When the news broke about the announcement of a Jem and the Holograms movie, ComicsAlliance promised to stay on top of the story, and today, just in case the very idea of a Hollywood adaptation of Jem having its roles crowdsourced via Tumblr wasn't weird enough, we have now reached the second wrinkle of the story: Christy Marx, the original creator of Jem and the Holograms, won't be involved in the movie.

In a statement on her Facebook page that followed the announcement of Jon M. Chu's upcoming film, Marx revealed that she was informed of the movie a few days before the announcement and spoke to Chu about it, but that "no one in the entertainment arm of Hasbro wanted to talk to me, have me write for it, or at the very least consult on it."

 

Jem cartoon screenshot
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Marx wrote very candidly about being "deeply unhappy about being shut out of the project," which is understandable given that she created the characters for Jem and wrote over a third of the show's original 65-episode run. It's worth noting that Larry Hama, who created and developed the characters of G.I. Joe and wrote all but one issue of its original ten-year comic series, was in fact brought in as a consultant on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but only after a leaked draft of the script was met with universal criticism from fans.

Despite being hurt, Marx also spoke very kindly of Chu himself:

"He treated me with honesty and respect. He is sincere, passionate, and filled with a desire to make the best Jem movie he can make. He wants to reinvent Jem for a current audience. His take is somewhat different from the approach I wanted to take, but that just means it’s different, not that there’s anything wrong with it. I urge everyone to judge the merits of his work on the result and I hope he delivers us an excellent, truly outrageous movie."

Her major concern, however, seems to be that the three people connected with the Jem movie as it stands right now are all men, which isn't the best sign for a series that was one of the most prominent portrayals of feminism in the world of '80s cartoons. The focus on female characters, particularly Jerrica, a competent record executive who struggled with a dual identity and found success through hard work despite legitimately murderous rivals (also women) and a sneering enemy, is a huge part of why that show endures in the minds of fans today, and it's definitely a concern shared by the fans. Again, we're still insanely early in production -- three people aren't exactly going to make a movie by themselves, no matter how much help they get from Tumblr -- but it's worth keeping an eye on as production goes forward from here.

 

 

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