Between the ages of 7 and 10, I was obsessed with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and its sequel, Power Rangers Zeo. Then my beloved characters started going into space and being reincarnated as samurai and undergoing all sorts of crazy other iterations that were too absurd for even my prepubescent maturity level. So I stopped watching.
But when I loved the show, I really loved the show. And my favorite character was the Billy Branston, the Blue Ranger.
Why? Funny you should ask; I was just getting ready to tell you.
1. His costume was blue. Blue is still my favorite color, but when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure it was the only color I knew existed. I had no need for the Crayola box of 64 crayons. I just needed the set of eight, as long as all eight were different shades of blue.
2. He was the stereotypical nerd. He was a member of the Angel Grove High School science club, he got beat up by Bulk and Skull all the time, and unlike all of the rest of the Power Rangers, he wore glasses. What isn't there for me to identify with?? Although, I never understood how he was able to see clearly after he morphed. Did he have prescription lenses in his helmet? If so, how do I acquire headgear of this caliber for myself?
3. He was a gadget geek. While I liked playing with electronics, he actually made them. He fashioned the communication devices for the team, he created a virtual reality simulator, and perhaps most memorably, he was able to disable Alpha's self-destruct mechanism after it had been activated. Just try and pretend like that's not the coolest thing ever.
Blue Ranger, you are so cool. So cool that when my friends and I made an end-of-year video for Jubilate during my third year of college, I dressed up as you. Sure, I may not have fit into your child-sized costume, but you can't say I didn't try.
Special thanks to Russell for going through the archives in his external hard drive to find this oldie but goodie.
2 comments:
I'd almost forgotten about that video we made! What was the premise again? I'm so glad someone has pictures documenting our expert film-making.
Your post was a trip down memory in lots of ways... My favorite was always the Yellow Ranger. I even had one of those action figures where you could change from Trini's head to her Power Ranger helmet. Yep, I was THAT cool.
what?? are you sure your favorite power ranger wasnt the pink one? i cant imagine that you werent obsessed with pink as a little girl.
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