Transformers are NOT Eucharistic

Ugh. I heard about another "Transformers" homily this weekend at a children's First Communion Mass. The argument of the homily was that the Eucharist "transforms" the believer. It seems to me like the homily was a well intended, but misguided attempt to look cool and hip for the kids...when in reality, it just exposes a generation gap and creates an even more confusing metaphor.

As a faithful geek, I feel it is my duty to warn priests and teachers about the unsuitability of using Transformers in relationship to the Eucharist. If your target audience really understands what the Eucharist and Transformers are about, the comparison isn't going to make any sense to them.

If you are trying to suggest that the Eucharist turns us into something more than what we are or had been, this is simply a bad analogy. A transformer "turns into" a car or a jet or what have you in order to disguise himself. He only looks like a vehicle, but if you open his hood, you'll quickly realize he is not what he appears to be. And his vehicle mode is almost always inferior to his robot mode, or, at the very least, puts him at a distinct tactical disadvantage in some way (indeed, there is a classic episode where Megatron creates a weapon that forces Autobots to transform into vehicle mode against their will).

A Transformers transformation is entirely external, deceptive, and does not really change the Transformer's character.

If you feel utterly compelled to use Transformers in a homily, you would do much better to invoke the role of mini-cons (although since they were popular about three years ago they are now virtually obsolete as a metaphor for children...). Anyway, the mini-cons were miniature pokemon-esque Transformers that, when attached to a larger robot, granted that robot new powers. This cannibalistic means of acquiring the power of another being through a direct interface seems far more apt to express the way in which consuming the Body of Christ offers the grace to overcome evil and do good works.

Ahem.

Just sayin'.

Comments

[Matt]

Wasn't Megatron some kind of gun and then a tank and then a dinosaur? I want a gun that turns into a dinosaur... but that aside, you’re right it is a poor metaphor to use to explain the Eucharist.

[PeterTerp]

Yep...but you forgot the short-lived race car (Generation 2 Go-bots), fighter jet (Machine Wars), and the two dragons (although, technically speaking, the dragon mode wasn't the original Megatron...just a robot named after him who temporarily absorbed his soul for a while).

At some point, the marketing department at Hasbro realized they could make more money by giving eight different toys the same character name. It's a shame, really, because the Transformers had made an art out of taking one toy design, changing the color, and making it an entirely new character. That was genius. This business of releasing a new version of the same set of characters every year is like the action figure equivalent of upgrading operating systems.

[PeterTerp]

Oh...and I forgot the more recent versions of Megs which turn into multiple things, none of which look like anything in particular.