting a little tired of hearing them. I’m here to settle this once and for all.

and yes, i did manage to cut down the google doc by 3 pages :D (but it's still long af so rip my brain)

1.”Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father”

I can (mostly) get behind the argument that Mac and Riley shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship because of their super strong friendship. Some people really value that sole platonicness, and I get that.

But the argument that I can’t get behind is that: Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father figure”

If you google the definition of “father,” the first result that comes up is: “a man in relation to his children.”

Now, Jack was definitely the father figure to Riley, and I would consider her his child. He raised her. He helped shape her ideals and upbringing.

Mac only met Jack when he left MIT. So it was pretty much after Mac was raised (by Bozer’s parents haha), that Jack really came into his life. Mac already became his own person. (also, I always saw Mac and Jack as more of a bromance)

So because Riley and Mac met Jack at different periods of their lives, and they were raised differently, I wouldn’t say that they were siblings who were raised by the same father.

2. “The show writers left the impression that there was a huge age gap between them”

I understand this a little. I do think Riley was introduced as pretty young and idk naive? Because she was literally in highschool, and then she went to prison, and then she got released into the wild. Personally, when I started watching the show, I googled the whole cast. So I started the show knowing that they were the same age.

And also, the more I got to know Riley, the more that I thought that Riley was more mature and had an old soul herself. I think it was because she was just a dynamic and round character, who is well-developed.

But, I get first impressions. I feel like once you get stuck on an impression, it’s hard to go away from that.

Also, Jack would’ve totally shipped macriley, and you can’t change my mind.

3. "Riley isn't ready for a relationship"

I honestly think that this argument should be more geared towards Mac. He needs to figure himself out and go to therapy ffs. However, this person targeted Riley (the literal queen), so I shall defend her:

I understand wanting Riley to take some time off, and figure herself out before going straight into another relationship with someone. But here’s the thing. Throughout the first few seasons Riley’s character was very well established, and she didn’t have any partners during that time. She has proven that she is a strong, well-rounded, independent woman (with or without a partner). So i think it is valid to say that she isn’t just some girl who only has boy toys. She is much more than that.

My next point is that Riley has made it clear that she wants a lasting relationship with someone who will support her. When talking with Mac in 4.04, we see her express her interest in a stable, healthy relationship. It’s not wrong to go out and look for that potential partner. This applies to everyone (not just fictional characters): It’s going to take a few relationships and self-discovery, to find a good relationship, and people shouldn’t be shamed for searching for that.

Riley has only ever had two major boyfriends that I remember. First was Billy; she took that relationship very seriously. She really did seem happy with him. It was a shame that he cheated on her. Second was Aubrey. She also took that relationship very seriously. She had been living with him for six months (and they even had the cutest date nights!) So I wouldn't say that Riley only has boy toys. She has meaningful relationships.

Lastly, I think this was written when season four started airing, but it’s been over a year (and a pandemic) since Riley has dated. I think enough time has passed.

*4. I had to split this one up because, oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here.

4a. “If that was the direction they’d chosen to take with that relationship from square one… My issue with it is that Mac and Riley were presented to us as friends/ found siblings for three years. There were NO romantic vibes to speak of between them..”

I actually felt the same way about macriley. The thought of them being together in season one, made me want to throw up. I don’t think the writers intended on having macriley, and I was perfectly fine with that.

I know that people look for different things when they ship. Some really like having instant gratification with the spicy, hot, sexy parts of a relationship, like macdesi (which is why I was fine with the idea of shipping macdesi in the past).

I always wanted to see macriley do more: have hot, flirtatious banters/interactions. it can be hard to ship people who seem to be missing that part of the love equation. So i agree. It's definitely strange. And I understand if you genuinely have a hard time seeing the romantic potential of macriley, when the writers have only dragged out and shown us the platonic potential of them.

Also, the reason why it is difficult to see macriley as romantic, was because they ALWAYS PRIORITIZED AND WERE DRIVEN on their friendship. A partner should be friends first, and then makeout buddies second.

But just because people start off as friends, doesn’t mean that they still don’t have that potential to be lovers. Because guess what?! Feelings change. It’s now canon that Riley has feelings for Mac, and Mac always had feelings for Riley (but never acted on it).

I'm sorry, but you like a boomer when you say “bAcK iN mY dAy, tHeY dIdN’t HaVe fEeLiNgS fOr EaCh oThEr.” like okaAAAyyYYyYY????? We are not “back in your day” anymore. We are in the present. We are in today. And today, macriley is real :)

4b. “There’s the incredibly tired trope where long-term coworkers suddenly catch feelings for each other out of nowhere”

Personally, I will never get tired of the friends to lovers trope. I think the fact that Mac and Riley had such a strong friendship and foundation is what makes them perfect. Again, I know that some people just like instant gratification, but I love when a couple can take their time to have depth, emotion, and realness in their relationship.

Obviously I am biased because I have so much love for this trope, it's my favorite trope, but I don't see why you would use the “it’s overused” as reasoning to hate a ship. Just because a trope is used a lot, doesn’t mean it is bad (that’s probably why it is so good lmao). I can understand getting tired of it, and growing a dislike towards a trope. For example, I have grown an extreme dislike towards the love triangle.

A bit of a tangent: But the difference between overusing love triangles and overusing friends to lovers, is that love triangles aren’t just commonly used tropes. They are cliches. They cause unwanted drama and unnecessary hurt to one character. Whereas friends to lovers doesn’t involve as much drama and pain for a character. It is more of just angst between two people. And we know that they will get together eventually with a happy ending. So it was never really problematic.

And even then, the great thing about overusing or utilizing tropes, is that they can act as a guide. It allows the show writers and cast to make it personal, make it their own, adding their own special flair to it

I just don’t see the “this trope is used a lot” as a valid reasoning for disliking a ship .It just seems like this commenter doesn’t like the friends to lovers trope for the sake of not liking it.

I could be very wrong in my assumption of this person’s thoughts on friends to lovers, maybe there is a deeper reasoning as to why they don’t like it, but the tone that i interpreted when i read this section, was that they don’t have a real reason to dislike it, it’s more of just because.

4c.“then there's the fact that Riley had a mostly single Mac in her life for 3-4 years and she never even considered him romantically until he was with someone else”

First: Riley didn’t CHOOSE to fall in love. You may recall that “emotions aren’t a science. You can’t control them.”

Second: Mac was broken up with Desi when she caught feelings for him. Plus, the moment Riley saw that Mac and Desi were getting happy together, she moved out and gave them space. She sacrificed her own feelings for his happiness, despite the fact that her heart was breaking.

4d. “and finally, Mac not only still doesn't seem to even have Riley on his radar in that way but he literally told another woman that he loves her just last week. Neither of them look particularly good here if they get together now.”

I'm assuming that this was written when 4.12 first aired. I'm also assuming that this comment was more directed towards the idea of Mac and Riley getting together immediately at the end of the season, rather than later down the road. I always saw of macriley as more of endgame material. That i would see them get together sometime in the future. So I agree. Macriley getting together during that time period, would be too rushed and unsatisfying.

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So those were most of the supposed arguments that I saw for people who were against macriley, but I also wanted to provide some really good examples of people who were very respectable, and actually had valid reasoning for disliking them.

1. they just don’t like shipping in general

Ships can be annoying af. Seeing people ONLY focus on the ships is sometimes tiring. I, myself, even feel a little guilty making this post, because I need to chill and mind my own business lmaooo. I really should let people do whatever they want to do with their lives, and not get caught up in the ships, but here I am :p

Anyways, I know that there is a lot of unnecessary drama that comes with shipping, and it's tiring to see people constantly go on and on about romance, when there are other perfect things about the show.

2. No matter how hard they try, they just feel it.

This is literally so dumb (and a little hypocritical/self-contradictory), but if you have a gut feeling, and you just can’t get yourself to ship it, I get it. If you truly and genuinely believe that they are best platonic friends, I can't change your opinion. And I have respect for you (if you say it in a kind manner).

Here is a nice example of a person who expressed their opinion in a nice way, with no BS.

So the moral of the story: I can't control your deepest thoughts. I can't control your gut feelings. And that’s okay. But the moment that you start backing up your thoughts and insights with BS reasoning, is the moment that I lose respect for you.