Two years later and the toxic element of the MOTU fandom still vituperate Masters of The Universe Revelation . Even with the release of Masters of the Universe Revolution the toxic section of the fandom just was a obnoxious. A portion of online reviewers and critics like to induce culture war narratives to get a boost on the algorithm. Part grift and rants most of these videos do not offer legitimate criticism. There are problems with the series. Pacing can be off and feels truncated . The show has too few episodes. At our protagonists seem out of character. These are some fair criticism of this version of MOTU animated series. What is not legitimate criticism is hatred of Kevin Smith or accusations of wokeness. The most ludicrous criticism is about Teela’s character design. Culture warrior critics claimed that Teela’s body was masculine. Some made a pitiful attempt at “comedy. ” A misogynistic MOTU fan created a video attempting to joke about Teela’s fit character design.
Many of these culture warriors do not understand how to be funny. Maybe that is not the intent. Sexism or anti-woman sentiment can be disguised easily in a Youtube video. The bigger joke is complaining about the animation and character designs of Powerhouse Animation Studios. Powerhouse has gained prominence for its quality. The MOTU designs are great and the backgrounds are stunning. Saying the animation is awful, would be a mendacity. The muscular physique on Teela makes sense considering her home and occupation.
Teela was Captain of the Guard, promoted to Man-at-Arms, and is now the sorceress of Castle Grayskull . The character is a warrior woman archetype. Wonder Woman is an example of this . She was called in the action figure line ” the warrior goddess.” Seeing as she has a military career this involves a degree of fitness. Soldiers train to meet the demands of combat. This also involves fighting with weapons. Teela fights with a sword or staff. Muscles on women should not be seen as a shock in a He-Man cartoon. This is an action packed fantasy adventure show.
He-Man was modeled after an athletic male physique. Teela having a muscular woman’s physique should be the standard. Teela should have more muscular in the 2021 series.
Teela’s design is not that exaggerated. Looking at the 1983 series Teela and She-Ra were not muscular enough. It makes more sense for She-Ra to be fit looking. She is He-Man’s sister after all. Teela was literally bathing in magic and did not get more muscular. Which does not make sense seeing as magic turns Adam into the strongest man in the universe. The dual transformation in Revolution was more perplexing. Adam was using the sword on himself and Teela, but she just got a costume change. The only explanation was that the three magics had to be stabilized and therefore some magic had to be distributed. Under a regular circumstance Teela would have gained a more muscular form. This happened with Evil Lyn when she used the sword to become sorceress-champion. The Tri-sorceress form is not a bad look. The only flaw is she did not get Evil-Lyn’s level of physique. Kevin Smith did say there were not plans to have Teela use the power sword. This was in response to fans accusing him of making a Teela show. Smith’s response was that he would have liked to have these suggestions when writing scripts. Teela’s a warrior so she should look the part. There is a possibility she would get another form. Producers stated that character designs are action figure based. There are also references to the 1987 movie and the CGI show in He-Man’s new form. Battleground Teela could make an appearance in season 3. If reasoning is correct, this form would make Teela closer to if she were a champion. Teela, like Adam has gone through multiple power-ups. More would certainly would be coming. Teela has been a warrior woman in every iteration of MOTU.
Eternia is a place of monsters and musclebound villains . It also is under threat by the Horde. Having a fit looking Teela would not be out of place. She has a military background and lives in a hostile environment. Eternia is a place of turbulence . This would produce a tough fighter. Thank goodness Teela became the sorceress before Hordak invaded. Teela’s body is not unrealistic. This was a complaint made by detractors. One would have to disregard all the female athletes that have muscular bodies. Then you would have to ignore comics or cartoons. Korra was shown to be fit and Wonder Woman has been given a muscular build in DC comics.
Warrior women in fantasy tend to be depicted as fit. Teela follows the same tradition. The design notes state Teela has muscle definition. The uniform change to a shirt rather than the leotard was pointless. He-Man has a less practical uniform.
There was a stage were the conversation became transphobic. Teela looks nothing like a man. The vituperation is commonly directed at female athletes or fitness enthusiasts. Misogynistic MOTU fans just all repeated the same arguments. Body shaming a cartoon character is ludicrous. Having a criticism of the animation and art is legitimate. The show has higher quality animation than the Filmation series. Teela’s bounty hunter design was off. Her hairstyle was closer to cyberpunk, which would not be present in MOTU. Her first uniform changes the original. She wears a longer skirt instead of the shorter leotard. The sketch from the artbook calls it “a more practical uniform.” It seems as if animators are afraid of showing Teela’s legs. He-Man basically is in a loincloth and a chest plate. That is not practical at all. The change to a skirt was unnecessary. This costume change deserves more criticism than Teela’s body type.
Women compete in MMA and play football. Women’s football does not get much exposure. Teela is not built like a male linebacker. He-Man is closer to Mr. Olympia or a linebacker. Either these critics have vision problems or like to exaggerate. Listening to them, they make it sound as if animators put Teela’s head on He-Man’s body. The criticism is rooted in the idea all women should look the same. If a character does not fit their idea of beauty , then they are mannish. Compare He-man to a real life female football player or MMA fighter they are still dainty. Teela does not have a body type of a man. She would be closer to a women’s physique bodybuilder or Olympic track athlete.
Compare female football players and MMA fighters to Teela. Her character design is not exaggerated. The online critics got triggered by the image of athletic women’s physiques.
An entitled attitude disregards the artists . Character designers and animators need to be creative. Doing the same designs over would become dull. The great development is that the athletic woman’s physique is being depicted. The online backlash to the show was uncalled for. Muscular women appearing in an action cartoon does not make it woke. The woke spotting got so prevalent some implied that Teela and Andra were going to be a couple. Every MOTU fans knows that Adam and Teela are in love across all iterations of the franchise. That is the most constant element, besides Skeletor being evil. Then the woke spotters claimed either Teela or Andra would be the new champion. This was wrong too. Adam left Preternia to be with Teela and save Eternia. Rather than accepting the throne, he chose to be the champion. The bad faith criticism is not interested in facts.
Teela was not deprived of flaws or femininity. Her flaws were obvious. Teela’s first mistake was to isolate herself from her family. She does not speak with Duncan and she resigns from her Man-At-Arms post. When asked to restore the magic, she was hesitant. Her reaction to Adam was rude in Preternia. Anger gets the best of her. This is a major flaw. As femininity is concerned she has make-up on. Teela has lipstick and make-up on. I guess a gal has to look her best going into battle. Femininity is not relevant to the discussion. Teela by definition is not a Mary Sue. She is not invincible or perfect. Then some of her choices are questionable.
Teela’s first flaw was isolating herself from family. Then working with their former adversaries. Eventually she rectified this.
Trusting Evil Lyn was a mistake considering the last two episodes of season one. Letting Evil Lyn and Beastman into Castle Grayskull was an error as well. So, Teela was not perfect. Sometimes one has to question if detractors are even watching the series. All their demands could be met and they would still complain. The description of “vulnerable and virtuous” comes off as coded language. The ideal female character is not strong or proactive in their eyes. They want a female character that is either eye candy, a prop, or prize for the male protagonist. The strong female character is not one paradigm. It has evolved through various forms of media.
The female characters in the video would have the same rage directed at them, if they were created today. Wonder Woman was literally created to be a symbol of women’s rights. Xena warrior princess shares more similarities with Teela. Ripley from the Aliens films. Woke spotters would have probably called Sarah Conner a Mary Sue if social media existed back in 1991. Teela did have help from men in the series. This came from her father, Roboto, Orko, and Beastman. That does not make women or men weak asking assistance from the opposite sex. Both He-Man and Teela help one another. Their love is as strong as the power itself. There are better reasons to have problems with the series. A low number of episodes truncates stories. Some of our heroes behave out of character. Complaining about a muscular woman in a cartoon is not a legitimate criticism. Apparently, someone did not watch the PSAs at the end of the 1983 episodes. A new MOTU film is in the works and the toyline is going strong. Hopefully, a follow up to Revolution will follow. Mattel should not pay attention to the minority of misogynistic MOTU fans.