Author's note: This wasn't really written by me, but by an Autobot friend who would like to remain anonymous. He asked me to publish this for him.

Transformers belongs to Hasbro.

So as the new movie has hit theaters, I thought it would be a good moment to address a problem or two. I'll start off with a little explanation.

Back then, when the first movie came out, we were kind of excited. It was mostly about the money I suppose because to be completely honest, in public, nobody ever talks about the money side of our cause. But as it is, that has always been a big problem. Accommodation is expensive. Fuel is expensive. Raw materials for repairs, armor, weaponry: expensive. We were living quite ascetically anyways and let me tell you it's not funny to have just barely enough energon to keep you going, to only get a new paint job when your original color has all worn off and to get new tires when you've crashed into something because the old ones have grown too slippery. But that's war. Life just sucks when you're at war, it's that simple.

So before the movies, we were more or less at the back of earth's consciousness. A few kids and geeks were interested in us, but it was nothing much. I kind of liked what people produced about us though. So when Michael asked Optimus if he could make a movie about us we thought it was amazing. Imagine a high- budget live-action movie about us in cinemas all over the world- we knew it would be a big thing.

And believe it or not, in order to "get into it" Michael actually visited us to speak to a few of us. Mostly to Optimus or, after he found out our commander was more of the quiet type and wasn't much into showing off or boasting, to the guys with the biggest guns. He even asked if we could play ourselves in the movies. But we're soldiers, not actors. And when you've lived through centuries of war, when you've lost pretty much everything and everyone you once had and held dear, it's not a good idea to get in front of a camera and pretend it's a fun summer event.

We've got grown mechs, battle hardened warriors you just need to look at to pee your pants, waking from their recharge cycles screaming and in tears. That's how bad it is. But nobody wants to see something like that. What people want to see (and therefore pay for) is action, pretty cars and half- naked human girls. Optimus didn't really like the idea of us being associated with something like that, but as I said, the money. And public relations.

That and there's still this little nuisance called "The Decepticons". If we were to work at a movie set, it wouldn't take long for them to arrive to that scene. And believe me when I tell you you wouldn't want to witness that show; it would probably be the last thing you ever saw. Don't get me wrong, we don't want to risk human casualties, of course not, but an Autobot also won't risk his or her life to save a human who came too close to the fire just because of all that sensation mongering. There's over seven billion people on earth. And there's a few hundred of our kind left in the universe, counting in the Decepticons, that is. Go figure.

Anyway, they made the movie, it was a success, hooray. They'd hired actors from Suricon, a bunch of humanoid, metal- based aliens close to Cybertronians in size who looked kind of convincing when dressed up. They couldn't transform, but anything's possible with CGI. I've been to Suricon once. It's a nice little place, but the people there are kind of... let's say they're special. Anyhow we got quite a bunch of money and new supporters out of the deal and it was fine.

Then came the second movie. And the third. And the fourth. And the more movies there were, the more people knew about us- or about who the movies conveyed we were. When I saw the movies, what made me angry wasn't the pointless "eye-candy", as some people call it. It wasn't even the plot, which was nonexistent at best. It was how Optimus was portrayed.

You see, we follow Optimus for a reason. Not because he's of royal lineage (in fact, he's of anything but royal lineage but I suppose I would be taking it too far there) or because he has mysteriously been chosen by Primus or something. No, we follow him because he's a great mech. Because he's wise, compassionate and cunning. Because he's strong enough to be gentle. He's a peace- loving mech and ever since the war started, it has been his greatest goal to end it.

If it were up to him, he'd never even touch a gun. When he kills a bot, it's because he doesn't have a choice and he always does it as quickly and painlessly as possible. In many ways, he's a much nicer person than I am. And it makes me very mad to see a movie with a character called "Optimus Prime" not caring about one of his people getting captured or hurt, ripping into his opponents like it was an awesome thing to do, shooting some poor unarmed bot he's already defeated in the head or even going on a quest for vengeance. If I'd wanted to follow someone like that, I would have joined the Decepticons.

We talked about that not too long ago and even if he doesn't want to admit it, knowing what kind of image the public is getting of him really does bother him. It's not easy to get him to talk about his problems, he's just too damn responsible. As the Prime, you cannot afford to appear weak. But we've known each other long enough and I know that things affect him just like they do any of us. He's just a mech after all.

Anyway I suggested to him that he should consider making a public appearance in order to distance our cause from that sort of entertainment. Thank everyone for their efforts but make clear that what you see on screen does not represent our conflict or intents. We cannot afford to come across as a group of outlaws crazy for violence. Right now, we need earth as a home base and in order to stay, we need good relations with the natives. He said he'd think about it.

I'm not saying there mustn't be any more movies. I'd just appreciate it if whoever made that movie would try to do justice to us, because there's more at stake than money. That and it's a matter of respect. We've saved the population of earth countless times, so I think we deserve that at least.

Sincerely, an anonymous Autobot