- For Jerrica's alter ego, see Jem.
- For other uses, see Jerrica (disambiguation).
| “ | It's showtime, Synergy! | „ |
| ~ Jerrica when she's about to transform into Jem |
Jerrica Benton is the practical, hardworking manager and owner of the Starlight Foundation and co-owner of Starlight Music alongside her younger sister, Kimber. Her alter-ego is the glam metal rock star, Jem, the lead singer of the The Holograms and one of the main reasons why the Starlight Foundation is still strong to this day.
History
Jerrica Benton is the practical, hardworking manager and owner of Starlight Music and co-owner of Starlight Foundation. To her dismay, she is often seen as being "dependable", which she feels is another word for being "boring". Her alter ego is Jem and she struggles to keep her double life a secret throughout the series. She is kindhearted and will go through any lengths to help others, even if she barely knows them.
Jerrica becomes jealous of her alter ego as her boyfriend, Rio Pacheco, becomes more infatuated with Jem. Still, she refuses to let anyone badmouth her, and as Jem, she continues to be kindhearted and humble.
Early life
Jerrica is the eldest child of Emmet and Jacqui Benton and grew up with her sister Kimber at the Starlight House. At age ten, Rio and his family moved in next door to the Bentons and Jerrica developed a crush on him instantly. Aja became Jerrica's foster sister when they were twelve and Jerrica originally disliked her, although later they overcame their differences. Later that year, Shana moved in with them. Also in the same year, the Bentons built a treehouse for the girls and they made a pact to stay friends forever.
When Jerrica was still 12, she got upset at her mother for being away frequently from her family and she yell out at her. That same day, Jacqui Benton died in a plane crash. A month later, Jerrica convinced her father to transform Starlight House to be a foster home. Afterward, Deirdre and three other Starlight Girls moved in.
When Jerrica was 17, her father hired Eric Raymond as an assistant and Jerrica developed a small crush on him. She used Eric to make Rio jealous, but she regretted it very quickly. Jerrica apologized to Rio, both made up and eventually started dating.
When her father died, he left a supercomputer/synthesizer for her, known as Synergy, which he built by himself, along with various costumes and musical equipment. Jerrica decided to form a rock band called Jem and The Holograms to take Starlight Music away from Raymond, using her father's inventions.
After Starlight House was burned down by one of Eric's thugs, Jerrica and the Holograms propose to move into a mansion promised to the winners of a contest called "The Battle of the Bands". In the Battle of the Bands episode, Jem and the Holograms win the first prize, and with it, a mansion dubbed the Starlight Mansion, as well as Jerrica gaining back control over Starlight Music.
Appearance
Even through Jerrica wears different outfits throughout the series, she is best noticeable with her blue and white-striped dress with a white belt and blue heels. In the early concept of the series, she had a weird, chunky-styled hair and wore a blue and pink-striped dress with a red belt and blue heels. This appearance was later changed to better represent the Jem doll line.
Gallery
- Main article: Jerrica/Gallery
Trivia
- According to Christy Marx, the surname Benton was chosen as reference to Stephen A. Benton, inventor of the "rainbow hologram" (Benton hologram) and a pioneer in medical imaging and fine arts holography.
- Jerrica's birthday is on June 1st. Her Zodiac sign is Gemini, which is known for representing a dual personality.
- It was said that Jerrica could be 19-22 years old.[citation needed]
- Jerrica is shown to have been closer to her mother, grieving over her death more than her father's.
- According to the Jem Bible, Jerrica can play guitar.
- Jerrica's hair was in five different styles throughout the series.
- Jerrica has lived in two homes in the series, the Starlight House and the Starlight Mansion.
- Jerrica is the executive manager of Starlight Music, a high power role for a woman in the 1980s.
- Since Jerrica and Rio have dated since high school, this would technically make them high school sweethearts.
- Jerrica started to feel jealous of Jem when she realized Rio began showing interest in her rock persona more than her normal self. This is worth pointing out, as Jerrica undergoes no personality change as Jem and is fully aware of her own romantic advances toward him.
- In Island of Deception, Jerrica reveals she used to be a Girl Scout.
- Jerrica has revealed she is Jem three times in the series, all in the second season:
- In The Talent Search (Part 1), to Raya when she found out of her own accord.
- In The Presidential Dilemma, she revealed her secret to the President of the United States after capturing the Washington Marauder.
- In Journey to Shangri-La, she revealed herself to an old woman when she needed to know the location of Shangri-La to save Pizzazz and Roxy.
- A Jerrica lookalike appears in The Transformers cartoon episode B.O.T. (season 2, episode 49), also by Sunbow Entertainment; the only differences being that her hair is brown and she wears an all yellow stripped dress and hat. A Kimber lookalike appears near her as well.
See also
References
- ↑ Only in Midsummer Night's Madness.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Original name by Hasbro for development of the animated series.
- ↑ The Jem Series Timeline
- ↑ Only for the song "Imagine Me". While the song is credited to Jem and The Holograms, it is actually sung by Jerrica.