TRULY OUTRAGEOUS: A Jem Fan Film! is a fan-created Live-Action Adaptation of the 1980s cartoon Jem. It's a 29 minute short film by Chickbait that was released in May of 2018.
The film starts with Jem and the Holograms filming a music video. After receiving an interview, Kimber and Jerrica get into an argument over both the interview and over their behavior. At the same time, Eric convinces The Misfits to go along with a scheme of his. He's teamed up with a group that know a secret about Jem and the Holograms. As it turns out, the secret is bigger than anyone expected.
The film can be seen in full on Chickbait's YouTube channel here
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TRULY OUTRAGEOUS: A Jem Fan Film! provides examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change:
- To fit in the Tomato in the Mirror twist, the character's backstories were changed. Aja was fostered at a younger age than in canon and she was already living with the Benton's before Kimber was "born".
- Jacqui and Emmett's deaths are intentionally flipped around. It's mentioned in the Q&A that it was thought it made more sense if Emmett was targeted by others for his technology.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Stormer and Kimber are a thing in the film. This has long been
fanon and appeared in the official comic book reboot as well. - Adaptational Species Change: Kimber isn't human. She's a cyborg.
- Adapted Out: Rapture and Minx are absent because of money issues.
- Art Shift: There's an animated sequence when Shana is giving Kimber advice.
- Bland-Name Product: The Holograms get interviewed by someone from VTV.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Jem tries to break out into "Getting Down To Business" but Baroness stops her, saying the video will likely get hit with a copyright strike if they use an official Jem song.
- Crossover: With G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
- Curse Cut Short:
- Stormer cuts Pizzazz off:
Stormer: (talking about Kimber) But in there, that person—she's important to me. Please help me save her.Pizzazz: Like I give a—Stormer: Please!- Pizzazz threatens Stormer until Eric cuts her off:
Stormer: You're not as mean as they think.Pizzazz: You tell anybody that and I'll shove that flower so far up your—Eric: Ladies! - Damsel in Distress: Kimber's been captured so many times by Eric and the Misfits that she's no longer phased by it.
- Dark Fic: Due to Cobra being in the film, the stakes are higher than in the cartoon. There's also some mild cursing. But it's not too dark and generally keeps to the same tones as the cartoon, with the same melodramatic and comedic elements.
- Demoted to Extra: Rio has a minor role in one scene because his actor couldn't appear for shootings more often.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Jacqui died of illness, not a plane crash, and Emmett died in a plane crash, not of illness. Subverted in the latter point as he faked his death.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Jacqui was sick with an unspecified illness before she died. In canon, there's no sign of this. This is because the film switched around Jacqui and Emmett's deaths.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
Word of God is that Kimber being a robot is a queer allegory. She's different from others but doesn't realize it at first, but after recognizing it she becomes more curious about it and wants to explore it more. - Compressed Hair: Played for Laughs when Riot appears in military gear, takes off his hat, and lets his long, flowing locks free.
- Fan Film: It's a fan adaptation of Jem.
- Foreshadowing: Kimber murmurs to Aja and Shana that Jerrica is like a robot. It turned out to be the other way around. Literally.
- Innocently Insensitive: A VTV interviewer asks Kimber some insensitive questions involving her parent's deaths. Averted when the interviewer is later revealed as Baroness, meaning she'd intentionally made those comments to get under Kimber's skin.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Emmett didn't die accidentally or naturally. He was murdered by Cobra (or so he made it seem).
- Mythology Gag:
- Pizzazz tells Jem to "Take a hike, loser". In the cartoon, The Misfits have a song called "Take a Hike, Jack".
- Jem and the Holograms try to sing "Getting Down To Business" but get stopped due to copyright issues.
- The song "Misfits in Hawaii" gets name-dropped by Eric at the end.
- Kimber tells Stormer "I'm okay", referencing their duet song.
- Jacqui sings a portion of "Starlight".
- Ode to Family: The film has the song "Sisters Are There", which is sung when Jerrica explains to Ashley and Ba Nee that, despite their bickering, they're still foster sisters nevertheless.
- Original Flavour: It's slightly darker than canon and has queer characters (which weren't allowed in the 1980s), but the film predominantly keeps to the style of Jem.
- Patchwork Fic: It's mainly based on the cartoon but takes some inspiration from the IDW comic reboot, such as Aja being fostered as a little kid and Stormer's relationship with Kimber.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Kimber is one. Emmett created Kimber because he wanted Jerrica to have a sister. Unbeknownst to Kimber, she has Super-Strength because she was programmed to protect Jerrica.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Techrat had to get a second job, resulting in him cleaning up his style into something more business casual.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Emmett is alive. He faked his own death.
- Take That!: The film was made as a Take That! to the official Jem and the Holograms (2015) film, which was an In Name Only Setting Update. It was made to show that it's possible to adapt Jem into a film, while being (mostly) canon accurate and still having a Darker and Edgier tone.
- Wham Line: Kimber's "You're not my sister" line to Jem.
- Wham Shot: The film ends with evidence that Emmett Benton is actually alive.
