- For Jem's alter ego, see Jerrica.
- For other uses, see Jem (disambiguation).
| “ | Show's over, Synergy. | „ |
| ~ Jem when she's transforming back into Jerrica |
Jem is the leader and main vocalist of the worldwide famous rock band The Holograms, although in reality, she is the alter ego of Starlight Records executive Jerrica Benton. The Jem identity is created via holographic technology through the use of a pair of special earrings Jerrica inherited from her late father. Only a few people know her secret, including the rest of her bandmates, some of her closest friends, and a few very important people. Jerrica usually makes use the Jem persona to carry out tasks she normally wouldn't do under her true identity, such as helping others and solving crimes, although she also often uses it to take a break from the daily demanding endeavors of running a records company and enjoy a bit of the glamour and fame that come alongside being a rock star.
History
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Jem is portrayed as a beautiful, calm and mature woman, although there are times when she may get stressed out or upset, traits she usually doesn't manifest while under her real identity as Jerrica Benton. When Jem becomes Jerrica, she undergoes a shift in personality; while "both" are very compassionate young women, Jem finds it easy to kick back and relax, unlike the workaholic Jerrica. Jem also tends to display aunt-like tendencies around the Starlight Girls, which is somewhat different compared to Jerrica's motherly behavior toward them and even Kimber to an extent. This may be why sometimes Kimber wishes Jem was her sister instead of Jerrica. Jem is glamorous while Jerrica refers to herself as plain. Jem, like Jerrica, doesn't seem to mind to a certain extent that each other becomes romantically involved with Rio, as they both are the same person. However, when Jem first had contact with Rio, she tried to get him to like her without telling him she actually was Jerrica in a hologram. There are also times where Rio can get very upset at Jem when he thinks she loves another guy or when Jem won't tell him who she really is. As the story progresses, Jerrica develops a fear that Rio will leave her if he finds out she's been lying to him about her secret identity all this time.
Jem exudes an air of glamour and sophistication, but at the same time she is very down to earth and has the greatest love and respect for her fans. Jem also has a special charisma that can make almost anyone to like her right away. Almost everyone is immediately attracted to her; an easy example is how she was able to charm Rio into liking her almost instantly. Nick Mann also fell in love with her while filming a movie in the episode Starbright (Part 1). Riot also fell in love with her at first sight, and with his charm, he almost made her fall in love with him too, but no matter what, her heart will always belong to Rio.
Jem is very loyal and will do anything in order to stop The Misfits, The Stingers and/or any other evil-doers from accomplishing their evil schemes. While it is possible Jem may have a crush on Riot because of his charm, in other episodes she sees him as a rival, in a similar fashion as she does with The Misfits. She also will do anything in order to help someone out, like doing charity work or raising money for a good cause (peculiarly, she isn't quite as hard working when she is Jerrica). She is also always willing to forgive others, such as when she agreed to end their longtime rivalry with The Misfits.
Biography
Shortly after her father's death, Jerrica mysteriously received her red Jemstar Earrings. These earrings were a small part of a large secret that her father had been working on before he died, and who subsequently left them for Jerrica. They allow her to communicate with the supercomputer/synthesizer Synergy, which in turn allows her to assume the holographic identity of Jem, the famous rockstar.
Along with her friends, she engages in several adventures, often against rival band, The Misfits and their manager, Eric Raymond, and tries to stop them from wreaking havoc. Along with having an alter ego, she's afraid to tell people who she really is because they might try to use her secret identity against her and hurt the people she loves. She never told Rio her secret in the series, as she's afraid Rio would probably leave her, but whenever she tries to get a chance to come clean, something bad always happens. Still, she made a lot of friends besides The Holograms: Danielle Du Voisin, Howard Sands, Anthony Julian, Video, Jeff Wright, Danse, Astral Eldrich and Sean. Jem will always find a way in order to succeed in defeating The Misfits or the Stingers.
Appearance
Jem carries a very slender physique. She has hot pink hair, lavender eyes, rosy cheeks, fair skin, pink lips, pink eye shadow, black eyebrows, and matching eyelashes. She wears a lot of outfits throughout the series, but her favorite is her iconic pink dress, which she wears frequently. This outfit consists of a dark pink dress with a diagonally cut hem and a long V-cut neckline that shows her breast cleavage, a white leather belt with a silver sparkly layer, a blue screened decoration over the top, and very fine numbers of silver tassels, clear or light pink stockings, dark pink pumps, and a silver bracelet on her left wrist with a pink stone on it. Regardless of what she's dressed in, she always wears a pair of "magical" crimson star earrings, which Synergy uses to project her illusory outfits. She also used to have a red belt and a little bit of tannish skin in the early concept of the series.
Gallery
- Main article: Jem/Gallery
Trivia
- Jem was originally going to be called "M" but this was changed after Hasbro discovered that it isn't possible to copyright a letter of the alphabet. Alternatively, Jerrica was going to be named "Misty" or "Morgan".
- "M" also stood for "music", "magic" and "metamorphosis".
- Doll artworks of Kimber by Sharon Knettell have the tip of the arm of her keytar still featuring a stylized letter "M".
- It's also possible it was intended to be a tie with MTV.
- Jem's personal favorite song is "Like A Dream".[citation needed]
- Jem changes the makeup color around her eyes throughout the series between pink, gold, blue and purple.
- Jem confirmed that her birthday was on June 1st in the episode The Fan. It is possible that this wasn't just made up for this alter ego and that it is actually Jerrica's real birthday. Her year of birth was never stated, though.
- This makes her a Gemini, which goes accordingly to her dual personality.
- In the animated series, Jem has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Jerrica and Jem's outfits in some of the episodes are very similar, although this could be just a coincidence.
- According to the last episode of the series, Jem isn't exactly wealthy because most of what she earns goes to support the Starlight Girls.
- Her stage name, "Jem", is in reference to her being like a 'gem', someone everyone has their attention on and the star of the show. It can also refer to her beauty and personality both being radiant as a gem.
- She and Raya are the only members of the band to use an alias, the rest go by their real names.
See also
References
- ↑ Original name by Hasbro for development of the animated series.
- ↑ The Jem Series Timeline
- ↑ Joelle Dunn, credited as Joelle Schroeck, provided the vocals for "Jem Girls", as well as other advertisements of Jem products.