On Equestia Girls · 1:06pm May 25th, 2013
This is a big long thing that I originally posted on reddit regarding Equestria Girls. It was written in a rush, so I don't know if it reads very well or makes much sense. I feel like its worth reposting here though.
I'm going to put this out there straight away - I'm really looking forward to Equestria Girls, and not in an ironic way or anything like that. When I first heard the details I was a little dubious, but I'm now more confident that the movie has the potential to be genuinely good.
I know that there's plenty of people that don't feel this way, and I can get why that is - I can appreciate that this concept doesn't appeal to everyone. Having said that, I feel like I need to make some effort to say why I think it could be good, simply because I don't think that some of the arguments against it are particularly fair on the show or its creators - in particular, the idea that the show is destined to be terrible because it's set in a high school, and thus will end up being about nothing but cliché high school drama.
Considering how little of the movie we've actually seen, it's not really possible to say whether it's anything like how it's been perceived in some circles. There's been a lot of talk about how the movie's going to be nothing more than inane high school drama, which is understandable given the setting, but at the same time the trailer has a shot in which the apparent main antagonist explodes in a glowy ball of magic, so for all we know Equestria Girls may well end up being a ponified version of Power Rangers/Sailor Moon/any other show involving high schoolers with incredible powers taking on evil villains.
But let's assume that there is a focus on high school drama, with all that entails. In that case it is possible that the show may well end up being a forgettable romp through the usual clichés. On the other hand, it's also possible that it might end up turning out exactly like first two episodes of Friendship is Magic.
The first storyline of FiM involves Twilight being sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia to supervise organising the Summer Sun Celebration and to make friends (and then stop a thousand year old villain, but whatever). Taken on its own that synopsis doesn't mean very much, and if you had to judge the whole show based on that alone you may well think that it sounded trite and uninteresting. The premise for Equestria Girls isn't too far removed from that (Twilight is sent somewhere new, get involved in formal occasion, makes friends, possibly stops evil villain), and there's the potential to fall into the same trap here. The thing about any TV show, movie etc. is that a synopsis is not a story. We know that FiM is good because of the characters and the writing, something that don't come across in a synopsis.
There are quite a few things in Friendship is Magic that could easily be classed as high school drama, despite not being set in a high school. The Ticket Master involves five of the mane six fighting over who gets invited to a formal dance, Sweet and Elite's entire plot revolves around Rarity becoming popular and neglecting her friends and Party of One is about Pinkie becoming paranoid that her friends are lying to her and don't want to be her friends any more. These are all pretty standard inane high school drama plot lines, or indeed just standard inane anywhere drama plot lines - drama comes from personality, and these personalities exist whether you're in high school, in an office, or in deep space. The reason that we end up liking these stories in FiM is because the writing creates characters we care about, and so we get caught up in the story because we want them to succeed or do the right thing.
I'm a believer in the idea that it's possible to make a good story about almost anything. The reason that there are so many bad shows about being in high school is the same reason why there are so many bad shows for young girls in general - people don't believe that it's possible to make a good show out of the concept. If there was a show that went out of its way to be exceptional, like FiM did, then the landscape would be a whole lot better, but most people who could make a decent show out of these ideas don't because they think its a lost cause.
This is why I'm interested in Equestria Girls - because it has the potential to take something like a typical high school animation and make it good. The show is being produced by the same team of writers and animators who worked so hard in making Friendship is Magic work, and I don't believe that they are going to stop doing this for Equestria Girls. I can't say that for sure until I get a chance to see it, of course, but given the quality of the writers and crew I feel optimistic about it. You may disagree with me, and that's fine - I'm not trying to force anyone into an opinion they don't agree with. I'm just trying to offer my own perspective on the whole thing.
I have refrain from sharing my opinion on it, as I seriously do hate it. I could just go on as to why I hate it, but I won't. To spare myself from making a big blog about my opinion on it I just thought it was best to keep quiet. Though you have an interesting outlook on the subject. While I don't agree with 75% of it, I still think it is a different view none the less.
I'm glad you are looking forward to it, I on the other hand am not. (In the slightest.)
1103612 That's fair enough - like I said, I'm not looking to get into a big long argument over something as ultimately trivial as a made for TV movie, particularly one that hasn't been released yet.
I do have to ask one question though, purely out of curiosity. You left a positive comment on my story An Earth Pony's Tale, a story that to me has become kind of a mirror EqG in that it features a human character teleporting to Equestria and turned into a pony. If it's not an inappropriate question, I'd be interested in finding out what led to you reading my story and liking it, and whether there's something about my story that sparked your interest that EqG doesn't have. Feel free to ignore me - I'm just curious to know how I managed to do something right
1103713
Personally your story is great, I read it off and on. (Which is why I'm watching you. X3) I find that humans coming to Equestria is uninteresting, as many feel like it gives up their humanity and it isn't considered a "human" story anymore. I disagree, because if I were to live another life on another world I would want to be the native species. I would get to be in a different body, with different skills, and a different outlook on life. That is what I like about your story. And it handles this beautifully, and EqD is not particularly fond of ponified stories. This might be because of the large amount of self insert poniefied stories.
I simply find the concept of a human becoming something else to be an interesting concept, as it can lead to a whole range of things, while simply coming as a human is not. I'll be honest with you, some of the large HiE stories suck. I say that honestly. I don't like them, and it makes me boil because of the personalities and traits these authors give the humans. While stories like yours manage to take a more humble approach to the genre. Overall though I like your story, it works differently, and it is written pretty good. :3