Captain Planet Was Wrong!
by Sujay Pan
It was like any other school night, I had finished up my homework and had a cup of Bournvita in my hand to sit in front of the TV. I was about to dedicate 30 minutes to watch a green haired, blue skinned, red underpants wearing man tell me that “The power is yours.” It’s been around 20 years since I first met this man, so I decided to say hello again.
For the uninitiated Captain Planet and the Planeteers was a show that ran on TBS in the US from 1990 to 1996, this was followed by repeated reruns in India via Cartoon Network. The premise of the show is captured in the very start of each episode.
“Our world is in peril. Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet. She sends five magic rings to five special young people: Kwame, from Africa, with the power of Earth… From North America, Wheeler, with the power of Fire… From the Soviet Union/Eastern Europe, Linka, with the power of Wind. From Asia, Gi, with the power of Water… and from South America, Ma-Ti, with the power of Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth’s greatest champion, Captain Planet.”— Opening Narration
Honestly, now that I think about it, how crazy is the idea of having a superhero that is literally the embodiment of a movement against climate change! What a noble effort and such a brilliant tool to educate kids about how we are messing up the world and how we can maybe fix it. But one must also be a little wary when it comes to making a kids show, the formative impact a show like this can have on a young mind is immense. Traditionally kids shows work around narratives of stark good vs evil. Here the good is characterized by these five kids chosen by an old lady Gaia to “fix” the system (Gaia hypothesis much?). In the opening theme song we see these five kids stand in a circle and combine their power rings to conjure up Captain Plan while this plays in the background.
“Captain Planet, he’s our hero,
Gonna take pollution down to zero,
He’s our powers magnified,
And he’s fighting on the planet’s side
Captain Planet, he’s our hero,
Gonna take pollution down to zero”
Now although the track is certainly a banger, notice how Captain Planet is personified as someone who will take “pollution down to zero” with his actions and in a way the choices made by these five kids. These five kids are not from nation states specifically but represent continents. Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Linka from Eastern Europe, Gi from Asia and Ma-Ti from South America. This selection in itself makes the conversation so much broader and beyond the arena of individual nations having to take action, it brings up the fact that only banding together might lead us to some solutions here. Now all these kids have been given one primary power each, here all the usual Aristotelian elemental powers like fire,water appear but then one stands out, Ma-Ti is given the power of heart (the anatomical organ). Gaia often brings up the fact that it is this element that really brings them all together and creates action.
Now here is where the show might be getting into murky waters, the villains. The same structure that aids the show in its construction of its heroes, becomes the source of its problematic messaging for young kids via its villains. When a show like this tries to deal with real issues such as poaching, deforestation to name a few. It’s villain becomes a strawman for a human being, a caricature of a real person. These guys are “odd” looking evil people who want to mess up the environment for laughs and giggles. Have a look at how they appear on screen and you may notice the exaggerated colors, and the fact that they in their form and shape are human but have some very distinct features that might aid one put them in the “nasty not nice” box. Angry faces, sharp teeth, deformed features are parts of their physicality. There is also coding done around them and their henchmen of being poor and lower class. These villains have focus areas distributed amongst themselves which mostly revolve around extractive industries like mining, timber. The larger premise around the villains is put out to us as the fact that industries like these engage in work that can’t be done sustainably and people who perform ground level work in these industries, do it not because they are caught up in complex socio-economic capital ladders but because they are “monsters”.
People who work in extractive industries are not “monsters” it is their hard work that lets us live a modernized life based on fossil fuels and minerals. To deal with climate change people have to work together and this means working with people involved in such industries on the ground level and not maligning them. This does not lead to any conversations but it actually cuts down bridges which are important for climate action.
This should not seem weird at all when one considers the production of this show. It was created and funded by Ted Turner, an individual whose current net worth is estimated to be $2.1 Billion. Corporations trying to pass the message of people’s movements and its positive effect on the environment vs corporations actually taking responsibility is a well covered narrative. This however should not be the reason to stop collaborative work for a better world where the environment is treated well. Even the show is in talks of getting a reboot as a feature film. The project is going to be heralded by Leonardo DiCaprio. The question to leave with would be how can we make entertainment like this again and strive to make it better informed. Kids shows are a great tool in many aspects if used correctly.
Finally Coming back to the power of heart itself, Gaia might be correct in saying that it is the quintessential element whose absence will make the other elements powerless. While taking a trip to nostalgia land with Captain Planet and thinking of power or heart and collaboration when it comes to a crisis such as climate change. This sheer seems to fit perfectly so leaving it here at the end.
“ik shajar aisā mohabbat kā lagāyā jaa.e
jis kā ham-sā.e ke āñgan meñ bhī saayā jaa.e”
Translation
“Let’s plant a tree of love
Whose shadow falls on everyone around us”
