Strong Enough to be Gentle
If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood hero type, with all the BS, and all the yelling, and screaming, and trying to be tough. Be strong enough to be gentle. Recounting the words of his brother, Captain Larry Cullen, USMC
I grew up in the age of Optimus Prime, my dad drove a cabover, just like Optimus. Then came 1986 and Transformers: The Movie. I begged my mom to let me rent the VHS from the grocery store. I didn’t get to rent it that week. I had what I now understand was an autistic meltdown in the store. Transformers were a big deal – bigger than He-Man, Star Wars, and GI Joe for one reason, Optimus Prime. Worth considering that Transformers had gone from being a cartoon short shown during The Bozo Show – Chicago institution, Cookie the Clown was my guy – and some episodes would show a short cartoon for the kids, Transformers being my favorite. So I was primed for Optimus from a young age. If anyone else had been the voice then I don’t think I’d feel the same connection that would lead to writing this in remembrance of Mr. Cullen’s work.
A few weeks later, I finally got the video, somehow. Imagine, 10 year old Mike, movie is in the VCR – TV is set to channel 3 – You’ve got the Touch! – Me, Grimlock, love challenge – Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost. – the cost – I still get teary-eyed thinking about the feeling – nobody prepared me for what had just happened. American boys of that generation didn’t get much training in our feelings. But I think of that moment. It was a toy series. It was a show to make us buy toys. But, there were humans like Peter in the mix who knew what the mission was and who he was speaking to and what they needed to hear. We learned that there is a cost to heroism. Sometimes the bad guys do win and everyone left has to figure it out on their own and step up. In 2026, we’re at the kind of moment Optimus was preparing us for forty years ago. Even the strongest and most reliable of us is mortal and can be taken down.
Even now, so many decades later, they’re still trying to sell us toys. The trick is that he made it hard for them. They tried a dark Optimus, but that’s not who he was, not his voice. We knew. He was the voice of a calm, caring leader, a true champion. He never belittled the smaller Autobots, Optimus was a leader who found the value in all his teammates and brought out their strengths. They all had a place and a way to contribute. He was kind to the Decepticons – he knew they could change – he showed mercy but he brooked NO bullshit. You hurt someone and that voice was the last voice you ever wanted to hear. “One shall stand, one shall fall” and “I thought you were made of sterner stuff”, iconic.
Optimus Prime was inspirational to a generation to push through no matter the cost. Young men need that now more than ever. So many disenfranchised young men need that voice, that same inspiration.
The voice, the look, the determination, the safety. We’re losing a lot of good ones these days, and there’s a lot of Megatron and Decepticon nonsense going down. But remember…
Megatron: Now, we need a truce. All I want is to be back in charge. Besides, who would you be without me, Prime? Optimus Prime: Time to find out! Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
We are in a world full of Unicrons, Megatrons, Soundwaves, Shockwaves, and Starscreams there are also Larrys and Peters who we need to listen for.