My own defense of "Feeling Pinkie Keen" (UPDATED!) · 2:39am Aug 8th, 2013
It should come as no surprise that "Feeling Pinkie Keen" is still one of the most divisive episodes of the whole series, and the reason for it being so needs no introduction. However, from what I understand, what it is that a lot of bronies have misinterpreted it as was not really intended to begin with, which I've more or less established in several journal entries on my Deviantart account:
http://rkerekes13.deviantart.com/
Anyhow, what I wanna defend on here is two crucial elements in the episode that I've been thinking about for some time.
1. All the physical hell that poor Twilight suffers throughout while trying to come up with an answer concerning Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense. As unfortunate as it is, it really is up for interpretation. You might see it as punishment for Twilight's skepticism taken the wrong way, but to me, they're all just a bunch of strange coincidences. Granted, Twilight's skepticism wasn't put to good use in this episode which is more or less a good thing, but somehow, I feel that it was Twilight's own ignorance that led her to suffer these coincidences. You know why? Because it could have happened to anybody, even in real life. In this case, of course, it could have happened to anypony in Ponyville besides Twilight since disasters do often happen there. In light of all that, I'd say the idea of this whole scenario making skeptics look bad can be tossed out the window.
2. The lesson that Twilight describes in her letter to Princess Celestia at the end. Straight from the episode, I quote:
"...there are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them, and sometimes, it takes a friend to show you the way."
To me, this is a rare message to send. Of course, there are those who say that the lesson should have been worded differently, notably DigibronyMLP.
...Twilight’s skepticism, which almost immediately manifests as rage, doesn’t make much sense. If she’s so in love with science and learning, why does facing something outside of her experience leave her so annoyed and infuriated, more so than curious? Twilight is so frustrated by this phenomenon that she gives up on studying it, basically without trying. Her aggravation overcomes her scientific curiosity to the point that she just accepts Pinkie’s ability as existent and stops questioning it.
SOURCE: http://myswordisunbelievablydull.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/analyzing-feeling-pinkie-keen/
I think it's not so much giving up, since I do think Twilight did try hard enough. I think it's actually accepting the fact that science isn't always the best way to come up with an answer. From what I understand, Twilight was being a horrible scientist in this episode, completely ignoring the data that was laid out in front of her and choosing to be unyielding in her beliefs. I'd say her aggravation had very little to do with her choosing to believe at the end, and furthermore, while she did stop questioning it, I feel it was for the good, because when you think about it, some things just aren't worth questioning.
This is what makes the episode’s lesson feel so wrong...I think it’s fine to accept that some things are unexplainable, but the idea that you should give up on explaining something if you can’t figure it out in an afternoon is ludicrous. Not just from a scientific perspective, but from the perspective of anything in life that needs to be learned. If you can’t figure out how to play guitar in a day, should you just give up? If you can’t figure out a mathematical principle in a day, should you just give up? No and no, and this is the opposite of what we ordinarily try to teach people.
SOURCE: http://myswordisunbelievablydull.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/analyzing-feeling-pinkie-keen/
I really think you're taking this the wrong way. The giving up part that occurs in this episode is not the same as giving up trying to play a guitar or figure out a mathematical principal. It's actually a matter of giving IN because you realize that some things just aren't worth the trouble questioning. I'm sorry if it rubs you the wrong way, but it's actually a very family-friendly philosophy in its own right.
That may or may not be what the episode is trying to say, but the bottom line is that that’s how it comes across. It would be one thing to have a lesson about pursuing something that you don’t ultimately care about or doesn’t bring you happiness. A lesson about not letting the things you don’t understand get to you would’ve been a fine way to go here. And really, we can read the message that way if we chose to, but that’s not what it sounds like. It sounds like it’s saying, “there are some things you’ll never understand, so you should just give up,” which is not a good message.
SOURCE: http://myswordisunbelievablydull.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/analyzing-feeling-pinkie-keen/
The way you interpret it makes it sound like a not-so-good message. Happiness doesn't apply to this scenario. What really applies to this scenario is open-mindedness. Ultimately, Twilight learned to be accepting and a tad more open-minded, considering how Twilight's mental facilities were previously limited to certain things which I'll soon address.
...it’s not wrong to give up on explaining Pinkie Sense, and to simply trust in the evidence of its existence. Whether or not you want to study it and find its meaning depends on the depth of your will. If we read Twilight as giving up because she just doesn’t care that much, then it’s less terrible. But if we read it as a message that because there are things which can’t be understood, then we shouldn’t even try, then that would be horrible.
SOURCE: http://myswordisunbelievablydull.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/analyzing-feeling-pinkie-keen/
I don't know what you mean by read, but to me, Twilight really did try hard enough, and again, the reason she "gave up" was because there are just some things in the world that just aren't worth having skepticism constantly thrown at them. Plus, I wouldn't really reword the lesson that Twilight described in her letter, because I think it's good enough. You know why? Because I believe that the whole "choosing to believe in them" thing has a double meaning here: "choosing to trust them" and "choosing to accept them for what they are", which narrows down to this whole scenario establishing sort of two different kinds of "believing in things" sense which I'll address in the next paragraph.
While I'm aware that this may not have been what they were going for in this episode, I can honestly see that what they did come up with, whether or not they did it on purpose, is a scenario which establishes two different kinds of belief scenarios. In this case, neither of them address believing in deities, since I'm sure Twilight understands the concept of how Celestia and Luna help work the day and night, but actually believing in certain natural phenomenons that occur everyday, like the Pinkie Sense per se, which is no more apparent than the possibility that Twilight ironically can't quite understand certain natural things. Anyhow, to be fair, this is fairly realistic, since there are indeed everyday occurrences that we can't quite understand and choose to believe in them. Ultimately, this narrows down to Twilight's "choose to believe in them" statement having two meanings altogether: "choose to trust them" and "choose to accept them for what they are" which in my mind aren't specifically aimed at people of religion, but rather people of many different beliefs in general, including people of religion. (On a side note, I am a Christian.)
I hope I've been helpful and informative to y'all! ;)
MAJOR UPDATE: (10/24/13) Just today, I talked to my mom about this episode's moral, and after hearing what she had to say, I feel that, even though I'm 100% aware that it wasn't meant to specifically target religious people, this episode's moral can apply to both religious AND non-religious people, even when none of us can explain wonderful things like heaven, miracles, natural phenomenon, etc. We still have to choose to believe in them, even if it means to accept them as they are. Plus, even as a Christian, I can still go by both meanings of "choosing to believe" which I've addressed, because I do wish to believe in heaven, miracles, and yep, even natural phenomenon. Hope that helps y'all as well! ;)
1271495 Thank you. How do I paraphrase it?
1271611 Thank you. I'll remember to do that next time.
1299386 Somehow, I beg to differ. Twilight was being naturally skeptic as she was in "Bridle Gossip", and here, her skepticism was put to bad use. True, we don't know how she managed to believe at the end, but that's entirely beside the point. I feel that the lesson was open-minded in its own way, because when you think about it, there are just some things in this world that just aren't worth having skepticism constantly thrown at them, and the whole "choosing to believe in them" thing in this episode actually means "choosing to accept them for what they are". I'm pretty sure that's what they meant, because I do believe that believing in something can have more than one meaning.
Thus, as far as I'm concerned, Pinkie's Pinkie Sense had far different context than her motives for gathering instruments in "Swarm Of The Century", so I can't find any contradictions there.
Besides, if it's of any concern to you, would you be willing to see how others think rather positively about this episode?
1299461 How true that is.
On the other hand, I'd say that you can actually sympathize with Twilight in this episode, despite her skepticism and frustration. I feel that she deserves a lot of hugs for all the abuse she has ever taken because I know she's still a sweetheart and she's learned to be less skeptical for the wrong reasons.