So I finally started watching TFA; and, while I’ve not seen all of it yet, and I missed a few episodes, there’s what seems to me to be a recurring theme that I find frankly pretty disturbing and which makes me ask: is it being written this way on purpose?
‘Cause, see, first we have the Dinobots, and then Wreck-Gar, and then the ‘Structies; and in every case, wherein the newly awakened ‘bots fail to measure up to some not-explicitly-defined-or-explained metric, or they make bad choices in large part because of the Autobots’ prejudices and/or refusal to actually EXPLAIN ANYTHING, the new guys are effectively exiled. And I gotta say, if that’s how Autobots treat you? One strike and you’re out, without even getting a “hi, welcome to Earth, here are the rules” rundown? Hell yeah, I’d be talking to the ‘Cons. (The ‘Structies episode really pissed me off, in case that was unclear.)
It’s more obviously intentional in the flashbacks, that the Autobots are coming from some sort of military structure and the attitudes and social mores related to that are deliberately depicted to reflect that; Sentinel is clearly intended to be an authoritarian jerkwad, and it’s possible – even likely – that the prejudices and crappy attitude that he exemplifies are part and parcel of the Elite Guard culture?
And here’s the thing … if this is actually being done on purpose, if the show is actually intentionally written to make an adult audience go, “… whoa, wait, that’s really not okay,” then that’s honestly really cool and I have mad respect. But if it’s just lazy writing and flat characterization and some particularly egregious black-and-white Purity-culture level BS, then I’m going to be hard-pressed to want to watch more of it. Especially when there’s such brilliant fic out there which does incorporate that level of nuance, where the ‘bots aren’t pure shiny heroes and the ‘cons did, in fact, have a reason to be pissed off – @mllemusketeer, @astolat, @reyairia and @lyresnake, I’m lookin’ at you.
//cracks knuckles
‘aight, my dude.
Yes, Zuzu and I portray the autobots and the decepticons as more nuanced in Battlesleep. And yes, the Autobots have their flaws. I think, in a way, it was meant to parallel the red scare back in the 50s. There is a reason why the Autobots are so paranoid; had it not been for the invention of spacebridges the cons would have kicked their asses.
(Funnily enough, despite the red scare parallels, it’s implied in the Almanac that it’st he cons that lean heavily capitalistic and the bots that are more socialist but hey let’s skip that for now).
That being said, I think the writers of TFA did not show enough of the Decepticons being evil compared to what is said in the almanac and whatnot. The Decepticons developed a chemical/bioweapon shown as the rust plague and tested it against their own army. Lucifer is implied to be a concentration camp. Megatron decided he wanted to destroy Earth over a ridiculous misunderstanding. The bots might have their issues but you’re trying to compare say, a capitalist united states to a totalitarian dictatorship. The thing is, between fanfiction villifying the Autobots and the fact that we just assume that villains gotta be villains and forget how awful they’re being, we often end up paying more attention to the bad mistakes the “good side” is doing, which causes an unintentional magnification effect.
Are the bots flawed? Yes. I like that about TFA, they are flawed and they go about things the wrong way. They are, however, not functionalist or totalitarian, they’ve just been through a lot of shit culturally.
Not to mention, holy shit, can you imagine what would happen if it was found out that the Director of National Intelligence was a fucking foreign spy?
There has been lazy writing; Sentinel being the dickish buffoon was a result of that. Still, Sentinel may be a dick, and dislike organics, but he never threatened genocide over it. And he had good reason to be disgusted at Blackarachnia. She was a traitor and was doing horrific experiments on Wasp, he had every right to attack her.
And despite lots of writers’ claims that the Autobots are functionist, there is absolutely no evidence of that – to the contrary, Bulkhead was allowed to switch professions.
Also Sentinel =/= all Autobots. The Council actually disliked him a lot and fought with him over a lot of his decisions, which shows that his behavior was particularly disruptive, and not the norm.
Anyway, if you’ve been reading Battlesleep and you’ve taken from it that the Decepticons are the lesser of the two evils, I recommend you read it again because that was clearly not our intention.
No worries – I definitely know the ‘Cons are not the good guys. I was just really surprised and taken-aback by how the Autobots – specifically Optimus – reacted to the Dinobots, Wreck-Gar, and the Constructicons, and it made me curious if that was me being overly sensitive or if the writers were setting up a certain amount of “hey, even the good guys can make bad decisions; what’s important is how you fix it once you realize it was a bad decision.”
FWIW, one of the many reasons that I like to write villains like the Cons is because most simplified hero narratives have blatantly inconsistent villains. They want the villain to be intriguing and appealing and powerful (so you enjoy watching them), but they also want them to just be the bad guy so the hero has an excuse to pound them. That inconsistency opens up the entire story.
(The heroes are ALSO often inconsistent, but generally the narrative works overtime to make them look good by the end, and I am a suspicious reader who gets contrary when a creator is telling me something too hard that way.)
The truth is that neither Decepticons or Autobots are good nor bad guys. They are not real. “Canon” is not real. It’s all just a story. And the stories you or I tell are literally just as true as the story by whoever wrote the original cartoon or movie or comic. Canon is just a convenience. It’s a bunch of building blocks that your audience can recognize. But we’re good at recognition: you can take a block and turn it upside down and put it on an angle or chop it in half and people will say “oh hey I recognize that” and we can enjoy the ways in which it’s the same and also the ways in which it’s been changed.
I haven’t actually seen the episodes you’re describing so can’t talk about them specifically, but in any canonical TF story, their actual goal is to sell toys, and everything else gets subordinated to that goal: characterization of both Autobots and Decepticons, the worldbuilding, the plot, etc. Thinking as a TFA writer, if you have to introduce a bunch of new robots in an episode, and you want Optimus and team to also have screentime in that episode, then you need extreme conflict between Optimus & team and the new robots or else you don’t get enough punching.
As for should you keep watching, FWIW, I myself watch only as much of canon as I need to get what people in fandom are talking about, and after that primarily to get some more fun new blocks to work with. An episode of canon is like a new Lego kit. I don’t really want the thing in the box, I want to expand my ability to play.
“in any canonical TF story, their actual goal is to sell toys”
Truth Coming Out of Her Well To Shame Fankind
Well-stated on all counts 😀
Tag: more is good
It just occurred to me a lot of people look at TFA Optimus and go What A Cinnamon Roll lol. I do enjoy those posts but that’s someone who was ambitious to meet “the enemy,” was a trained soldier, handled danger stoically, and pretty much was ready to kill
Watch the first episode and you will see.
And last episode when he told Megatron he didn’t deserve death. (Death on the battlefield would at least be an honor wouldn’t it. He’s just as ferocious as Megatron.)
TFA is a very interesting show.
#as much as i enjoy those posts #it is the canonly conflicted and complex Optimus that i like #he is a perfect match to tfa megs #sweet sometimes but dry and stern most of the times #has a heart but far from a sweet summer child #ambitious #transformers: animated #optimus prime #He bought into the agenda wholeheartedly most of the times. Even when he was himself a victim of the system. (via mylovelyrainblog)
my favourite example for “hardcore straight to business things” op does is during transwarped. sari is at their base, recovering from her deadly upgrades as megatron-controlled omega supreme is attacking detroit.
well, megatron’s going to freaking kill them, so optimus tells ratchet to get ready to use this child—this small human child that they have been protecting and caring for for a whole season—and to turn her back into a weapon.
they don’t end up doing this of course, because ratchet is all about his morals, but optimus went right for that. the fact that she was a friend or he would be putting a child into danger had no apparent bearing on his decision at that time. you have no choice but to fight dirty when you’re faced with impossible odds.
and there was that one time bulkhead brought in the constructicons. optimus remarked that he didn’t think that the constructicons were capable of learning anything but pounding more motor oil. there’s that initial distrust and discrimination. he later remarks that they still have a chance to become autobots, but what a contradiction, when he didn’t believe in them in the first place?
you are so right with the way megatron contrasts with optimus in tfa. that’s a thing i didn’t even think about. like… when optimus reaches out to people, it’s genuine, but ultimately stilted and awkward. he means to help with all his spark, but he doesn’t know how to express it. megatron, meanwhile, reaches out perfectly. he tells people exactly what they want to hear as smoothly as silk. but, ultimately, it’s artificial. he doesn’t mean a word.
That’s totally it! Optimus has this autobot commonwealth mindset “every bot is a cog in the great Autobot machine.” He was trained in the elite guard academy to be a leader, actually on a fast track up to the top. That combined with his honorable and compassionate nature created the unique, conflicted bot that he is. He’s not all sunshine. He’s got ambitions, painful regrets, elitism and a hive mind in him as well. (I’d say more about the commonwealth but that’s another topic.)
That contrast you mentioned is so on point! Megatron is definitely better at reading people than Optimus. He’s a master manipulator. I’d add that as “the enemy” we didn’t get to see as much of Megatron, but there still is a decency underneath all that using people. Like when he (not so nicely) gave a chance of surrendering to the meagerly repair crew? Didn’t hurt Sari when she was trying to defend the Allspark? Asked for death instead of cussing or begging in that last episode? Things like that.
But in spite of that decency tho, he indeed smoothly tell others what they want to hear and uses them without a second thought, without genuineness. However as I’m trying to squint for positivities here, lets see under what conditions he’d use that tactic:
Situation 1: in Dr. Sumdac’s lab, he tricked Sumdac to repair his body and hide him from the Autobots
Situation 2: Played up his vulnerability to prevent Omega Supreme from killing him immediately.
Situation 3: Give the Constructions fine oil and praise their worthiness in order to employ them for his spacebridge construction.
(And just for fun, situations 4: catfished that poor scientist pretending to be a human lady in some choose your adventure book.)
In contrast, he’s pretty straightforward with his Decepticons. He seemed a bit sad even, when he mused that he had been betrayed by “one of his own.” It seems Megatron mostly uses this kind of underhanded manipulation on “others”, especially when he’s in absolute disadvantage, under someone else’s power, and trying to get out of a dangerous situation.
In situation 3 with the constructions tho, I think he did mean what he said. He used the constructicons because he did see their value, unlike Blitzwing who took one look and disregarded them as brainless brutes.
The Decepticons are chaotic evil, Megatron still trashed a human city, but the Autobots aren’t great either. I’d even say they are an ordered evil. And regular bots like Bumblebee and Optimus are pretty much brainwashed in their lies and rhetorics. There’re tons of subtext in TFA, which make it a truly great show, in my opinion!
P. S. I think the reason Optimus obsessedly reminded the Decepticons, especially Megatron his name: he was hammering home his worthiness. It’s a statement to the world that he had it in his programming.
*sees opinions about the origins and differences in culture and programming between Autobots and Decepticons*
*trying to keep my big mouth shut so unsolicited headcanons don’t come pouring out*
hnnnnngh
“NO SHARE OPEN THE FLOOD GATES let us swim in the glorious tide of headcanons”
“*grabby hands* Headcanons should be shared! You might inspire people and start a whole new thing. ^_^”
“Go ahead and say them!”
oh god
(I apologize in advance)
ok so it’s always sort of been my headcanon that Autobots and Decepticons are distinctly separate. Not necessarily called Autobots and Decepticons, but definitely a species split in two, if that makes sense. The origin of their split depends on the universe of course. Some universes they just naturally developed, divergent or covergent evolution for lack of better terms. Other universes, Decepticons were purposefully developed for warfare… or more accurately, defense.
In a majority of the TF universes, Cybertron has been attacked by invaders in its past. And for reasons I’ve yet to fully dissect, I really really like the idea of a weaponized class of Cybertronians fed and supported by a civilian class. I love the whole concept of co-dependent Cybertronian cultures. Civilian class bots needed weaponized bots for protection, weaponized bots needed civilian bots for energon, goods, etc.
Now, in a system like that, you’ve basically got one really specialized class (Decepticons) and a generalized civilian class (Autobots). That explains the way their war tends to play out – with Decepticons unable to adapt and be self-sufficient enough to create the goods and fuel necessary to survive, while the Autobots who have a much more varied set of skills, non-specialized programming and alt-modes, are better able to adapt to new roles… including the role of soldiers. They’re not as good at that particular function as Decepticons of course, but they can do it and their civilian functions. It’s a skill set that most Decepticons lack… and without any allies, Decepticons are forced to rely on their tried-and-true methods of conquering and plundering to fill that gap in their resource gathering.
Of course there are exceptions. Warpath and Powerglide are two Autobots who I consider to be part of that weaponized class for… obvious reasons. And while I can’t think of any G1 Decepticons I’d consider more civilian (Swindle?) I’m sure they’re there too. Factions are choice, programming is not.
But it’s my headcanon that Cybertronians, as a species and society, literally cannot function properly without both sides cooperating. Militarized mechs need something worth protecting (i.e. not a dead planet) and need the thriving economy and all that comes with it that only civilians are really equipped to build. Civilian bots, while they can fight, don’t enjoy it in any great capacity and are reluctant to eliminate threats, and a little too eager to shrug off their duties in that regard. Guard duty? Patrolling? Routine defense maneuvers of any kind? No thanks. (While weaponized mechs don’t exactly enjoy these things either, they’ve got a higher tolerance for it… and a much healthier respect for orders.)
Yeah. I’m an idealist and kind of romantic. I just want everybody to get along. >_>
It also doesn’t help that I am a sucker for cross-factional relationships.
(More because I can’t stop)
This whole interdepence thing is also kinda why the war (in most continuities at least) isn’t as brutal as it technically should be. Sure, there’s been plenty of killing on both sides. But it really seems like most deaths occurred at the beginning of the conflict… and most of it was indirect violence. Building sabotages, bombings, etc.
Of course most of this was from the Decepticons (though the Autobot-run government at the time did retaliate with violence of its own, but I digress). The thing is, I… don’t think the Decepticons are ones for indirect anything. Think about it. These are bots built and programmed for defensive – and later offensive – campaigns, and the way most Decepticons talk about Cybertronian superiority, had a lot of success in those. When we see Cybertronians on other planets, it’s pretty clear that Cybertron has a reputation for not only being massive dickwads, but friggen powerhouses that are able to wipe the floor with most other species.
So really, while there are brilliant Decepticon strategists, the bulk of their military planning was probably in positioning everyone just right to completely smear whoever their opponent is at the time. Make sure they can’t get a counterattack going, that sort of thing. Given how overpowered Cybertronians are compared to the rest of the galaxy/universe…? Their strategies probably involved just… waves of brute force repeatedly battering the opposition into submission.
So we see some of this strategy come into play during the early stages of their civil war. What’s the best way to take down your opponent (in this case, the entire structure of oppression on Cybertron)? Take it out at the knees, demolish it completely, and completely crush the smallest lingering resistance. BUT rather than use their usual smash-and-burn techniques… we suddenly see a lot of sabotage, an uptick in the use of spies, and a lot of attacks from afar (planted bombs, assassinations of specific mechs, etc.)
[Quick note, this doesn’t apply for canons like IDW where as far as I can tell this wasn’t necessarily a military thing but more of a marxist “rise against the elites who keep you down” thing. This is just me rambling about STUFF.]
My theory is that this is a combination of practicality – in the beginning of the war they didn’t have enough bots for full frontal assaults – and sentimentality. The Decepticons hated the system, not the bots within it. Unless they were the politicians who reinforced that system. But you can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs, so they did what they had to and hoped that the rest of Cybertron would see that they were right.It didn’t work out that way.
Only problem is, it’s really hard to justify what you’re doing when you’re looking right at the Cybertron you’ve been programmed to protect while opening fire on it. So, the indirect dismantling of Cybertronian society.
So now, with both sides entrenched, there’s not really an indirect way to clobber the Autobots. They’ve gotta play this campaign like they did against alien enemies… and that is extremely hard for a good chunk of the Decepticons.
It was the absolute worst when Autobots started bringing minibots onto the field. How the frag do you shoot at that? It’s so small! It’s so vulnerable, what is it doing out on the battlefield? You can’t take that seriously – and then it shoots your engine out and goes screeching off on its itty bitty wheels while honking at you rudely.
Basically, it’s adorable and kind of hot and that was when Decepticon leadership started having trouble with bots having vivid fraternization-with-the-enemy fantasies.
It wasn’t more than a morale problem until some geniuses decided to
kidnapliberate some cute sassy minibots and brought them into the base. The minibots in question were surprised and pissed off to varying degrees – the ones that didn’t outright escape or get rescued/traded wound up stealing valuable intelligence before they beat it out of there, leaving a trail of broken-hearted Decepticons.
Cybertronian Database 