so power rangers used their opaque visors to hide their true identity, but the race oriented color choice in their costumes is rather transparent.
did anyone else notice this as a kid? or later on in life maybe? i'm going to do a run through of the original cast, cirsca 1993, just to give you an idea of what i'm talking about.
first up, mr red ranger. the alpha wolf, in many ways. red is a symbol of aggression and power. not nessecarily race related, but certainly a deliberate color choice
then there's billy. your standard nerd, glasses and all. blue has a tranquil quality to it, and is so redolent of the blinking blue lights at power rangers HQ. technology and tranquility are what comes to mind when i think of this power rangers jumpsuit!
oh kimmy. this color is pretty straightforward. might as well have slapped a big bow on her helmet. note the skirt. and yet? that costume addition has not been made for our next character...
you got the shaft, trini, i'm afraid. no skirt, no pink, and yellow? not a very feminine color. why did they pick yellow? it doesn't seem like a coincidence that she is of asian descent. i mean, mighty morphin was a spinoff of a japanese childrens show, and the american version still involved martial arts, so i would like to think that these color choices were not made because of skin color. but then? there's...
zack! really? could they be any more blatant? did they just not know what crayola color went best with black skin? everyone else is so brightly colored. black? really? come on.
i know these observations may seem like a stretch, but color choice, clothing choice, of different races in the media are something to think about. what people wear makes you think differently of them. and the power rangers, albeit a childrens show and one i remember fondly at that, is guilty of reducing their characters to crayola stereotypes.
I never noticed.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you brought this up, I've always thought this! Whenever I am with my friends and the subject of the Power Rangers comes up (and it comes up more than it probably should, I always bring up this race factor in it. The two glaring things I bring up are the fact that Trini who is Asian is the yellow ranger and Zack who is black is the black ranger. I mean we may be looking into this a bit much but I really don't think these representations are simply a conincidence.
ReplyDeleteive always noticed about the black one, and givning the asian girl yelllow and no skirt its racist but funny to think about now
ReplyDeleteI love when you grow-up and begin to notice the little things like this. I always used to watch the Power Rangers when they were on but I never thought anything about the colors (I think I was only about 8 though lol). Its funny when you see things like this.
ReplyDeleteThats really interesting. I used to watch the Power Rangers as a kid, but I never made this type of connection before. Now that you mention it however, it makes a lot of sense, especially the yellow and black rangers. Good point!
ReplyDeleteIts awful how they put stereotypes like this into kids shows. People completely underestimate the brains of litte kids. They are like sponges and they pick up on every little thing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a brilliant post! I never EVER noticed this growing up. I'm not gonna lie I loved the power rangers when I was a kid. I even have a picture of me somewhere where I am the blue ranger for Halloween. I really can't believe that the Asian girl is yellow ranger and the Black guy is black ranger. Thank you for opening my eyes!
ReplyDeleteYeah i remember thinking this even when i was younger. Oh, the girl has to be pink. The cool, lead guy wears that dominant red. The black kid wears black. It's kind of comical that it is all that obvious.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post! When I was little I used to watch the Power Rangers. I also noticed these stereotypes. The worst part about it is that the audience is children! They are feeding racial stereotypes right to kids.
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