I wouldn't say it is functionally telepathy, depending on how you define telepathy; they can only pick up/hear messages which are intentionally communicated/broadcast. They cannot pry into the minds of others. Except perhaps for Soundwave, but that's a function of an incredibly high-level sensor which can pick up and interpret the electronic signals of the brain, yadda-yadda.

Good point.

Also an interesting thought. By "dynamic vehicle kibble," do you mean something like Bluestreak's door-wing position reflecting its mood?

Sitting is far from the worst offense. I can tolerate it, though I appreciated that, if I recall correctly, the ship with Kup's crew in AHM which crash landed on Cybertron showed the characters with neither seats not conventional ship controls, but rather had them operating the ship standing up and their hands plugged into the consoles. A good subtle touch to reflect their robotic nature.

That's the story I'm referring to (The one revolving around Optimus and Ironhide reminiscing). But unless I have my timeline mixed up, I think Wheeljack was referring to having an uncovered face. I believe the issues of the Costa ongoing which were flashbacks of Megatron's incarceration and abuse at the hands of Whirl and the subsequent fallout were from prior to the OP spotlight. In that, Optimus/Orion is shown to have a mouth behind the plate when he forces his way into the Senate chamber, and his plate is partially broken.

I thought it was a dumb visual from the first time I saw it in Stormbringer. It was really ludicrous in LSotW, where Roche seemed to be trying to play Tarantino, and seems to have been another thing Milne unfortunately adopted from Roche.

Yes, show damage in a more mechanical fashion rather than trying to mimic human viscera.

Exactly. Some things may have "always been this way," but the audience has changed. The media we are talking about is not being read primarily by pre-teens. I'd venture to say that the demographic reading IDW is largely over twenty, maybe even over thirty. The media can and should evolve to match the audience. The audience would, I hope, be more sophisticated now, and not just want Sunbow all over again.

I could swear that I've seen a couple of examples, but I'm too lazy to check at the moment. The one I am positive about is the text story about Roadbuster reading to the still comatose Springer, then opening up about some intimate, vulnerable stuff. The story climaxes with a tear welling in Springer's eye, indicating he is sensate to some degree, and is finally beginning to recover.

I never interpreted the effects of Tailgate's eyes to be tears, though I seem to recall reading that some of the creators might. I hope not. I always saw that as flashing or even sparking, which I liked as it again played up a subtle difference between human and Cybertronian that made sense with their electronic nature.

Yes. And why is someone like Swerve, who was never on earth, so particularly fascinated with (modern English pop) human culture?

The one reason that sparks work for me is that it minimizes the can of worms that is transformer reproduction. It is established and logical that their bodies are disposable, being able to be repaired and even replaced wholesale as needed or desired. Being robots, our primary model for their consciences is AI, incredibly complex programs. But if that is all that is at the core of a transformer, then it begs the question of why cybertronians don't copy their personality programs and reproduce themselves ad infinitum for even greater immortality. Of why didn't each side during the great war just constantly whip up new bodies and new character programs to try to win the war through overwhelming force? Much as I dislike the seeming analogy to the human soul, the Spark provides solution to prevent the sorts of things that happened in the Sunbow cartoon, where Wheeljack or whomever could create the dinobots or whoever HasTak needed to be sold. More than just a computer program, each Cybertronian is a largely unique, irreproducible person as dictated by their spark ("cold constructed" issues aside).

It isn't a perfect solution, but I haven't seen or been able to think of one better.

But CNA and other pseudo-biological nonsense? Toss out that junk.

Great points.

 

Since the conversation has evolved to Cybertronian physiology, and we've touched on their faces: How do you think the faces work? I liked DF's view because, lacking a skin, it seemed less human, more mechanical (though I can see why some feel it is *more* anthropomorphic). But if we take the more conventional rendition of TF faces, how do they work? They move and show expression, so the surface of the face cannot be the same sort of surface structure as the rest of their bodies (which are rigid and require joints to facilitate movement). Do you see it as some sort of fine metal or plastic mesh? Is it a rubber material?

 

I tend to prefer some sort of natural evolution origin to the Transformers as well, even though it is scientifically problematic. Though created by advanced life forms is infinitely preferable to divine creation. Not that an in-universe religious mythology is bad; only establishing that perception as provable fact is bad.

Though why only one Cybertronian religion/creation myth/pantheon?

 

It's be interesting if on Cybertron, shortwave broadcast signal was the primary form of communication. After all, why talk openly when you can communicate just as easily on Inter-Autobot radio privately? And when Transformers go to an alien planet, and their computers load them with the local languages, they actually transmit code on those frequencies, and have a filter that decodes native speech for mental consumption. And this might be convenient, but while they can switch on and off their use of native speech, they usually don't because A) it's not something they consciously think about and B) it's just easier to leave the damn program running than shut it off.

Well, see that's the beautiful thing about the use of the term "consciousness"; we don't really know how it works. Indeed, while we're getting better and better at creating programs to simulate the workings of the human mind, we have no idea how (or even if) we can replicate a state of awareness.

That's the "Primal Program" in Bob Budiansky's Matrix, the sentience that Optimus Prime holds so sacred. It's why it's such an important distinction to note that Prime's mind was transferred into a floppy disk and then later back into a body, rather than him actually dying and them copying his personality components or whatever over. Because, like us, once that light fades, Transformers don't know how to get it back.

Of course, they can shut all nonessential functions down and enter a state of semi-permanent living death for four million years, but you know, things shouldn't be 1:1.  

Well in the old Marvel run there were two reasons; for one, they were dealing with limited resources, especially on Earth, so while Optimus and Megatron might be specimen heavyweights (of their day), not everyone can be. Secondly, they sort of did enter a bit of an arms race for a while there, cranking out Devastator, then Omega Supreme, then the Special Teams; then, as the reached the technical apex of bigger, they started getting weird. Pretenders, Headmasters, Targetmasters, Powermasters, and whatever else.

Of course this was all to sell toys... But still pretty sophisticated in it's own right.

And there's nothing that precludes putting caps on this. It makes sense that a mind would get attached to it's body's cybernetic interface after a while, or that what the Matrix produces might only be suitable for certain interfaces to begin with, rather than the mystical talisman tailor making brains for a new type of body.

Maybe instead of being built on Earth, potential Combiner members were drafted (or they volunteered; Autobot gotta Autobot) into experimental programs because their neural interface could take the strain of Combination. The same for whatever special abilities/traits.

Or whatever. I dunno; but let's not resort to "Vague Glowy life balls" so quickly, eh guys?

 

There should never be a completely provable explanation for their creation. Leave it ambiguous and let them struggle with it just as we do; that's definitely some humanization I'm all for.

And there's only one religion because the DJD has stamped out all the rest, apparently  

 

Yeah, stuff like that... but not just as an artistic tool to convey a gesture of mood (which is basic cartooning) but rather a more functional display of how versatile their anatomies are. It's easy to treat "wings" as an appendage... but also looking at the way that their individual limbs and body might be able to configure itself... rather than viewing it all in terms of human limbs that only bend one way, and the overuse of Transformers who have a conventional spinal column connected to their head (a la Bayformers).

I think that there are some easy rationalizations for using sitting positions though, especially on vehicles (ie, in environments prone to movement or pitching). Part of the reason is just that, as bipeds, TFs aren't that stable. They would need to rely on a system of gyroscopic sensors and constantly adjusting actuators. Being able to sit in an "at rest" position actually would make them more stable, and enable them to conserve energy.

I don't mind the idea of chairs... but I agree that the concept of "chair" could be reconsidered to allow for their different physical shapes.

That was a Roberts story. It's true, he tells Pax that he "removed" his faceplate. What he says next is weird though "...mouths are very 'in' right now. I'm thinking of getting one myself." The wording kind of implies that he doesn't already have one under his faceplate.

Yeah, I remember that now.

  That's cute... but with this fandom...  

However, I think it's not just G1 nostalgia, but rather an infusion of a different kind of fandom... the people who might be more recent fans, but are in it or the fanfics and sexy cosplay aspects. People who lack some of that G1 "mechanical aesthetic" foundation, who instead mostly relate to TFs in the same way they would relate to any other cartoon character... whether it's robots, or anime monsters, or furries, or whatever.

I think that was the intention though... his visor was flashing, but in a way that was meant to evoke cartoonish bawling. It's a bit of artistic license that (thanksfully) spares us the spectacle of Tailgate gushing energon from his visor.  

He's a johnny-come-lately hipster. He wants to be in on the latest fad like the cool kids, so instead he overdoes it.  

The one reason that sparks work for me is that it minimizes the can of worms that is transformer reproduction. It is established and logical that their bodies are disposable, being able to be repaired and even replaced wholesale as needed or desired. Being robots, our primary model for their consciences is AI, incredibly complex programs. But if that is all that is at the core of a transformer, then it begs the question of why cybertronians don't copy their personality programs and reproduce themselves ad infinitum for even greater immortality. Of why didn't each side during the great war just constantly whip up new bodies and new character programs to try to win the war through overwhelming force?[/QUOTE]Or.... I dunno... save Optimus Prime's identity on a floppy disk.  

Or, again going back to Marvel, save them in weird crystals that can then be beamed into new bodies. I mean, there were some interesting ideas mixed in with the stupid ones, but like you said... that's a whole can of worms that we can avoid by attaching some kind of corporeal permanence to their sense of being... the Spark accomplishes that, but I suppose you could also just make a case for their neural nets (especially after long centuries of refinement in one body) being too complex to easily duplicate, and is calibrated already for the specifics of their main chassis.

I mean, we haven't quite figured out brain transplants yet... so there could be similar stumbling blocks in Cybertronian medecine as well.

UGH! Yes, please.

My own way of handling it would be to imply that they DO actually have a number of small plates with very small seams that facilitate facial expressions and movement, and that the rest is just artistic license. Once you get into "rubbery" faces or "liquid metal" it all falls apart for me. I liked the way that EJ Su toed that line... his faces were both traditional, but also showed some means of mechanical articulation. They never looked "soft".

I'm divided on the notion of divine creation... at least in the sense of a cosmic sci-fi comic-book setting, "gods" are functionally just huge, powerful space entities. The notion of the Primus myth having its roots in reality works for me... though I also like the idea that it could be heavily mythologized, and inconsistent, and rife with contradictions. We got a taste of that in the Necrobot story, actually. I didn't like the way it went down exactly, but I liked the general notion behind it. I think that sense has kind of been lingering all along in IDW, the theme of "mythopoeia"... the sense of greater forces lingering beyond the margin of true knowledge. These are not necessarily "gods" in a pure sense... they've taken on the gravitas of the sacred over time though. I expect the Knights of Cybertron to deliver a similar result.

Yeah, I think that's the real value of the idea of an "aligned" continuity. Rather than taking the 13 Primes and fully integrating them (which it seems that Hasbro mandated some time ago), it would make sense to reinforce the idea of interrelated but competing concepts of myth and religion. Some TFs believe that the Knights came after the 13 Primes. Some believe they were the same people. Some don't believe in the Mortilus myth, and see Primus as an undivided force. Some take all these things as simple stories to transmit values and attach no real weight to them...

To be fair, Roberts has hinted at those kinds of divisions all along... MMM, Functionism, those born-again types like Springarm and Skids, Cyclonus as an oldschool orthodox type, etc, etc...

Tha's very much how I always logicked it out. Obviously they must do something similar when they communicate in zero-atmosphere environments... though I do wonder if "Autobot radio" is really private, or if the native transmission and reception abilities of all TFs are mostly standardized (sort of like the human hearing range), so such things become audible anyway. And as someone mentioned earlier, if this kind of radiowave sensitivity is a "natural" ability of your people, then do you even make the distinction between what is "audible sound" and what is perceived in other ways? After all, for them, the notion of not being able to hear radiowaves is sort of alien.

For example, would cybertronian music include both sonic effects and radiowave transmissions, in some sort of blended sensory orchestration?

Well said, but just the same... that floppy disk shit was still stupid.  

haha! It's like I said the same thing just a couple of paragraphs up.  

This reminds me of this old bit from Computron's Tech Specs...

"Computron is an unfortunate example of being too technologically advanced for his own good. Centuries ago on Cybertron the five Autobots who comprise Computron agreed to apply the new engineering science of mechanical combinatics to themselves so that they could unite to form a super-Autobot to more effectively combat the Decepticons. Scattershot, however, insisted that their combination be better than anyone else's, that the contribution of each of the five component Autobots to the whole be maximized in every way. The result was not what anyone expected: Computron was created, but as he was programmed to thoroughly and exhaustively analyze the input of each of the five who comprise him, he takes several minutes to form a consensus opinion and make a decision."

I just like the way it totally shifts our perspective on the Technobots (they aren't really advanced anymore... they're like the obsolete prototype that's full of glitches), and gives us a little peek into the process that yielde combiners. Totally flies in the face of the G1 cartoon version, but whatever.  

Well, we're there now, unfortunately. Vague Glowy Lifeballs that spontaneously sprout out of the ground.

Though at least that arbitrarily enforces a degree of scarcity.

Yep!  

zmog

 

Very interesting point.

Definitely not. An electronic/mechanical "consciousness" should have some signficant differences from biological (bioelectric?) consciousness. Its an interesting thought experiment, one which Transformers is ripe to explore, to consider what difference in psychology and consciousness between different physiological types, and what would be the shared traits of all sentients.

That's one thing I really like about how Roberts has developed the idea of the spark. It better explains why not every character is uploaded into the body of an Optimus or Megatron, or even an Omega Supreme. Most sparks are simply not capable of handling the demands of that sort of body. The original Marvel explanation as I understand it works okay as long as the Cybertronians are kept on a relatively scarce resource environment like Earth, or perhaps even war-devastated Cybertron. But all you have to do is introduce more resources, and it becomes ridiculous.

[and later, from Smog:]

Well, in the fiction so far, we've seen at least six brain transplants of a sort in the IDW fiction (Bumblebee got a new body, and then was moved back again shortly before his demise because of the damage to his new body; Prowl was put in a new body while under the control of Bombshell; and Megatron has had, what, three transplants). Under the model you two propose, would those upgrades be possible? Being mechanical, it makes sense that the bodies are in a sense, disposable. They can much more easily receive transplants of limbs or "organs" than can organic humans, who have to worry about their bodies rejecting the transplants. Under Roberts' model, the limit to what can be transplanted or added seems to be merely the capacity of the spark to handle the demands of the new limbs, organs, or other components. What would be the limits of transplanting? What is the core of the robot which cannot be changed? Would there be any limit to individual upgrades, as there is with Roberts' spark model?

But I'm completely open to models that don't involve vague glowy balls that are seemingly implanted in the ground by the finger of God (see religious griping below).

Among the Decepticons, yes. But that doesn't explain the lack of religious variety among the Autobots or neutrals. Not to mention that religion is notoriously difficult to really stamp out. They often go underground in the face of persecution, but are rarely extinguished. At least in human history, religious variety is rarely completely wiped out--in fact, persecution sometimes makes it grow stronger. And while many of the early Western pantheistic religious were eliminated in *part* as a result of the, um...missionary zeal of Christianity, but there are still a dozen or so other major faiths around the globe that compete with Christianity, and even a few faiths still in existence that go back to far earlier in human history despite the rise of fervent faiths like Christianity and Islam (Zoroastrianism foremost among them). Not to mention the syncretism that enabled the absorption of many of those "pagan" faiths, and lead to variations and division within Christianity and other major faiths.

But yes, leave things ambiguous about the origins of the Cybertronians. I think the yearning for understanding about one's origins, and the difficulty in obtaining a certainty about that understanding, would likely be among the universal sentient traits.

Hmmm...That is an interesting thought.

It is seemingly the intention, but I think it works. Eyes as the "window to the soul" seems to be another trait that could carry over to most sentients (at least those with conventional eyes). I don't have a problem with the idea of eyes varying in brightness to reflect feelings, flashing to register extreme emotion or alarm, etc. It could kind of act as blushing or flushing, since they lack skin and blood for blushing (or for "hackles," or for going cold and clammy, etc). And just as some humans have better control over their body's emotional reactions, so would some Cybertronians have better control over their eye intensity. Tailgate, as a child (to the extent that Cybertronians can be children in the human sense) would logically be less likely to control those things.

I also was intrigued by Roberts' suggestions that Cybertronians can control their eye color (the exchange between THunderclash and Drift). Some interesting potential there for having an alien alternative to some human metatextual communication or bodily responses.

But why would it be cool among the cool crowd?

Intriguing.

I personally don't care for that, but that's my bias against the mystical in my SF. I'm really tired of religion that is true. I loved BSG, for example, but it really bothered me that the myths, prophecies, and visions turning out to come concretely true (if not always how characters thought they would), and that there ended up being divine messengers or servants nudging things in certain directions. I really would like to see more sci-fi in which religion played a significant role, but in a way entirely like it does IRL, where nothing comes out unambiguously true; there are no unambiguous miracles, like the parting of the red sea or feeding thousands from a loaf of bread and five fish, but just minor things that religious characters can interpret as miracles, but that can just as easily be perceived as coincidence.

 

Oh this is a good topic and one I have actually thought about quite a bit. I used to think the proper way to characterize the Transformers was as very alien and hard to relate to. In time I've come to realize that while that may be more 'realistic' from a science fiction perspective, it is certainly not the best way to go as far as telling compelling stories. We have to be able to relate to the characters to a degree. So I've grown to accept the 'humanization' of the characters.

 

That's funny though... I find it kind of works the opposite way. Stories where TFs are treated as little more than big metal humans tend to lose my interest, because there's nothing new there. Meanwhile, stories that tend to nod to the weirdness or differentness of their culture, their biology, their history... the ways that being an immortal machine alien gives you a different perspective on things... that's always way more interesting, I find.

I don't believe that making TF's different from humans actually means making them "hard to relate to". After all, if you can't relate to the different perspective of an alien character in science-fiction, how can you ever expect to relate to the experience of someone who lives in a different country or culture than you do... ? The human reader's capacity for empathy is way more versatile than that.

I couldn't care less about Nautica's high school reunion, or TFs making West Wing jokes. But I was fascinated by the forged/constructed divisions, or the concept of 'info creep', or the premise of how an ungendered, asexual society might form long term bonds of affection outside the context of physical love. Good sci-fi stories take you somewhere else, and make the unknown familiar by finding the "human" in circumstances that we don't expect to find it... which forces us to stretch our minds just a bit. Otherwise, why follow alien robots in space at all?

zmog

 

Yeah, it's hard to balance the notion of scarcity with the "arms race" mentality that comes from a steady march of toy gimmicks. Fortunately, since IDW mostly deals with old characters and elements, the stress of pushing the lates gimmick is not as oppressive as it was in the old days... Combiner Wars notwithstanding.  

Like I've said before, this is what I like about Sparks... they introduce a randomization factor. You can't just build super-robots whenever you please... the Spark provides a convenient mediation that allows for more variety. I realize that makes the Spark a narrative device of sorts, but so be it.

It depends. When someone gets "a new body"... how much of that body is brand new? Is it a completely new body? Or was there something essential preserved from the old body, to smooth that transition?

In the case of Prowl and Bumblebee, I could see it working that way. It's not so much a whole new body, but rather a heavy retooling of the existing body with a bunch of new parts. It could be that whatever stands in for the central nervous system, along with the brain and the T-cog, are all preserved from the original.

With Megatron, it's less clear, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't bug me when Megatron hopped bodies like that. The first big shift was not so bad... his "stealth" body was the product of a huge undertaking by Soundwave and Shockwave working together... it wasn't just a spark-swap. It was a whole production. Going to the body after that, though... (one that hypothetically is still designed to combine with Devastator, incidentally)... that felt a bit too neat and tidy.

Still, we can always fold that in under "Megatron Exceptionalism"... we don't know what kind of POP Spark Megatron has*, but it's clear that it possesses a tremendous amount of power and versatility. It could be that he acclimates much faster than ordinary bots might.

Well, I kind of like the idea that individual upgrades or size increases might be restrained by the potency of your Spark, and that even normal Sparks might have a wide degree of variation in how "bright" they are. How well transplants "take" could be determined by the quality of the parts, the quality of the engineer who built the system, and the learning curve of the individual Spark.

There's some precedent for this, with Ratchet's search for "Forged" replacement hands... some of that might have been superstition, but at the same time, Ratchet is a bit cynical to rely too heavily on that. It could be that as a Forged, he needed parts that were going to be compatible and finely tuned enough to work with his system/Spark... and mass-produced Constructed parts wouldn't quite cut it.

Hypothetically, a new body built by a second-rate surgeon might also have issues, because even some high-grade parts don't "play well together" or because the system wasn't calibrated properly (anyone who builds computers understands this)... and this might lead to a TF who is awkward, and has an ill-fitting body for his Spark (and who will need a lot of maintenance in the future).

I like the chaos factor the glowy balls bring to the table, but as you can see, I also really want to retain as much of the "mechanical" as possible in the system overall.

One thing that bothered me about the Shadowplay story-arc... for the most part, everything discussed above still works with MTMTE's presentation of Sparks, etc... except for the relinquishment clinics. I mean, Chromedome even mentioned how bodygloved TFs tended to be a bit twitchy, and unaccustomed to their new bodies, which makes sense... but we're left with the impression that when someone rents a new body from a relinquishment clinic, all they do is a spark swap... but what about Rossum's Trinity? What about the brain?? I don't see how you can have something called a "brain" as an essential part of a system, where if it is destroyed, the consciousness of the entity is wiped out... and then have a situation where it is just left it behind and you can swap Sparks, as if all your memories and whole identity is only contained in the Spark.

It could be that brain-swaps are part of the process, and it just wasn't mentioned. It would make sense if the inconsistencies we've seen were just that... errors and consistencies. It would be nice if it were sorted out properly finally.

I think that's the key right there... that spirituality among TFs has become intertwined and syncretic. For all intents and purposes, Cybertron is (unfortunately) treated as a pretty small place, and by the time we reach the pre-war era, I could see how all the major religions on Cybertron would have been introduced to each other, and had some time to assimilate a bit (most religions are pretty patchwork after all), and to diversify from common origins... to the degree that common threads exist across the board, even if the means of observing these traditions is different.

This would be even more likely if some of the primal events in the Cybertronian cosmology were actually defined, quantifiable truths... like say... Metrotitans aren't just a myth, the Knights of Cybertron existed, Primus is real... etc... more below on that though.

Of course, there's always the issue that gets pointed out occasionally... that it makes no sense for an optical sensor to glow at all... but whatever. It's a conceit to genre convention.  

Yeah... I mean, obviously it's one means to get around the Autobots=blue/Decepticons=red thing without lapsing into preexisting faction determinism.

Well, for a number of reasons. It has long been established that TFs have their own culture, and as such, can become fascinated by other cultures (Earth in most of those old examples). As you pointed out earlier, a number of bots spend a long time stationed undercover on Earth, so they'd be in a position to pick up bits of the local colour. This would be perhaps an even stronger impulse in a species who has suffered a kind of cultural apocalypse via millions of years of wars, and the loss of their homeworld. With so much of their own history and arts and learning likely destroyed by the war, it could make them more prone to adopting and assimilating xenoculture.

In this example, Bluestreak is the hipster. He has a thing for Earth cinema... he's "that guy". Maybe in a couple of years, he'll be on to something else, and Earth stuff will be old hat... but for now, he's that cool guy who knows all about cult Earth media. Swerve on the other hand, isn't a real afficionado. He wants people to think he's cool... so what does he do? He doesn't just watch movies, he doesn't curate his experience... he just bulk-downloads every bit of digital information they have on Earth stuff, and as a result he ends up overwhelmed, and largely mired in junk television (sit-coms, etc).

So why Earth? I guess in this case it comes from Bluestreak, who was (presumably) on Earth. But I agree that it would be nice to see some OTHER examples of xeno-culture... or even a hint of a wider sample of EARTH culture, rather than just the most mainstream UK and North American stuff.  

Hey, don't mistake me here. Just because it may turn out that there WAS a Guiding Hand, or there WAS a powerful space-entity that terraformed Cybertron first doesn't mean that everything that's said about them is true. Remember, we ARE still working in a science-fiction paradigm, so things like the Dead Universe, or quantum energies, or time travel all exist... there's a lot of potential for "fantastical" things that aren't necessarily "magic". Like the Necrobot example I used, there can be a lot of genuinely marvelous things out there, that are nonetheless not "spiritual" and may not carry a deep cosmic meaning... instead they can be shrouded in superstition, but still with a kernel of truth in there.

Obviously, the idea of Primus actually having existed doesn't necessarily validate any claims to omniscience, or prophecies coming true, or divine providence, etc...

It's like Norse mythology; when you really look at it, it seems pretty obvious that what you're really reading is a folkloric, mythologized, amalgamated, exaggerrated account of tribal histories, that has accumulated fabrications and the froth of divinity around it over the ages. I would say most religions have that at the root, but it's easier to use an archaic example like Norse myths, so as not to offend anyone.  

zmog

 

I've read that the best escapist fiction actually tricks the audience into psychologically grappling with that which they are trying to escape from in the first place, except in disguise. I don't think we've been tricked in any real sense by what's been presented so far (taking note of the examples you gave, in particular), but they do make us think, if we are so inclined, and give serious consideration to those issues and how they affect us. I said all that to say this: I'm going to have faith that we will get back to that point soon. With few exceptions, I HATE sitcoms...and most of what's on television, really...so the forays of the last few months have been painful. But, much like I've done in having to live with those who like sitcoms, I'll just grin and bear it until what I want to see is on.

 

I'm not so sure. It's paradoxical but often true that when you're working with symbolism and metaphor, if you make things a bit too direct, the potency of the metaphor suffers. Good fiction has its own life, but can lead you think about other issues... I suppose this is what we mean when we discuss things as being "layered" or "nuanced" and how this makes them richer.

In the case of some of the recent stories, it feels like the inner life of the Transformers setting has lost some of its own weight, instead bluntly redirected towards serving the needs of really obvious, naked analogies... analogies to everyday themes that are themselves sort of banal (speaking mostly of MTMTE here). The different layers are no longer self-supporting, but instead acting as weak props for each other.

Take the movie High Noon as an example. Although it could be simply taken as a Western about a Sheriff on his last day on the job, who decides to stand and fight alone against the desperado who is coming to town for revenge, it's really about community and personal responsibility, and especially in relation to the HUAC hearings, McCarthyism and the blacklists in Hollywood in the 1950s. The thing is, the movie still works simply as a western adventure taken at face value. It works excellently, and the metaphor doesn't need to be plainly stated and obvious to convey itself... which somehow makes it more effective than simply a 90 minute soapbox piece about McCarthyism.

Which is not be too grandiose... we're still talking about space robots here. However, all of this is to say that the metaphors and messages actually work better when they are woven together invisibly, rather than being too direct in their parallels.

zmog

 

This.
Although don’t they have an energon converter? In the original cartoon it’s internal. And about being active while recharging. Well maybe they charge up quicker when not being active.

And as for the CNA and other pseudo biological crap...

Don’t throw it away. Burn it. Burn it so it will never come back.