Well outside of the first generation of transformers being made up of largely common cars you'd see on American roads and American military equipment (not a lot of Mercedes, Opels, Peugeots in the mix) and taking place in what appeared to be the American South West, desert with small mountains and valleys (with nearby American style suburbs the human characters lived in)....they changed this later, with a larger variety of settings. The Animated movie felt like it took place in somewhere, Europe.
Yeah Bumblebee was a VW Bug and Jazz was a Porsche, but there really weren't any other European cars in the show and both of those cars were pretty common in the U.S. Most importantly, Optimus Prime was very clearly an American style semi-truck rather than a British Lorry or Euro style truck.
I guess I wasn't clear though. Those shows really felt like they were at least reinforcing the prevailing propaganda, at a kids level. Part of this was no doubt marketing savvy rather than Government control, but it really made the propaganda machine pervasive, from young to old, top to bottom.
The modern movies are very much an extension of this. The Autobots are allied with Americans, operating out of a base provided by Americans. There's the occasional Aussie or Brit, but by and large it's all American. The cars are all GM cars. It feels natural because it's just an updating of what the Transformers were already doing.
It was brilliant. It tapped into so many threads floating around during the 80s and just pulled them together. High tech robots that fought evil and turned into blue collar American trucks! Bad ASS.
Well, from my memories most of the cars in the cartoon Transformers had little in comparison to real-life cars. I viewed them as more generic truck, generic sports car, and the like. Sure, some of them matched fairly well to real cars but for the most part they did not. Plus I guess it depends on how many American style cars made it into foreign markets.
I agree that if one lived in a country that didn't have deserts with small mountains it might be difficult to relate, but there are many areas of the world that appear much the same as the American southwest. Especially in the generic way it was portrayed in the show. Although, there's a point in there about the style of housing as I'm sure that varies quite a bit.
In the end, since it was a toy line intended to enter the American market, you are probably more correct in that than I am.
The modern movies don't count because what you describe is Michael Bay, not Transformers. The themes you describe in the movies is similar themes in just about every movie Michael Bay directed. A large number of the vehicles are GM cars, due to money I'm sure, but I would say the lineup of vehicles is more diverse than how you describe them in the cartoons.
As for your last bit, if you are stating that in lines of marketing to sell toys, I agree. If it is propaganda to benefit government something or other programs, I fail to see how you've supported that thought even though that seems to be what you are trying to say.
Yeah but Bumblebee was clearly a VW Beetle and he was one of the main autobot characters, Starscream et al were clearly US fighter jets and they were decepticon characters.
Yeah Bumblebee was a VW Bug and Jazz was a Porsche, but there really weren't any other European cars in the show and both of those cars were pretty common in the U.S. Most importantly, Optimus Prime was very clearly an American style semi-truck rather than a British Lorry or Euro style truck.
I guess I wasn't clear though. Those shows really felt like they were at least reinforcing the prevailing propaganda, at a kids level. Part of this was no doubt marketing savvy rather than Government control, but it really made the propaganda machine pervasive, from young to old, top to bottom.
The modern movies are very much an extension of this. The Autobots are allied with Americans, operating out of a base provided by Americans. There's the occasional Aussie or Brit, but by and large it's all American. The cars are all GM cars. It feels natural because it's just an updating of what the Transformers were already doing.
It was brilliant. It tapped into so many threads floating around during the 80s and just pulled them together. High tech robots that fought evil and turned into blue collar American trucks! Bad ASS.