How Optimus Prime was a surprising example of true fatherhood

In the fall of 1984, there were approximately 20 channels on cable television in my home in south Louisiana. Many of those were repeats- ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates that broadcast the same shows at the same times. Others were cable channels- ESPN, MTV and Nickelodeon. These were the early days of cable, and their content varied wildly, and for the most part they were uninteresting to seven year old me.

Two channels remained: WGNO 26 and WNOL 38. We received WGNO on channel 7 and WNOL on channel 13. At that point in 1984, both were independent. These were the two channels that broadcast cartoons Monday to Friday, from about 6 to 9 in the morning and 2 to 5 in the afternoon.

The internet tells me that the first episodes of Transformers were broadcast in October of 1984. This could be the case, but I can’t be certain. Whenever it was, I was awestruck. I’d never seen anything like it. Up to that point, the cartoons were inoffensive stuff like Scooby-Doo and countless 70’s derivatives; remember Jabberjaw, Speed Buggy, or Josie and the Pussycats? They were all pre-digested pablum, intended to soothe and pacify.

Not so, with the Transformers. In every episode the giant, transforming robots fought over conflicting world views. The good Autobots wanted rules, order, and peace. The evil Decepticons wanted domination, exploitation, and war. The leaders of the factions gave visual and aural expression to their differing values. Megatron, the evil leader, was colored gray, spoke in a harsh, shrill voice, and could turn into a 9mm pistol (specifically, a Walther P38). By contrast, the good leader, Optimus Prime, was colored red, white, and blue (yay USA!), spoke in a deep resonant voice, and could transform into a Freightliner FL86.

Episode after episode, I followed the struggles of the noble Autobots as they strove to defeat the nefarious Decepticons, and never quite succeeded. This went on for two seasons, into the spring of 1986. And then, in late summer of 1986 came…

Transformers the Movie

It’s hard to explain this movie’s power to someone who wasn’t a 9 year old boy at the time, but I’ll try. Imagine that you’ve watched all 65 episodes that were available, and that every one of those episodes had followed the same format: Decepticons develop an evil scheme. The Autobots fight back. Bad things happen and are then resolved, returning the situation to status quo ante. Nothing really bad ever happens in these episodes, and whatever does happen is usually resolved at the end of the episode, although sometimes it’s stretched into a two parts.

Transformers the Movie broke that mold.

How? Megatron kills Optimus Prime. In a big, loud, long, knock-down, drag-out fight that felt like it lasted for hours. After the fight, Optimus laying on a hospital bed and attached to various monitors, gives an emotional speech and then dies surrounded by weeping friends. The plot before and after didn’t matter so much. I couldn’t get over the fact that Optimus died.

Some additional context: my father is/was a Vietnam War veteran and at the time of the film was still serving in the active Army. It was understood that dad could get called up at any time, and that it was very possible that he might die if that happened. Optimus, like my father, was willing to die so that others could live.

Imagine how I felt year later when I learned that Hasbro killed Optimus (and a host of others) so they could introduce a new toy line. I digress…

Optimus Prime was a type of father to me and many of my contemporaries. But what about the fact that he was a robot, and at this point in the Transformers universe, there were no women robots, much less families? Optimus embodied Matthew 7:9-11 in which Jesus asks, “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7:9-11 NABRE) Optimus also demonstrated these qualities enumerated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2208.The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor…

2209.The family must be helped and defended…

2223[Parents] bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. (…) Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children.

Optimus Prime demonstrated the qualities of a thoroughly good father. He always did the right thing- in protecting the innocent, the weak, and the vulnerable- even when it cost him his own life. He strove to build a safe environment for all, and oppose those who sought to dominate and destroy. In some cases, he set aside his differences with his mortal enemies the Decepticons to achieve good! True, Optimus had no children. It’s also true the original version imagined him and the Autobots as male archetypes and that there were no women. But you know who else we call Father, have no children, and represent a kind of male archetype?

Catholic Priests

Catholic priests are fathers to their congregations. We, the faithful, are their spiritual children. We look to them and grow from their teachings and from their examples. Further, in line with the values we see in Scripture and restated in the CCC, they strive to protect and love us as best as they can. So priests are our fathers. But do you know who they derive their Fatherhood from?

Jesus Christ

It can seem a bit awkward to talk about Jesus as a father. After all, we’ve learned about the Trinity and know Jesus as the Son. But the Fatherhood of priests comes from the Fatherhood of Jesus. And naturally, Jesus’ Fatherhood comes from THE Father. The Father shares with the Son, and the Son shares with humanity. This is part of why Jesus says “everything of mine is yours [the Father’s] and everything of yours is mine” in John 17:10 (NABRE).

And as we all know, Jesus lived out his fatherly duties perfectly: he provided for us, protected us, and loved us- to the point that He offered His life up for us. Thus, Optimus’ death was a (dull, petty, commercialized) echo of Jesus perfect self-sacrificial fatherly love.

At times Jesus’ protection might seem a bit lacking. After all, we still suffer and we see evil in the world around us. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection offers us protection through suffering, and not protection from suffering. Evil will not overcome us. Jesus overcame evil and death, and He sustains us through them. He has shown us that there is something better, a new way of life that transcends anything we can imagine.

And so, when we see examples of true, Heavenly Fatherhood, as I saw in Optimus Prime back in 1986, we should give thanks for our Father in Heaven. True, the echoes we see now can seem silly and small- but they point to something greater, something wonderful, something transcendent.