Jem & The Holograms And The Balancing Act of Multiple Identities (Patreon)

By Latonya Pennington

Originally based on a line of dolls of the same name, the '80s cartoon, Jem and the Holograms tells the story of a young business woman named Jerrica Benton who inherits an advanced holographic A.I. named Synergy from her deceased father. Together with her biological sister Kimber and her foster sisters Shana and Aja, the four of them form the titular band in order to raise money for Jerrica's foster home, The Starlight Foundation, and end up becoming huge stars. With stardom comes some rocky roads in the form of band rivalry with The Misfits and the struggle for Jerrica to juggle her alter-ego Jem with her civilian identity.

Although the Jem and The Holograms comic books published by IDW follow the same premise as the '80s cartoon, it is set in today's time and features fresh takes on the characters. One of the most prominent changes is a more insecure Jerrica Benton that gets performance anxiety when she tries to sing in public. As a result, Jerrica uses Synergy to create Jem in order to give her a more confident persona that can sing. Throughout the Jem comic books, Jerrica's struggle with her dual identity can also be paralleled with two LGBTQ members of The Misfits: Stormer, a fat lesbian keytarist, and Blaze, a trans woman vocalist.

At first, Jerrica finds it easy to be Jem because Jerrica could be behind the scenes as Jem and The Holograms' manager while Jem does the performing. Jerrica doesn't have to worry about being herself or having the spotlight on her because she literally doesn't have to be herself. Using Synergy allows Jerrica to transform from a mild-mannered skittish girl into a fabulous rock star. Since the identity of Jem is made from Synergy's holographic technology, she isn't a real person and it is that element that allows Jerrica to literally fake it until Jem and The Holograms make it as a famous band.

In contrast to Jerrica and Jem, Stormer and Blaze do not have the luxury of hiding behind a newly-made persona. Stormer and Blaze perform as part of Jem's rival band, The Misfits, and they must do as expected of them by their band's lead vocalist, Pizazz. They are also affected by the public's perception of them as a band and as individuals, which is amplified by the public's use of social media and how the news decides to portray them as a band. The Misfits are known for being rowdy and difficult to work with as much as their music and so must keep up the image of being a rough 'n' tumble rock band.

In fact, Jem and The Holograms' and The Misfits' public images are another prominent contrast that are affected by the personal backgrounds of the band members. Jem and The Holograms is only possible as a group because Jerrica Benton's deceased father Emmett invented Synergy. Although the background of Jerrica's father isn't explored in the comics like in the cartoon, we can assume that Emmett must've been a little wealthy in order to make Synergy and get the instruments for Jerrica's future band. This, along with Jerrica's tight-knit family bond, allows Jem and The Holograms to be a wholesome, family-friendly band.

With the exception of Pizzazz, most of the Misfits don't come from rich families. As explained in The Misfits' spin-off comic book, all of the Misfits either came from broken families or had things that made them marginalized (e.g.. Stormer's fatness). In order to cope with that, The Misfits came together to form not only a band, but their own new family. If it meant not getting hurt emotionally, then the band would have this disorderly image that would keep people from focusing too much on personal weaknesses or marginalizations. This is demonstrated early in Jem and The Holograms Volume 1 when Pizzazz causes a scene at a coffee shop in order to keep people from noticing Kimber and Stormer interacting with each other.

If there is one advantage that The Misfits have over Jem and The Holograms as a band, it is that their rough band image allows them to be messy AF. Since Jem and The Holograms are expected to be this bubble-gum glam rock band, they can't express frustration or anxiety easily. However, an unexpected shake-up in the form of Silicia arrives in Volume 3's "Dark Jem" arc and changes Jerrica's perspective about being Jem. During this arc, Silicia, a corrupted version of Synergy, implants a virus into Synergy's holographic tech that turns Jem and The Holograms into a gothic band that mind controls people with their music. It also makes Jem kiss Rio, which dampens his romantic relationship with Jerrica.

By experiencing the shock of kissing Rio as Dark Jem, Jerrica snaps out of Silicia's mind control but becomes terrified to transform into Jem. When Jem is needed to collaborate with The Misfits to deactivate Silicia, Jerrica has a hologram of Jem do all the work. Not only is she afraid of being corrupted by Silicia again, but the infection has also blurred the lines between Jerrica and her Jem persona. Although Jerrica is able to become Jem again in Volume 4's "Enter The Stingers" arc due to Jem's professional obligations, Jerrica has now developed an identity crisis.

When this crisis first starts, Jerrica "forgets" to turn off the Jem hologram after a band rehearsal and is confronted about this by Aja and Kimber. Things get worse when The Holograms get a new drummer named Fox, who is secretly spying on the group for The Misfits. At the same time, Jem meets and falls for Riot, the lead singer of a new up-in-coming band The Stingers. The combination of professional responsibility, a new personal relationship, and fear of having her secret identity discovered, Jerrica dons her Jem persona for much longer than she usually does. As a result, Jerrica begins to see Jem as a real person rather than a separate persona.

Luckily, Aja and Kimber are there to help Jerrica start to resolve her identity issues. Jerrica has a talk with the two and decides to break up with Riot and later tells Rio the truth about her dual identity in Volume 5 of the series. The latter is an especially momentous decision because Jerrica never got to tell Rio the truth about Jem in the 80's cartoon. Understandably, Rio is angry and breaks up with Jerrica, but still cares enough to encourage Jerrica to come clean to the public about Jem. Since coming clean about Jem would most likely negatively impact Jerrica and her sister's professional careers, Jerrica has yet to do so.

Meanwhile, both Stormer and Blaze manage to be open with their queerness without it negatively impacting their careers thus far. When you consider how the Jem cartoon and Jerrica's dual identity gave a subtle message of comfort to LGBTQ viewers, having lesbian and trans characters become open about who they are is a major accomplishment. For Stormer, this occurs in two different storylines. Near the end of "Dark Jem" arc, Stormer and Kimber share their first public kiss onstage and as The Misfits and Jem and The Holograms perform together. The crowd goes wild, giving the two the name "Stimber".

Later on, Stormer decides to sign the contract to take part in a Misfits reality TV program despite the producers attempting to focus on a weight loss theme. Instead, Stormer decides to tell her own story that focuses on the struggles and triumphs she has had because she is fat, rather than despite the fact. By doing so, this allows Stormer to take control of her narrative and show the world a multi-faceted version of herself. At the same time, Blaze came out to The Misfits as trans during the "Dark Jem" arc after temporarily becoming their lead singer when Pizzazz injures her vocal chords.

Although Blaze was against coming out right away, her friend Clash encouraged her to do so in case The Misfits had a problem. Happily, the rest of The Misfits, including Pizzazz, are accepting of Blaze. Not only does Blaze remain in the band as lead guitarist after Pizzazz returns, but Pizzazz later encourages Blaze when she reveals that she wants to have her own band as a side project. Despite the comic not showing the public's reaction to Blaze being transgender, Blaze being welcomed among the band allows her story to be satisfying.

Despite not going public about her secret identity yet, Jerrica has continued to make progress in resolving her identity crisis. In the limited series Jem: Infinite, both the Holograms and The Misfits are sent to an alternate reality where Synergy reigns supreme after someone made the tech public. This crisis causes Jerrica to reconcile with her double life by revealing the truth to The Misfits and singing Jem's lyrics as Jerrica for the first time. She also realizes that Synergy shouldn't be used to hide herself with a new identity, but rather be used to create the best version of herself. This is seen when Jerrica makes a grand speech in the alternate universe and Synergy creates a hologram that combines Jerrica and Jem's identities.

Together, Jem and The Holograms and The Misfits demonstrate that there is a delicate balancing act when it comes to juggling multiple identities. In Volume 1 of the series, Rio Pacheco states, "Performance is just that; a performance. The real story is what happens behind the scenes." Having a public self clash with a private self can be difficult when the public self is expected to perform and adhere to a particular image. However, the stories of both bands show that having multiple identities doesn't mean that you have to lose yourself. Instead, you can make your own story with an identity that has your entire self.