# Was anyone else forbidden to watch He-Man because of "elements of the occult"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262 "2010-11-29T06:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/21 "2010-11-29T18:10:45Z")
There was about a six month period when I couldn’t watch He-Man because someone convinced my mom it was evil. This was after I had been watching for a while and they had already bought me He-Man toys. Eventually I convinced my mom that there was evil in the show but the point of the show was to have “the good guys” beat “the bad guys”. She then let me start watching again. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/22 "2010-11-29T18:16:28Z")
I had no idea that there was so much blow-back about that show. I guess I missed the news alerts. I thought that DnD was the only major panic in those days. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/23 "2010-11-29T18:22:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I was forbidden to watch He-Man but not because of the occult. Rather, it was because of Hanna-Barbera’s lazy animation style. Take that, Hanna Barbera! > [@FriarTed](#): > > A friend at church in the 1970s couldn’t watch “Planet of the Apes” as it promoted Evolution. This is high comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/24 "2010-11-29T18:41:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Edit: Thanks, **Ellen** , but now I’m too lazy and don’t care enough to start another thread. I shall be laissez-faire, then. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/25 "2010-11-29T18:46:21Z")
Hmm, I wasn’t allowed to watch “racy” shows like Three’s Company, or Charlie’s Angels. But I don’t recall any Saturday morning cartoons that were off-limits. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/26 "2010-11-29T20:26:22Z")
Yes. But I can beat that. My grandmother took us out of the Care Bears movie because parts of it “seemed evil”. That came out in 85 so I was 9 or 10 and my brother was about 5. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/27 "2010-11-29T20:38:17Z")
No, but my son loaned one of his friends one of the Dragonlance novels that I had loaned him. The friend’s mother burned it. He was a little embarrassed to have to tell me that, but he knew that I wouldn’t be mad at him because it wasn’t his fault. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/28 "2010-11-29T20:39:30Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Yes. But I can beat that. My grandmother took us out of the Care Bears movie because parts of it “seemed evil”. That came out in 85 so I was 9 or 10 and my brother was about 5. Was the evil bit the Care Bear Stare? Or did you get that far? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/29 "2010-11-29T20:39:56Z")
I was never forbidden anything, but I recall a co-worker of mine telling me that all her congregation was forbidden to watch _Star Wars_, as it depicted the fall of the angel Lucifer into evil (Darth Vader). I think she was a Seventh-Day Adventist, but I may be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/30 "2010-11-29T20:40:29Z")
That movie WAS evil. I was, what, 5 or 6 when I saw it? Scared the bejeezus out of me. ETA - the Care Bear movie, of course. It was the face in the book. \ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/31 "2010-11-29T20:59:18Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I was forbidden to watch He-Man but not because of the occult. Rather, it was because of Hanna-Barbera’s lazy animation style. That’s just good parenting, though. If (Ford forbid) I ever have children, I don’t want them growing up with the belief that low-quality cartooning is acceptable. It’ll corrode their work ethic. Which is why I’ll insist upon Family Time with Futurama DVDS. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/32 "2010-11-29T21:03:36Z")
It was never an issue, since by the time He-Man came along, I was 31, and my youngest brother was 26. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/33 "2010-11-29T21:58:23Z")
Um, no, I wasn’t allowed to watch He-Man because one day during the intro instead of just saying it quietly to my siblings and giggling I accidentally yelled out along with the TV ‘Bastards of the Universe!’. I actually didn’t know this until high school, but my parents would censor stuff they taped for us off of TV or cable. For example, they taped Top Gun for us, and edited out the sex scene. I was over a friend’s house watching it, and when the scene came on I was confused, and asked him if he a special edition or something. It was just sex and nudity they cut out, not violence or swearing. When I confronted my mom about it she just said that she didn’t want us watching it. Had to go back and rewatch a few movies. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/34 "2010-11-29T22:02:06Z")
OMG **hotflungwok** , I think your parents were the only parents in the history of the universe to ever master a VCR. Not only could they program it to tape but also use it to edit, without asking their kids?! Were they rocket scientists? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/35 "2010-11-29T22:03:56Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Yes. But I can beat that. My grandmother took us out of the Care Bears movie because parts of it “seemed evil”. That came out in 85 so I was 9 or 10 and my brother was about 5. “Seemed evil.” That is too rich. > [@hotflungwok](#): > > I actually didn’t know this until high school, but my parents would censor stuff they taped for us off of TV or cable. For example, they taped Top Gun for us, and edited out the sex scene. My parents were too old and not techno-savvy enough to try anything like this. They just told us not to watch bad things on TV, but we did anyway. Sorry, mom! ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/36 "2010-11-29T22:12:58Z")
Nope. My parents bought me She-Ra and He-Man stuff, even. Not a ton. Though it was sometimes banned from the television because they found it less dramatically compelling than I did. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/37 "2010-11-29T22:49:41Z")
Another vote for “Too old for He-Man”. “Bewitched” was the no-no at our house. “I Dream of Jeannie” was OK for some reason. That was fine with me because I had a huge crush on Jeannie, especially the episodes that were in color. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/38 "2010-11-29T22:52:23Z")
Oh yes! I couldn’t watch “Bewitched” either. I only asked about He-Man because I was watching She-Ra at the time. This thread could be easily retitled “Things My Parents Didn’t Want Me to Watch for Bizarre (and Primarily Religious) Reasons.” ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/39 "2010-11-29T23:14:01Z")
My mom would let us watch whatever we wanted, as long as it was regular broadcast TV. (No HBO, Cinemax, or GOD FORBID, MTV!) One of the things I can remember Mom getting actively offended at was Sir Mixalot’s Baby Got Back video. Anyone else remember the pay-per-view video channel? Jukebox Network, maybe? That one was also frowned upon by the Mom. Of course we tended towards the most inane crap known to man. Inspector Gadget was a fave. That was some really poor animation, I’m not sure why we liked it. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262/40 "2010-11-30T00:50:26Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Anyone else remember the pay-per-view video channel? Jukebox Network, maybe? That one was also frowned upon by the Mom. The Box? > **[The Box (American TV channel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box_%28US_TV_channel%29)** > > The Box, originally named the Video Jukebox Network, was an American television channel that operated from 1985 to 2001. > The network was distributed on cable and satellite providers, with additional carriage on over-the-air UHF television stations (mainly on low-power outlets). > The network originally launched as the Video Jukebox Network in 1985; it was founded by Steve Peters, who launched it on a television station in Miami, Florida. It was initially a product of the Miami Music scene, and wa... I am the youngest of 5, so by the time I came around my parents didn’t really care. So long as I wasn’t actively on fire I could do pretty much whatever I wanted. My best friend, however, wasn’t allowed to watch He-Man. Which was really annoying, because I didn’t really like that show, but since it was forbidden he had to watch it every time he came over. Then again, he probably felt the same way about video games. My parents wouldn’t buy me video games (for financial rather than moral reasons) and all I wanted to do when I went to his house was to play Atari games. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-anyone-else-forbidden-to-watch-he-man-because-of-elements-of-the-occult/562262.md?page=3)