This essay was originally intended for another venue, but that venue has, sadly, closed its doors, so I print the essay here. —DGD
JUSTICE TEMPERED WITH CUTENESS: MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE IN CRAIG McCRACKEN’S POWERPUFF GIRLS
by D. G. D. Davidson
For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.[1]
Brainchild of Craig McCracken, who first conceived of the concept while an art student, the animated series The Powerpuff Girls ran from 1998 to 2004, and each episode save one opens with lines that have become iconic: “Sugar, spice, and everything nice: these were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl. But Professor Utonium accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction—Chemical X.”[2]
The result of the Professor’s mishap is a trio of young girls, each representing a different component of the recipe used to make her: sugar produces the giggly and girlish Bubbles, spice produces the tough and tomboyish Buttercup, and everything nice produces the bossy and brainy Blossom. Because of the Chemical X, these girls have superpowers, including super-strength, the ability to fly, invulnerability, super senses, and heat vision.
The girls attend kindergarten, play with their stuffed animals, deal with various childhood problems, and fight destructive battles with the supervillains and giant monsters plaguing the city of Townsville. The show’s manic mixture of cutesiness, large-scale violence, and toilet humor proved wildly successful: it grew popular internationally and ran for six seasons, producing spinoffs such as TV specials, video games, a theatrical film, and even a Japanese magical girl series called Powerpuff Girls Z. A reboot with a new voice cast, and without McCracken’s involvement, began airing on April 4 of 2016.
Although many superheroes are in their teens, preadolescent superheroes are comparatively rare. Marvel’s relatively obscure comic book series Power Pack, which appeared in the 1980s, is possibly the first attempt in American comics to explore the concept seriously.[3] Likewise, superheroines who are simultaneously very powerful and very girlish, common in Japan, are unusual in American media, but the Powerpuff Girls are both extremely young and hyper-feminine. Saddled with the responsibility of protecting a city in spite of their tender age, they frequently face moral choices that prove difficult given their level of mental development and lack of experience. Continue reading “Justice Tempered with Cuteness: Moral Development and Retributive Justice in Craig McCracken’s ‘Powerpuff Girls’”