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As someone who has been watching Power Rangers when I was a kid and occasionally catching some episodes into my 20s, I’ve begun to notice things that have either escaped me when I was a kid or I just didn’t care. Power Rangers is truly a kids show. Unlike Batman: The Animated Series or Avatar: The Last Airbender whose show’s demographics aim to reach out to both kids and adults alike, Power Rangers seems to firmly root itself as a children’s show(most of time i.e. In Space). So I have to wonder why is it that Power Rangers considered more childish than the other two shows and is it possible to make it more palatable to adults or at the least teenagers, particularly ones who didn’t grow up with the series? That’s what I try to answer.
First reason why the show is childish, the costumes. Let’s face it, this is the same reason why comic books are sometimes seen as kiddy fare, the idea of adults running around in bright color spandex to fight people in rubber monster suits can look ridiculous. What also hinders Power Rangers is that since we can never see their faces to see any emotion, the actors must convey their thoughts through their voice, which of course sometimes leads to overacting to try to compensate not being able to show your emotions. Unfortunately, this facet of the series can’t be removed without compromising the general theme of Power Rangers. One idea is to have the visors be see-through, though only for the audience and in-universe everyone won’t be able to tell. And hey, we’ve already suspended our disbelief of villains attacking the same city over and over, why not this?
Another thing is the complete avoidance of mentioning death in a series. With the exceptions of In Space, Lost Galaxy and SPD, most series try to avoid mentioning death. While there shouldn’t be any kind “Anyone can die” situations, I do believe that the show should mention death, showing the long-standing effects on the characters themselves. Adding a little realism wouldn’t hurt.
This leads me to the next point of a lack of internal and external conflicts in the series. Before you all jump on me, yes the rangers do have internal conflict from within, questioning if they’re doing the thing. Unfortunately, they tend to be one-shot episodes and is usually never followed up. There is also a lack of long-term consequences for any of the rangers’ decisions. Most rangers tend to be goody two shoes variety who never have to make any life-changing decisions, decisions that their friends might not even understand or accept. In other words, put some conflict between the characters and don’t make it just a one-shot episode. And on the topic of conflict, how about some from external factors such as school, family and friends? Why not show how much being a ranger can affect their personal lives? Maybe hiding the secret from their families and friends causes them to distrust the rangers. Maybe they disown the rangers for doing something like this. They could even find out and do everything in their power to try to help, placing themselves in the battle and adding a level of tenseness in the rangers as not only they have to save the world, but also worrying about their loved ones. Even acknowledging the fact that they feel the pressure of saving the world would make the series seem a little more serious. One example is in the show Avatar, where we have episodes with Aang struggling with his Avatar duties, having to make decisions of whether to accept his role and to kill the fire lord. We have Katara who (spoiler alert, highlight to see) found her mother’s killer and while not killing him, also didn’t forgive him.
Lastly, and this is tad more superficial but why can’t they ever show any kissing?! Seriously, I think I’ve only seen one couple kiss onscreen and one couple say “I love you” to each other out of all of the series. We don’t have to pair everybody up but come one give us a bone here! We’re dealing with young adults who are constantly hanging out with each other, there should be loads of tension of the sexual nature. Also, would it be so bad to maybe have an established couple at the beginning of the series? This goes hand in hand with external conflicts that can happen with a ranger dealing with their significant other either knowing or not knowing their secret.
Let’s be clear, I’m not suggesting Power Rangers go for full on, adult audience here. I just feel that it could be taken a little more seriously and do more with its characters and plot. Unfortunately, when you only have around 40 episodes per series and switch out the casts, there can be a tendency to skip these elements and go for the explosions, fights and generic characters. Executives, producers, writers, directors, actors etc., it’s time to start treating your target audience a little more seriously and to consider your growing periphery demographic of adults who still watch your show.
So, anybody else has any idea on how Power Rangers could improve itself? Put your responses in the comments.
Related articles
- History of the Power Rangers: Wild Force (part 1 of 3) (bwmedia.wordpress.com)
