RID 2015 Strongarm: An Insult to Tomboy Brawler Girls
So, given my surprisingly popular post on how TFOne ruined my favorite female lead of all Transformers media mentioned the above character, I think it's safe to say lots of people know that I despise RID15's version of Strongarm. However, since all I see of the fandom is everybody singing this block of wood's praises and not once criticizing her, I feel it's up to me to take Breakdown's hammers to this poor attempt at a female protagonist.
If you like her (and I know and respect someone who does), this post isn't for you, so keep scrolling before you get an aneurysm or your feelings hurt.
Now, onto my points.
From the beginning, Strongarm is painted with an unlikable air. She does nothing but worship the ground Bumblebee walks on, and acts as if everything and everyone from Prime was a god that must be worshipped, and so help you if you don't worship them because she'll throw you in the slammer with extra roughing to boot. Because let's face it, Strongarm is a suckup who wants power.
Dont believe me? Just look at her. She's basically a brick wall come to life who is in the Elite Guard and actually covetous of rankings. This is shown in a frightfully plain manner when Bumblebee is mentally reduced to a five year old, and she even spends his procedure hoping to take command afterward so she can climb the ranks - to climb the ladder of power.
Yes yes, I hear you all screaming that she learned her lesson - only she didn't.
The same thing happens every other time she was given the chance to lead, like in the episode where they got their minds switched in season 3. Once more, Strongarm was gleeful over being in charge, and it came up again in the finale. The whole reason Sideswipe keeps challenging her throughout the series is because he knows exactly how much more of a pain in the tailpipe she'll be if she gets promoted, made more clear by the fact that he doesn't give Bumblebee half the suffering he gives Strongarm. It's because he doesn't mind authority that is limited that he lets Bumblebee lead him, but Strongarm is already mad with the power of the rulebook, and if that type of person gets the position of commander, then there's no more freedom in the one place Sideswipe's found freedom.
Moreover, she never grows from her holier than thou and superiority complex behaviors.
From the beginning, Strongarm looked down on Sideswipe for "being a punk/perp" and made it clear every blasted episode that she thought he was lower than the crust of the Earth. She rarely genuinely praised him, and while you could argue it was to "keep his head from getting fat", there's a time when you should be nice and supportive of a teammate/friend when he does something good and right, which Sideswipe usually does. Heck, the times he's done something wrong are always painted in a bad light by the show, and Sideswipe goes the extra step to apologize by the end. Strongarm, however, never gives Sideswipe that same courtesy, because she must be right all the time, and while I feel the showrunners didn't believe that she was right any more than I did, they were forced to do so because the higher ups and freaks watching the show screamed for more Strongarm centric episodes.
Then there's her abominable treatment of Grimlock, the literal innocent of the show. Strongarm persistently harps on Grimlock's simple outlook as a flaw to rub in his face, and puts him beneath her boot when he makes a tiny mistake. Pits of Kaon, the minute she learns Grimlock increased his mental acuity out of a sense of insecurity, what does she say to him?
"Come on, Grim, we'd never say that. Out loud, at least."
And no one takes her to task for this! Not even Bumblebee, who should be having flashbacks to how Bulkhead almost lost himself/died because of the information he'd absorbed into his mind in TFP! Bumblebee should have figured this out and read her the riot act. Strongarm should have given Grimlock a paragraph of an apology, but she didn't because she's a physical powerhouse who breaks the rules of storytelling solely because the fandom wants a girl who looks and acts gender neutral.
And not even Fixit is safe from her, because remember I mentioned a procedure earlier? Fixit had to become a makeshift tool wielded by her to remove an object from Bumblebee, and he gives her a warning that they have to be careful and precise.
Strongarm's response is to tell him what boils down to, "No, YOU have to be careful, otherwise it's all your fault!"
Really, Stone Slab? You're the one whose hand is manipulating Fixit during this process, who has to be steady and slow lest YOU sneeze and ruin the whole operation.
But no, Strongarm CAN'T be wrong because she's the big, tough girl from Kaon who must be right in everything. She starts the show a Karen, and ends it a Karen. No development, no depths to explore, and nothing to recommend her.
And now, for the part where she's an insult to "tomboy brawler girls", take Book One Korra for a counterpoint.
She's shown to be the best bender in history, yet she constantly fails at airbending. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot bend air. However, Korra doesn't blame that on those around her. Yes, she finds fault in Tenzin continuing to confine her, but she doesn't fault him for her own inability to airbend.
What's more is that she actually apologizes for destroying the airbending course. She admits she was wrong, that she was angry with herself and took it out on the equipment. Korra doesn't shirk it away; she accepts it as her wrongdoing, and hers alone.
And while she verbally spars with Mako, she never actually puts him down. Korra doesn't pick on his lifestyle, doesn't make fun of his heritage or poor living conditions. Instead, she accepts it and helps lift him up when he's vulnerable. Likewise with the naive Bolin, she doesn't exploit his sweetness or innocence as a point of mockery. Rather, Korra joins him in being silly, keeping him company on his youthful inexperience, and acts like a genuine sister towards him (note that Korra didn't actually take advantage of him in the episode with the first Makorra kiss; she legitimately thought he was inviting her for a night on the town in simple fun, as proved by her mortified reaction to seeing him appear with a bouquet of flowers and realizing he had crushed on her.)
Throughout Book One, Korra grows and matures from the bright-eyed, gung-ho girl she was into a more controlled, yet still eager to fight woman who is confident in her strengths while acknowledging she has much to learn. Korra's problem solving method is indeed to punch an issue, but she realizes she has to switch up her fighting style as the situation demands it (and unlike Strongarm, you don't have to turn her sideways to figure out she's a girl.)
But Strongarm remains static, unchanging from her "the world moves for me" attitude, and it take Sideswipe to be in her body for her cop lights to be used to blind an opponent.
Well, that's all I have to say on the matter. If you enjoyed this, thank you. It feels nice to have someone who doesn't blindly praise Strongarm here.
Til then -
"Rev up and roll out!"
