Why I still love Masters of the Universe

So, lately I have been on this gigantic Masters of the Universe kick.  I enjoyed He-Man and She-Ra growing up.  I never really saw the New Adventures of He-man when it came out, but I was able to watch it on YouTube not too long ago and quite enjoyed it.  When I got into college I loved the Mike Young Productions series.  A friend of mine called it an example of what American Anime was capable of at its best.  I agree with him on that to this day, the animation holds up and is absolutely gorgeous.  I've fluctuated a bit with how the comics have been handled since they came out, but overall I have enjoyed them, The Eternity War series has loads of potential that I can't wait to see explored. 

Starting with the 200x series, I also started to appreciate the sculpting and artistry of converting an animated character into an action figure.  With the Masters of the Universe Classics series, my appreciation for this has grown tremendously.  These action figures are gorgeous.  They really are works of art, and the story that has been built for these characters using their biographies is one I have found myself enjoying quite a bit.

But it's not the cartoons or the action figures that I think has me loving this series so much at this juncture.  Rather, I believe it's the two dominant concepts that the series consistently presents that I am still enjoying.  The first one is the idea in the title, Masters of the Universe.  The characters each act as epitome's have achieved mastery over something.  He-Man is the strongest man in the universe.  Beastman has mastery over beasts, Tri-clops over vision etc.  True the naming scheme is fairly simplistic a lot of the time, but it is a fun idea and employs a system of checks and balances that is a lot of fun from a story creation stand point (hey I did grow up playing with these characters after all).

But even more simplistic than the naming scheme of the characters is I think why I enjoy the series the most.  The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad.  The villains have depth to them, the idea that Skeletor is actually the rightful heir to the throne of Eternia is really enjoyable.  I love that we are seeing a family at war with itself as it adds a bit of personal interest to each engagement.  But at the same time, the villains remain villainous and the heroes heroic. 

We live in a world that seems to celebrate the grey areas of life.  We can no longer trust our leaders and the sources of information we have available to us seem less and less reliable.  Having a moral stance against anything is no longer acceptable, and adhering to certain standards casts us as elitist or oppressive.  We live in a world where we practically can't do anything without someone being offended or somehow socially irresponsible, and in this world, the lines between good and bad, light and dark, are often blurred.  We've taken the Star Wars approach of everything depending on a certain point of view to preposterous levels.  Forget about confusing, it's exhausting.

I think that's what I enjoy the most about this series, is the simple demonstrations of good and evil.  True, the good guys will team up with the villains to fight a greater threat, but at the end of the day the lines aren't crossed.  The villains come in various shapes and sizes.  The Evil Warriors, the Horde, the Snake-Men, none really likes the others, evil takes many forms in the universe.  Heroes may abandon their principles and become villains (Snake Man-at-Arms), while villains may choose to reject who they had been and become heroes (Force Captain Adora).  But a hero does what is right while a villain does not.  A hero looks out for others, a villain only for themselves.  A hero plays the long game, a villain looks at the short reward.

In the real world, doing the right thing can get messy.  Even knowing what the right thing to do is sometimes can become complicated.  We are all fallen and we are all going to mess up.  But simply screwing up is not the same thing as switching sides.  When we are redeemed, we are given a new nature.  We wage an internal war that actually might well resemble the struggles of these characters.  But at the same time, no matter how complicated things become, there remains a line.  One of the truths that we are given in the Bible is that "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:25)  We can't be both hero and villain, we ultimately will have to choose.  While the Masters of the Universe is not real, like all mythology it gives us a chance to experience the complex realities we are surrounded with in a way that gives us the opportunity to process the things we are grappling with.