Retrospective: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

Unless you have(n't) been living in a cave for years, you would be well aware that the American powerhouse known as Power Rangers has reached its 20th anniversary this year. Better make room for some extra DVD box-sets. 

Hamley's in Oxford Street: A power ranger made from power rangers! Try saying that fast 10 times.

For everyone who grew up in the globalised western world, there are particular treasures that will stay with us. '80s kids were spoilt for choice, with Transformers, Thundercats, and Masters of the Universe to name a few. Power Rangers ruled the '90s, and the Noughties were indoctrinated by Pokemon and its many clones. We watch, we buy, we imagine. It's a magical thing that somehow shapes part of our understanding of who we are. As a kid, these things are important. 

Then there's that awkward moment as an adult when you glance at your childhood franchise in nostalgia and realize that 1) It's actually pretty terrible, and 2) It's actually just a 20 minute toy advert. Why were we so misled, so naive? But then after a while we realize that these points don't actually matter. The franchise was truly special to us back then, so in a sense it will always be special. We can't bring ourselves to badmouth it.

It's interesting hearing people talk nostalgically about Power Rangers. A common phrase is that "The first series (i.e. 'Mighty Morphin') was the best. The rest of them were terrible." This is the power of childhood experience, because if you sit and watch every series you will see that in actuality, they are all basically the same - in our minds, a particular series is supreme. Even today we can ask the same questions as it started two decades ago, such as:

• Why, when the heroes are out of uniform, do they always wear clothes matching their ranger color? 
• Why did the alien monsters attack the same, uninteresting city every week, despite it being the one place they could be beaten by pesky teenagers?
• And by the way, how old were they supposed to be? The show seemed to use the casting director from Grease.
• Where was, you know, the police? Or the military? Or whoever deals with, you know, stuff that is actually dangerous? What would people do if the rangers didn't happen to be there?
• The final part of each episode would include a Kaiju battle between a giant monster and the ranger's transforming robot warrior (you can't hide the fact that the show is actually Japanese). Why wasn't the whole of the city destroyed in these fights? And why didn't the robot warrior (a zord) be around permanently, squashing any incoming monsters with its foot?

At the party, everyone wanted to be the red one.

Despite all this, for many people it is something truly special. The internet is loaded with fansites aimed at a mature audience who are interested in all the mythologies, character backstories, the monsters, and the toys. THE TOYS! Check out ebay for collector's treasures. 

Every fan had their own favourite ranger. Admittedly, when I got caught in an awkward telephone conversation with someone trying to get a monthly charitable donation off me, the long topic of Billy vs Tommy came up (he started it, honest). 

There was also a strange feeling of pride when the message appeared on the screen after each episode, explicitly warning us not to copy the violence we have just watched, because the power rangers were specially trained martial arts experts (apparently because there's a special school for that). In hindsight, it is interesting to hear about the moral panic that swept America concerning how violent we would all become as a result of watching it.
Really, it made us feel like we were onto something daring and rebellious - not only could we rob our parents' savings for the latest toys, we could become furious fighting machines, like miniature Bruce Lees. It was a childhood subculture of rebellion and anarchy, and all we had to do was get up and watch on a Saturday morning. 

Do you have any fond Power Rangers memories, or a favourite ranger? What was your childhood franchise? Let us know, and don't go round kicking each other!


Note: I must clarify the first paragraph before anyone corrects: 'Power Rangers' is American. The program it is based on (and that provides most of the footage) is the much older Japanese show 'Super Sentai'.