![]() ![]() The girls react as any superhero does by beating the shit out of Him. (Or, as Him puts it in a hilarious combination of villainous flamboyance and children’s cartoon censorship “While you were away, everything has gone…to…HECK!”) When they arrive in the future they find that Him has taken over Townsville in their absence, killing the mayor and enslaving the population. To answer that question, I direct you to one of the most iconic Him episodes, “Speed Demon.” In the episode, the girls are thrown forward 50 years when they hit supersonic speeds while racing each other. Now, thematic clashes are all well and good, but why is it important? These are all the things we thought were weird and icky when we were young enough to be the show’s target audience, and all the things that cannot exist within the Powerpuff Girls’ ideology of eternal childhood. In just over sixty seconds, we get references to periods, erections, gender-bending, and masturbation. His leg goes from a feminine curve to being thrust upwards in a phallic image so clear I’m surprised they allowed it on a kids’ show. Note how the bathwater turns red in a clear reference to menstruation just as his voice breaks into manly snarling. Actually, compare that to this particular scene which shows Him in all his glory. ![]() I’m a firm believer that every superhero is ideological, and the Powerpuff Girls’ ideology is one of safety, of conformity, of eternal innocence.Ĭompare that to Him. Every episode starts with a voiceover reminding us that they are a product of an experiment to create “the perfect little girls” out of “sugar, spice, and all things nice.” They seem to have no close relationships to anyone other than their bachelor father/creator, the painfully earnest Professor Utonium, and while they face countless death-defying escapades, they remain as cutesy and naïve as ever. The Powerpuff Girls are defined by their innocence and purity. To explain why Him is so compelling, we need to look at the heroes he is defined against. Well, because Him is more or less the perfect villain for a show like PPG and understanding why helps us understand ourselves. Even more surprisingly, there was little to no backlash against how Him was portrayed. And it’s not just me-when the Power Puff Girls was rebooted in 2016, they updated much of the shows more dated aspects for a more woke take on the denizens of Townsville but kept Him largely the same. Even though I know part of the reason for his existence is to mock and vilify people like me, I keep re-watching episodes of the Power Puff Girls with Him in them, and I’ve never stopped enjoying them. But there’s something deeper at play here. ![]() This follows a long tradition of queer re-appropriation of gay-coded villains, including Ursula the Sea Witch and Scar the Lion. From my (admittedly anecdotal) research, every queer former fan seems to react to Him in the same way-awareness that how he’s portrayed is problematic, but also acceptance that Him is…. However, LGBT+ fans of the show for the most part seem to treat Him with something like affection. He’s also a combination of more or less every homophobic and transphobic trope you could imagine, from his effeminate and sinister falsetto, his rouged cheeks and knee-high boots, his leering, predatory manner, to….well, the fact that they decided the best way of portraying pure evil on screen was to make Him gay. Modelled none-too-subtly on Satan, Him is one of the most compelling characters in the history of children’s television, striking fear into the Powerpuff Girls, their rouges gallery, and even the show’s narrator. One is that iconic opening theme song which introduces the three miniature crime-fighters, and the other is the enigmatic villain known simply as Him. If you’re university age, it’ll probably have been a while since you watched the show, but I’ll wager you remember at least two things. I’m writing this as graduation looms and I prepare to leave education and enter full-time employment, so it’s only natural that this article would address themes more mature and adult than any I’ve handled before. ![]()
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