Between 1985 and 1988, Jem and the Holograms bridged the gap between 80s rock and roll and cartoons. Not to mention the killer theme song. Today, Jem and the Holograms’ legacy is kept alive by fans who remember waking up on a Saturday morning to watch one of the true 80s classics.
‘Jem and the Holograms’ Alive Today Thanks To Fans
“By day, Jennifer Turner works in law enforcement in Vancouver. But on this particular late August weekend, she’s in Cleveland, attending JemCon, an annual gathering for devotees of the colorful Eighties cartoon Jem and the Holograms,” according to RollingStone.
“Turner’s fandom runs deep. She grew up with a single father who supported her love for all things Jem. One Christmas, she woke up to find he had bought her every single Jem-related doll available at the time; other times, he would set an alarm and wake her up early so she could watch the show before school.”
Of all of the 80s cartoons that have maintained a strong fandom over three decades, Jem and the Holograms doesn’t seem like one of the standouts. However, the show had garnered somewhat of a cult following and even continues to do so today. The colorful and flashy art displayed throughout the cartoons screamed 80s and well, folks are still loving it today.
“‘It was such an escape, and so different from the regular narratives that you had about mom and dad,’ Turner says of the cartoon, which follows the adventures of a philanthropic-minded orphan named Jerrica — proprietor of an orphanage for teenage girls, the Starlight House — who has a rock-star secret identity/alter-ego, Jem,” according to the report.
“I think I identified a little bit with Jem losing her parents.”
Relating to and dealing with tragedy is not easy, especially at a young age. Jem and the Holograms seemed to help plenty of children like Turner and for that, the show and character’s legacy will continue to live on. To read the entire RollingStone piece, click here.
