two months ago, i took a week off from work for some sabbath/self-care time, and discovered that my favorite show from my childhood was now available on netflix. i warn you, dear reader(s?), that you will judge me when i tell you what show this is. it's okay. i'm okay with it.
that show, my friend(s?), is the mighty morphin power rangers. i'm sure you've at least heard of the show, even if you never watched it. and if you've never watched it, i want to say that you missed so much and didn't really miss anything at all at the same time. it was that kind of show.
so, anyway... i subsequently spent about more hours of my week off watching that show that i should have/should admit. (although in my defense, i only half-watched the show; it was playing in the background while i was doing other things, like sewing or cleaning my room.) anyway, as i re-watched the show that i grew up with, i suddenly found myself learning more about myself.
it was quite unexpected to have a children's television show like the mighty morphin power rangers be a vehicle through which i came to understand myself better, now in my mid-twenties. at the same, given God's sense of humor and God's timing, i was not surprised at all that i discovered the reruns at the time of my life that i did. God has a way of making things happen in the weirdest ways at the weirdest times.
anyway, as i watched one episode after another, what became increasingly obvious to me was that the power rangers taught me everything i initially knew/thought i knew about the american culture. perhaps more specifically, it has now become evident to me that everything i knew/expected about being a teenager in america, i learned from kimberly the pink ranger. (some of you who know me well might be experiencing the 'OMG, that actually makes SO much sense' moment that i had about two months ago. stay with me here.)
to put this in some sort of understandable context, it's probably important for me to mention that i arrived in the united states shortly after the original power rangers episodes first began to air. i caught it probably about halfway through the first season, back when i was a total fob - an awkward asian girl trying to fit into a new culture. when i started going to school, i heard some kids talking about power rangers and i knew i had to start watching the show so i could also talk about it with them.
over the next three or so years, i would then become obsessed with this show. i remember watching it every day when i came home from school. and i remember being absolutely obsessed with the kimberly, the pink power ranger. (side note: i will never, ever understand why trini, the asian power ranger, never became my favorite. maybe it's because i liked pink better, or because i wanted a skirt, like the pink ranger did. i don't know). whether it was conscious or not, kimberly the pink ranger became my role model and i wanted to do everything she did, including be a gymnast and have a boyfriend who knew karate and always managed to be at the right place at the right time.
it's funny. the more i watched the show, the more i understood about myself. with each episode, i found weird/quirky/interesting similarities between kimberly the pink ranger and me. i even remember having some of the same facial and verbal expressions and gestures as she does. i know, it's so cheesy and even now as i reflect on this, it sounds downright ridiculous. all i can say was, as a young asian immigrant who desperately wanted to not stick out, i simply accepted that the way teenagers acted in power rangers was the way teenagers acted in the u.s., and it in turn shaped the way i acted around/toward my friends, and how i expected them to act around/towards me.
honestly, i cannot explain why i was obsessed with that show. i feel like it permeated so much of my life. i had a best friend who loved the yellow ranger and we hung out all the time, pretending we were actually power rangers. i remember going over her house after school sometimes just to watch the show. i remember being in 4th grade and being envious of the kids whose parents bought them all the power ranger toys. i remember one christmas being so excited when i'd discovered that my uncle had bought me the vhs of the movie as my present that year (i proceeded to watch the movie several times that winter break, and more times subsequently).
but in all seriousness, re-watching that show helped me connect with a part of my childhood and my upbringing that i never even really thought of before. and i feel like i can write an entire book about how kimberly the pink ranger in some ways made me the person i am today. again, i am fully aware of how utterly preposterous it sounds to wax philosophic about something as insignificant as a children's tv show (it's almost as ridiculous as waxing philosophic about finding yourself).
i don't think there is an actual conclusion to this extended ridiculous thought. i'm not saying everyone should re-watch their favorite show from their childhood bc it will somehow help them unlock mysteries about themselves. i think, if this is going to be relevant to anyone out there, it's simply going to be that sometimes insight and growth come from the most unexpected places, usually in the most appropriate times.
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