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Care Bear Care!

Arizona Daily Wildcat

I didn't really remember much about the Care Bears until this weekend when I wound up having a series of long conversations about them with a couple of experts. I remembered that I had owned one at one time and had a vague recollection that I went to see the Care Bear movies when I was young, but what I didn't remember were the details. I don't mean the fact that they were probably thought up by the same corporate geniuses who thought up Barbie and G.I. Joe, but the little things that made them what they were to us.

I forgot about the leaders of the bunch. There was one called Tenderheart Bear. This bear was a male bear (I think so anyway - I'm still not convinced that they all weren't asexual, but that's beside the point) and he took the more figurehead role of the group. He was the guy out front making all the tough decisions. His theme was, as his name implies, to be compassionate to others.

His counterpart was the female bear Luv-a-lot Bear. She often thought with her heart before her head but got the job done just the same. I think that this is a fair role for a female bear to represent which is some weight against my asexual theory.

There was also Friendship Bear. I'm pretty sure that this one's a girl too. Friendship is all about the power of friends (their names really don't get too terribly creative; they're all right to the point). I mean they were all really about friendship, but this bear specialized in it.

Next there was Share Bear. Her thing was "sharing is caring," which was an overall theme for all of the Care Bears but, once again, her specialty.

Then, there was Cheer Bear whose basic handle was bright, happy, colorful joy. Cheer was also a female. We have all known people like her, those constantly happy and optimistic folks that never let the big bad world get them down.

After that there was Funshine Bear. Funshine was also a woman, and she stood as a reminder to take a look at all of the little things in life and have some fun with them.

Now we come to Bedtime Bear. I am still a little fuzzy on the angle of this particular bear, but the way I understand it he is there to remind us that it's okay to sleep sometimes. I guess that this bear was really geared towards the kids who were uncooperative around nap time, but I guess it's still important to remember.

Next we come to Grumpy Bear. Grumpy was a guy. I guess that doesn't come as much of a surprise. His theme was that it's okay to be a little sad sometimes. This is the Care Bear that I owned.

Then we come to Good Luck Bear who reminds us that it's okay to be lucky sometimes? Well that's probably not right, but I guess it's nice to believe that luck exists and maybe, every so often, it might just fall in our favor.

Finally we come to Wish Bear. I mean there are others, and then there are the Care Bear Cousins, but this is the last of the originals. Wish Bear exists to remind us to stick to are hopes and dreams until they come true.

I remember the Care Bears, now. I'm sorry I had forgotten them for so long. The point of all of this is to remind everyone else not to forget about them. So don't think about the fact that they were probably invented by a bunch of suits for the sake of making money and forget that the guy/girl ratio is a bit off and slightly sexist and just remember that their basic premise is a sound one. I apologize to everyone I know and some people that I don't for forgetting these bears for as long as I have. I'll never let it happen again. Don't let it happen to you.