Season Two: Exploring A PRESIDENTIAL DILEMMA
Britrock website copyright EA Woolley
A PRESIDENTIAL DILEMMA
I have to tread carefully here, because this episode to me is full of ironies
and inconsistancies and the last thing I want to do is cause any offence
to people with my analysis :) First of all I have a small disclaimer - I
am a British citizen and don't pretend to understand how the complexities
of American culture, custom and government work. All I can do is analyse
things as I see them, and hope that noone thinks I'm anti-American by the
end of it! (For the record, I'm not *grins* I have plenty of American friends
and I seem to spend my life buying from there as it is!!)
Ok, with that little technicality out of the way - this is the most contradictory
episode in the entirety of the Jem run. I can't make out if the writing
team were trying to make a funny episode here, whether they were making
a subversive political comment or whether they seriously did not see the
irony in what they were producing.
This episode focuses in on the President of the USA, on Jem and on the
Holos being called to perform in Washington DC for him and the First Lady.
If that's a believable starting point...well. Let's see where we end up,
huh?
TIGHT SECURITY?
Let's start right at the beginning, with Mr "Men in Black" as captured
at the top of the screen. Bringing a telegram from the White House to Jem
and the Holograms is a slightly unbelievable thing to happen, let's face
it. But the thing which startles me is the laxity of security throughout
the whole of this episode, considering what it's supposed to be about! This
opening scene is a typical example - the bringer of the telegram says to
Kimber that he can only deliver the letter to Jem herself...yet when Jem
magically appears and identifies herself, he does not ask her for any form
of ID (what form of ID could Jem have, incidentally? Interesting off-shoot
train of thought there!). He just gives her the telegram and leaves. First
security blooper.
The next security lapse occurs in DC itself. Jem is there, inspecting the
set for the concert, when the security measures in place for the President
interfere with Synergy's transmission and bam, Jem is suddenly Jerrica again.
When challenged as to why she's there, Jerrica merely explains that Jem
had to leave but that she's her business agent, Jerrica Benton. Again, nobody
asks her for identification -they accept her at her word.
The infamous moment in this episode where security is at stake (aside from
the kidnap, I will get to that), is with the Misfits gatecrashing congress.
It's fairly clear to me that the Misfits are pretty tough young ladies and
that they take some dissuading, but that they could force their way inside
congress and play a whole song before being evicted...? Someone could've
blown up the whole of the building by this time! If they'd brought Techrat
along, maybe he could have? (Interesting side point number two coming up
- Pizzazz asks if the Misfits "get the vote" of the senate. Is this a sign
that Pizzazz actually has SOME minor respect for the popularity contest that
is politics? Maybe?)
And then of course we come to the kidnap. A nutcase is running around America
stealing national treasures (we don't need to highlight that that takes
some pretty lax security on it;s own, do we?) Then suddenly he manages to
appear and abduct the president in full view of his aides and the Holograms.
Yet the only one who does a blind thing about it is Jerrica, gripping hold
of the kidnapper's vehicle as if for her life. Would it perhaps not make
sense for the President to hire Jerrica as his security guard, since noone
else seems to give a damn??
And then, the ultimate irony kicks in. Despite all of the above lapses
in security, when the other Holograms need to rescue Synergy in order to
help Jerrica, there are security people everywhere! Swarming all over the
joint, even! Am I the only one who finds this a touch amusing??
SYNERGY and THE CONCEPT OF "FREEDOM".
This is something else that confuses me very much in this episode. The
Misfits spy on Jem and the Holograms and see them loading Synergy into a
truck of some sort. They hear Jerrica saying that they have to be careful
with the equipment because it's vital to their show and they get the idea
of having government officials tow it all away for investigative purposes.
Brainwave on the part of the Misfits, but then, of course, Jem and the Holograms
have no act and Jerrica has to petition the President himself to get her
computer back, even having to reveal to him her identity. Having already
covered the issue of "security", I find it ironic that Synergy is such a
lethal threat, if the Holograms are the President's guests (unlike the Misfits
who just barge in unannounced, as ever!). But the ultimate irony in this
episode is the song at the end. Synergy BELONGS TO Jerrica. Yet in order
to get her back, Jerrica has to risk her secret with the President. The confiscation
also almost costs both the President and Jerrica dear, because it's Synergy's
holograms who save the day in the end, too. So, in light of all of this,
why in HECK is the final song for this episode called Freedom? Anything "less"
free than this episode would be fairly hard to imagine. Property taken without
notice or permission, the threat to Jem - and to the WHOLE of America should
the secret become exposed...and yet the song at the end of the show is all
about how you can do what you like because you're free?
All I can think of is that the scriptwriters for the episode and the song
writers were not reading from the same page.
Getting away from political correctness, and the ironies of the plot and
song for a moment, let's take a look at Synergy in this episode. It's an interesting
concept to combine Synergy (a machine who essentially is owned by Jerrica
and runs to her orders) with the idea of freedom, but this is one of the
episodes where Synergy's free will does come across. When the government
officials first start to take Synergy to pieces, she does everything she
can to continue projecting holograms - not just to help the Holograms but
to help herself. And I'd like to think that the Holograms come to rescue her
not because without her there is no act, but because she is a loyal friend
whose life and very existance is put in jeopardy by her abduction. To be honest,
I can't be sure which is their true motive, but I'd like to believe Synergy's
absolute loyalty to Jerrica and her friends is being repaid.
AMERICA'S NATIONAL TREASURE
Now, I actually think this is a clever twist in the plot. Some nutcase is
stealing America's national treasures, such as Lincoln's cane and other important
historical memorabilia, and then he issues his threat to steal America;s greatest
national treasure. That this treasure should be the president himself is
not obvious unless you know the plotline already, so I suppose that there
is some excuse for the concern of the White House people (incidentally, sidetracking
back to security for just one moment, surely the threats of this guy and the
appearance of Jem and the Holograms and their odd machine is enough to cause
some suspicion about their motives? Perhaps here we have the real reason for
the abduction of Synergy - lax security for the most part but overzealous
security when it comes to the threats of the kidnapper!).
Though the president is obviously considered America's biggest national
treasure, I'm wondering if the subtle message in this episode is that Jem,
or rather, Jerrica herself is also a "national treasure" because she risks
her life to rescue the president and defeat the nutcase who kidnapped him.
That she would go to those lengths even after the way she and particularly
her computer have been treated by federal authority takes a great leap of
not just courage but commitment and belief in what she's doing. Well, it's
open to interpretation, but that seems to be how it comes across to me,
CONCLUSION
Well, I don't really like this episode, although seeing the Misfits
dolled up as maids is quite cute. I will admit I have a few issues with the
song Freedom as well. Besides the obvious irony, the message in the song
is "I have freedom, I live in the USA"...neatly sidetracking the idea that
any other democratic nation also offers it's people freedom. This topic
has come up in discussion on mailing lists before, and it seems the general
opinion of most non-American nationals that this song is roundly offensive
:S I know that, certainly in the case of my sister and myself when watching
the show, we always hit the fast forward button...
Episode rating: 5.5/10.
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This version c.2014
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