# He-Man makes no sense. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561 "2011-02-16T08:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/41 "2011-02-16T19:59:08Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Wrooooong, He-Man has a swarthy looking tan, Adam is quite pale. Apparently, the “power of Grayskull” is spray-on tanning. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/42 "2011-02-16T20:00:43Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Really? I have the power? I know that’s what everyone says that he says, but I always heard, “I am the the power-lord.” That last syllable is so drawn out, and he seem to mouth another word there. It’s the same animation every time, you can’t get miss it. That sounds suspiciously like a Monster Magnet song. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/43 "2011-02-16T20:05:03Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > They adhered to the G.I. Joe Convention of 1983 that promised no injuries to either side in any battles, ever. Ah yes, I believe _The A-Team_ were signatories, too. > [@](#): > > Unless they’re robots. Fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/44 "2011-02-16T20:07:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I can’t believe I read an entire thread about a character/show which appears to have 0 redeeming qualities. I need help. No, no. You learned a lot about something stupid, juvenile and meaningless. Learning means knowledge, and everybody knows once you have knowledge, 50% of everything has been completed. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/45 "2011-02-16T20:07:42Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > How about the guys with the metal hands? You mean Fisto? One metal hand dude…one giant metal hand. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/46 "2011-02-16T20:12:11Z")
There was a great Slate [article](http://www.slate.com/id/2141626/) about He-Man a few years back. It does talk a lot about the absudities. This is the best part, I think: > [@](#): > > The best part about rewatching He-Man, after the initial nostalgia-burst, was tracking the show’s hilarious accidental homo-eroticism—an aspect I missed completely as a first-grader. In the ever-growing lineup of “outed” classic superheroes, He-Man might be the easiest target of all. It’s almost too easy: Prince Adam, He-Man’s alter ego, is a ripped Nordic pageboy with blinding teeth and sharply waxed eyebrows who spends lazy afternoons pampering his timid pet cat; > (Snipped) > He hangs out with people called Fisto and Ram Man, and they all exchange wink-wink nudge-nudge dialogue: “I’d like to hear more about this hooded seed-man of yours!” “I feel the bony finger of Skeletor!” “Your assistance is required on Snake Mountain!” Once you start thinking along these lines, it’s impossible to stop. It’s a prime example of how easily an extreme fantasy of masculinity can circle back to become its opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/47 "2011-02-16T20:19:51Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > No, no. You learned a lot about something stupid, juvenile and meaningless. > > Learning means knowledge, and everybody knows once you have knowledge, 50% of everything has been completed. And knowing is half the battle. _Yo, Joe!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/48 "2011-02-16T20:32:15Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I can’t believe I read an entire thread about a character/show which appears to have 0 redeeming qualities. I need help. I can’t believe you think He-Man has zero redeeming qualities. This thread alone should prove otherwise. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/49 "2011-02-16T20:36:12Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > _SIGH_ Mattel had a bunch of Conan The Barbarian action figures lying around that they couldn’t sell, because the movie was rated R. So they cobbled together a quick and dirty story late one night. I read that on the internet, so it must be true. …but it’s not. Persistent story, but not really true. Clearly part of the inspiration though. > [@conway](#): > > You mean Fisto? One metal hand dude…one giant metal hand. And Jitsu his evil counterpart! ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/50 "2011-02-16T20:39:11Z")
> [@conway](#): > > You mean Fisto? One metal hand dude…one giant metal hand. Was there a single thing in the entire He-man universe that was not dripping with gay subtext? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/51 "2011-02-16T20:41:58Z")
[Just because every thread that references He-Man needs this link…](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/16/) ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/52 "2011-02-16T22:31:53Z")
She-Ra is available on Netflix streaming right now. One day my five year old daughter was flipping through the children’s movies and saw the cover and begged me to let her watch it. She loves it. She wants to turn her Princess Leia costume into a She-Ra costume somehow. She would watch it over and over all day if I let her. It’s hilarious!! Oddly though, the other night we were watching it, and there was a PSA at the end. Now the episode had been really normal (not that I was watching the whole thing, but I was in the room). The PSA was all about how your body is your own, and no one should touch you in a way that you don’t want to be touched. If anyone does touch you, tell a trusted adult. And so on. It was both He-Man and She-Ra talking about this. It almost made me want to rewatch the episode to see if Adora was touched in any way at all! ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/53 "2011-02-16T22:59:20Z")
> [@RachelChristine](#): > > The PSA was all about how your body is your own, and no one should touch you in a way that you don’t want to be touched. This goes double if the person trying to touch you is Leech. Dude will rip your giggley bits right off. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/54 "2011-02-16T23:34:10Z")
> [@RachelChristine](#): > > It almost made me want to rewatch the episode to see if Adora was touched in any way at all! You want to rewind an episode of She-Ra looking for the _good parts_? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/55 "2011-02-17T00:03:31Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Was there a single thing in the entire He-man universe that was not dripping with gay subtext? The tragic, never to be consumated, courtly love between Adam and Teela in the style of Tristan and Iseault. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/56 "2011-02-17T00:10:11Z")
It’s because they’d already designed the Castle Greyskull playset and ordered the units from the factory in China, so they had to fit it into the back-story somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/57 "2011-02-17T00:10:24Z")
Fisto?! Ram-Man?! :eek: “Crikey”, Biggles ejaculated. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/58 "2011-02-17T00:32:27Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It’s have, dude. Thanks, dudekin. Still, one day I’ll go back and listen for that “I am the power-lord!!!” I’m sure I can make myself hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/59 "2011-02-17T00:44:16Z")
[Robot Chicken He-Man Episode](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svix3gccmiM) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561/60 "2011-02-17T00:53:49Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > The Sorceress gave him the sword and told him how to use it. > > Or there is no Prince Adam and the Sword of Greyskull is just your average magic sword. > > (These are both canon, depending on which continuity you’re including - the three cartoon series and recent toy line use the first, the original mini comics and the movie use (or imply) the second.) Oddly, He-Man’s full origin is **never** explained in the series. Why Adam? _Who knows?_ Why Cringer? _Who knows?_ What are the “secrets” of Greyskull? _Who knows?_ A very strange series, indeed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-man-makes-no-sense/571561.md?page=4)