Queen Marlena is Awesome (1/2)
I dip into a lot of fandoms. This includes both He-Man and She-Ra. I watched both of the original cartoons (though not in full, I admit), and the 2002 He-Man cartoon, which was AWESOME. Haven't really touched the Netflix She-Ra. I admit, I have reservations. But that's not the point right now.
The point is that Adam and Adora's mother, Queen Marlena, is probably one of the most awesome women in 80s cartoons, and just all-around awesome.
For those that don't know a thing about her, let's start off with the basics...and other facts you may not know about her kids. Adam and Adora are, technically, hybrids. They are not full Eternians. This is because Marlena is not Eternian. She's an earthling.
Marlena's maiden name is Glenn. This was meant as a tribute to American astronaut John Glenn. I think I read somewhere that maybe she's supposed to be related to him, but that could just be fan speculation and not official canon.
But you're probably wondering, why name her after a famous astronaut? Well...
In the 1983 series, the episode "Teela's Quest," we learn that Marlena was an astronaut from Earth whose ship had taken heavy damage, so Marlena had to crash land on Eternia. King Randor found her, pulled her out and took care of her, and Marlena fell in love with him during her recovery, so she never left.
This backstory may not seem all that impressive to you, but in context, this was actually very big. In 1983, female astronauts were barely a thing.
In the history of space exploration, the first female astronaut was Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union, who went up on May 16, 1963 on a solo mission. The next woman in space was Svetlana Savitskaya, who went up in 1982 and 1984. Considering this is the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War, a part of me wonders if these trips were made known to the rest of the world.
In any case, the next woman in space was also the first American, physicist Sally Ride, who went up on June 18, 1983 and July 17, 1984. The original He-Man cartoon aired on September 26, 1983.
Marlena being an astronaut was a big deal because it was almost unheard of. Teela's Quest was the sixth episode. When that aired, the world was still thinking of Sally Ride. Anybody that saw her as an astronaut would probably have thought "cool, she's like Sally Ride!" Imagine being a little kid, especially a little girl. and seeing that.
On top of that, Marlena was flying a solo mission, which, other than the very first woman in space, JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN. I don't think it's happened again, even today. Admittedly, I understand why. It's safer to have someone else with you when you fling yourself into space. But the point still stands.
A later episode, "Trouble in Arcadia," pushed this aspect even further. Teela mentions how Marlena told her that she was not just a female astronaut, but "one of the first women in space." If Earth was supposed to be in the 1980s at the time, this most certainly would have been true.
Marlena is awesome because she's both a trailblazer in her own universe, and a reflection of contemporary trailblazers in the real world. She is a brave, daring woman who had the will to let herself be flung out into space all alone.
But just you wait, it gets better. Continued in Part 2.
