TNI Editorial: Hate To Break It To You But Being "WOKE" Has Always Been Part Of These Things We Call Ourselves Fans Of

Yesterday I got an email from Mattel's PR people letting me know about this new video they have posted which is a promotion for their new Sun-Man figure that is joining their Masters of the Universe line. A character which I had never heard of back in the 80's but think sounds very interesting and look forward to adding it to my collection.



Now it should come as no surprise that many of these action figure lines that started in the 80's had primarily tried to target the young white male demographic when they started, and it's that demographic who are now older that still very much support these lines by buying these things as collectibles. But that is a demographic that is only getting older and sooner or later is going to start aging out of the market. In other words these lines in order to continue, and maybe even thrive and grow need to find ways to tap into new targeted audiences, which often means looking towards demographics such as females and the growing minority populations of this country/world. If you are a business, you would be stupid to do otherwise.

So when you watch this new video put out by Mattel, I think it's pretty clear that is what they are trying to do, and I can't fault them for doing that. However, and I will say sadly couldn't help but think about all the negative comments I am inevitably going to end up reading on social media from certain collectors screaming things like how "Woke" this is, like that is somehow a bad thing. Even though the actual definition of the word "woke" is to alert to injustice in society, especially racism. Most who use it on the internet seem to use it to invoke an image of someone doing something bad. Like how dare you try and make your products more appealing to people with dark skin or females.

Some have tried to invoke the term "Woke" to tear down the recent Kevin Smith Masters of the Universe Revelation series simply because it put the female character Teela in a position of equal importance to the main character He-Man. Like OMG she shaved her hair, she must be a Lesbian now. Of course my thought is, who cares if she is?

Still when it comes to the whole "Woke" thing and those who always complain about it, I can't help but laugh. Mainly because many of these brands we cover here whether it be things like G.I. Joe, X-Men or Star Trek have always been "Woke".

While I am glad to see Mattel introduce Sun-Man to the world of MOTU, I can't help but say they are a little late to the party. I am sure Mattel's PR people aren't going to be happy I am bringing this up, but you only need to look at a line like Hasbro's G.I. Joe who was much more inclusive to females and minorities starting on day 1. Masters of the Universe I believe had one dark skin hero in the line with Clamp Champ, who wasn't introduced until around 1987, and then only barely used. I think I can recall maybe one episode of the original cartoon he appeared in. Mattel did a little better job on the female front having Teela and Sorceress there, though it was He-Man who always saved the day, at least until She-Ra came along. Still going back to Hasbro and G.I. Joe, you had from day 1 characters like Stalker and Doc who were soon joined by Roadblock and Alpine representing aspiring African Americans . For the female demographic you had Scarlet and Lady Jaye joined by Cover Girl, all of which where heavily featured in the cartoons and always treated as equals. You don't get much more "Woke" than G.I. Joe in the 80s who also featured Native Americans like Spirit and Airborne. Asian Americans like Quick Kick, Tunnel Rat and Jinx. Latin Americans like Zap, Shipwreck and Law. I probably missed some, but you get the idea. The G.I. Joe team was pretty all-inclusive.

While not as popular as MOTU or GI.Joe, Hasbro also had an action figure line with a cartoon tie-in in the late 80s that aired on CBS called C.O.P.S.. This show actually had a black hero who led an actual law enforcement team,

Don't even get me started on comics, they have always been "WOKE". Marvel's entire X-Men/Mutant mythos is based on the civil rights movement representing how an entire race of people were being discriminated against and abused for being "different". If you call yourself a X-Men fan and and find yourself complaining about "Wokeness" today, well I would say your not the brightest bulb in the box.

Star Trek has also always been Woke, being the first show to depict a white male kissing a black woman on national TV in the 60's or featuring LGBT based storylines in the 80s with TNG and DS9. Yet people today can't believe Star Trek Discovery features both a gay and transgender couple as part of it's main crew. Where the hell have you been and if that bothers you why the hell are you even watching Star Trek?

Yes as these things have become more socially acceptable in our society, companies are willing to be more blatant about their "Wokeness," but make no mistake that it's always been there in our modern culture, and frankly that is likely in large part how we as a society have managed to "albeit" slowly start to out grow our racial tendencies, though we still have a long way to go.