No one tells the girls to save the day. All the townspeople, including the professor, are frightened wimps who are only out for themselves. The girls have to decide as a group whether to help. Instead of being too good to be true, they struggle with the decision like normal kids.
But for all the unspoken lessons in ethics, the movie and the TV show avoid the heavy-handed morality of other children's fare, and this subtlety may be another reason the girls have become a symbol for some adult fans. One of Groucho Marx's most memorable quips might be rewritten for our times as, "I wouldn't belong to any target demographic that would have me as a member." Despite the tendency of marketing executives to see the world through the haze of peer-group goggles, real human beings dislike being lumped into categories. Thus, the absence of Powerpuff T-shirts and movie posters that say, "Girls Rule!" or "Girls Kick Ass!" may be a testament to both the wisdom and the self-restraint of the franchise.
Of course it makes complete sense in a world without gender-role stereotypes that these superheroes never tout their appeal as females or decry the unfairness of being girls. Why should they, when their daddy is a mommy, their boss is their boss's female secretary, and their foes are always, ultimately, conquerable without the help of outside forces? That our heroes' girl-ness is beside the point might just be the most revolutionary aspect of the show.
In some ways, these likable squeeze toys have pulled off the ultimate branding feat: They represent girl power without having to mention it. Given a recent Gallup poll that found that only 25 percent of women today consider themselves feminists, the Powerpuff Girls may reflect a shift from embracing political and social labels to choosing between carefully packaged products that have ideologies encoded deep within their shiny exteriors.
Firmly held beliefs are naturally rife with stigmas, awkward internal contradictions, and ideological pitfalls. But in a branded universe, such beliefs are reduced to unspoken preferences, revealed only when the light is shining directly on them -- and even then, they sparkle as subtly as body glitter. Why take on a political label when you can wear a cool-looking T-shirt that says the same thing, but without any of the negative associations? Is she a feminist? Oh, no! She just loves those Powerpuff Girls!
Can a new generation of gender-blind Powerpuffs conquer inequality simply by optimistically refusing to recognize its existence? For many girls today, this approach seems to work. They don't cry out against inequality; they simply take for granted that the world will treat them fairly -- and in some cases the world seems to follow suit. "Of course I should be able to play football, or wrestle," they tell us nonchalantly, as if suggesting otherwise is downright absurd -- and it is, isn't it? A lot of boys seem to agree. (McCracken is one of them.) Power isn't something that many women feel they should have to struggle for. And for them, dressing sexily or behaving cute is beside the point -- those things should enhance their personal power, not diminish it.
It's tough to disagree with such a refreshingly self-actualized approach, particularly since it eliminates the need to put a male face on oppression. Perhaps assuming that justice will prevail is the quickest route to achieving justice. Still, with the rise of the sexy heroine in movies like "Tomb Raider" and "Enough" and TV shows like "Alias," "Dark Angel" and "She Spies," the more salient question for budding feminists may not be whether it's acceptable to be powerful and pretty at the same time, but whether being powerful without being pretty is even an option.
When Janet Reno's appearance garners more sniping than her policies, and Britney Spears' looks get more glowing reviews than her songs, it's difficult to see how real power in the absence of beauty could ever be enticing to a new generation of girls, even with the help of the Powerpuffs. Power that depends on beauty may remain forever in the eye -- and in the hands -- of the beholder.
Still, the real impact of "The Powerpuff Girls" may lie in its unrelenting focus on giddy fun for the sake of fun, its hints of a new era of popular art that plays with gender instead of struggling under the weight of it, thereby creating an imaginary world as appealing as it is unbound by archaic stereotypes.
About the writer
Heather Havrilesky created the cartoon Filler with illustrator Terry Colon. She's a regular contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered," maintains the rabbit blog and is writing a novel.
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