Go go power rangers!

News just broke that they are going to reboot the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a new film series! Though I may now be 25, I would be doing my 5 year old self a disservice if I didn't take a moment to reflect on a childhood favorite.

The Power Rangers were a mainstay for any child of the 90's and for a kid who grew up without cable, it was one of the only cultural touchstones I got to participate in. Aside from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Power Rangers were the most important group of teenage vigilantes in my life.  

Looking back there is a lot of religious symbolism to be found in the Power Rangers.  Here is a list of just a few considerations: 

• The series takes place in Angel Grove
• Zordon acts as a father to all the rangers and benevolently gives them gifts and powers (Zordon being a blurry face in a tube is maybe a burning bush parallel)
• Zordon's assistant is Alpha (missing a few too many screws to be the Omega if you know what I mean)
• A diverse group of "teenagers with attitude" come together in one body to fight the forces of evil and protecting the unknowning citizens of Angel Grove
• Tommy, the Green Ranger is released from the power of evil and becomes good, being clothed in white light to become the White Ranger

 The Power Rangers are bold, powerful, yet very often humiliated in their battles.  And, nearly always, right at the very end when the evil seems closest to being defeated it is suddenly empowered and grows exponentially in size, so large that no one Ranger can defeat it alone.  Then the teens come together in the one body, Megazord, to combat evil together.  The fact that they are teenagers  makes it easier to accept their mistakes: they are growing heroes and will not do everything perfect!  They mess up, fight amongst them selves, and often need to seek forgiveness from Zordon and their friends.  In a silly way, the Power Rangers are just like us, saints in the making. 

Even in the most juvenile media, we can find kernels of truth.  That's why drama, literature, music, and films and television give us so much joy.  They are reflections of the truth of our lives. The point of this exercise is not to map the truth of the Church onto the art because it is a very weak comparison.  Rather, it's cool to see how some themes of our faith are reflected in entertainment and how we are joyful to find the symbolism and allegory hidden beneath the surface.  I find this especially pleasurable with Power Rangers because they are some of the first heroes I could relate to as a child, for they were not much more than children themselves.  They were also a community, not just one hero but a whole group, each who must rely on the other to succeed in warding off evil.  

Those are just a few reasons why I think it's worth thinking a little deeper about those childhood favorites in the light of the Catholic Church.  

Also, it's got a pretty badass theme song. 

God bless! 

~Onecatholicguy