That’s right. The Powerpuff Girls. Among super heroes that
count as their members Wonder Woman, Super Girl, Zatanna, and many others, none
of them hold a candle to the young trio of girls made from sugar, spice and
everything nice (and that secret ingredient, CHEMICAL X). Not only are they
amazing super heroes but they are also perfect examples of femininity and what
it means to be a girl.
For those unfamiliar with the Powerpuff girls they are three
kindergarten aged superheroes who live in the city of Townsville (which has a
sister city called the town of Citysville).
They were created by Professor Utonium when he was trying to create the
perfect little girl (don’t ask me why a thirty plus year old man is trying to
create a young girl, just go with it). While mixing together the ingredients
(sugar, spice, everything nice) there is an accident involving a lab monkey
(who is revealed to become Mojo Jojo, the girls arch nemesis)
and the doctor spills something called Chemical X into the mixture. After a lab
explosion the doctor awakes to see three little girls floating in his lab.
Blossom (redhead in pink), Bubbles (blonde in blue) and Buttercup (brunette in
green), who respectively are the leader, the cute one and the toughie.
Now even though the girls are blessed with amazing powers
(pretty much the standard super hero fair, strength, flight, speed, laser
vision) they act and live like completely normal girls. Their dad tucks them in
at night, they go to school, play with stuffed animals, have fears of the dark
and cooties, all of which is revealed in the many adventures they go on. Not only do they explore the perils of being a
young girl, but they also explore many of the tropes of super-herodom.
The girls often encounter other super heroes who have acted
as stand-ins for the most popular heroes in comics today. Notably the hilarious
The Justice Friends (a take off of the Avengers who originally appeared on Dexter's Laboratory, another Cartoon Network show) who are three super heroes who
live together in an apartment. These heroes claim the girls are not fit to join
their super hero group, even though the girls prove to be vastly superior in
their heroic endeavors.
Another important trend among super heroes that is explored
in an episode is the need to reinvent one’s self. Super heroes are constantly
changing their looks and arsenal. Being no different, the girls also attempt to
do so with Blossom adopting a wide array of toys and gadgets and Buttercup
becoming a dark shadowy type reminiscent of Spawn. Bubbles, of course, just
puts on a bunny suit, emulating a manga character she seems to enjoy. By the
end of the episode the girls realize though that they are far better off just
being themselves, a lesson sadly that not enough super heroes learn. |
| The RowdyRuff Boys |
While the girls are excellent examples of feminine super
heroes, they also do not allow their femininity to blind them. The Powerpuff
girls are children and as such they have the innocent truthfulness that
children all seem to have and sadly lose as adults. The girls no what is right
and what is wrong and don’t seem to feel the need to blur these beliefs with
shades of gray. Stealing is wrong,
hurting people is wrong, and being mean is wrong. No one can convince these
girls to believe otherwise.
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