An Epiphany; Or, Why I Still Appreciate This Show · 1:47am Apr 30th, 2012
...despite its flaws.
And there are many flaws. For all we laud it, in equal amounts we scorn it. The more outspoken, well-known members of this website have already voiced their opinions on the season finale, and the net result is that yes, we are dissatisfied for any number of reasons. But many of us still love the show, even those of you who have been with it almost from the very start, among whose ranks I am afraid I cannot count myself, having only been drawn into the community at the beginning of season two. And the reason that people still enjoy this show, I think, is simple.
More than the animation (which is stellar), more than the acting (which is superb), more than the characters (which, as has been proven multiple times by multiple people, are capable of so much more than the show merely suggests), the show has its lessons.
Oh, to be sure, the once-touted ideological catchphrase of this fandom, “love and tolerate,” has become something of a sarcastic scorn now, and the community has to a degree fallen away from the idealism that once defined it. And the lessons themselves are not without flaws in some cases, largely due to overarching flaws in the pacing and writing of their respective episodes (cf. Luna Eclipsed). But for the most part, the things that this show teaches are valid and most importantly they are relevant, both to the children learning them for the first time, and to the adults, or the near-adults, to whom the lessons may be long-forgotten.
I am a college sophomore, three weeks shy of my twentieth birthday, which puts me somewhere near the median age for fans of this show, from what my experience tells me. I am dramatically distanced from the target audience of Friendship is Magic. I am still learning things from it.
”Sometimes our desire for responsibility can outrun our actual ability to handle it,” said Pinkie, at the end of Baby Cakes.
I will not bludgeon you with explanations and excuses, because my previous blog posts did exactly that and I have nothing to show you for it. I will say only that I have been irresponsible, or rather that the responsibility I demanded overwhelmed my very low threshold for emotional stress. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up, I have heard people say, and now I understand why, from the best (or worst) sort of practical experience.
To help myself emerge from this emotional valley, I have once again turned to writing. But as in all things, I am loath to test my limits. All of my previous projects are scrapped, or at least placed on semi-permanent hiatus. All future projects from me, and there will be projects, as writing is one of the best stress vents for me and at the end of an academic year that is what I need, will be small and largely self-contained. Expect oneshots. Expect Vinyl and Octavia. There will, more likely than not, be plenty of each.
I am far from the most popular or well-known author, and the number of people that read this will likely be very small. I am grateful for every single reader, however.
Yours in friendship.
Lysanderas D
An excellent blog post, LysanderasD.
With respect to the 'Love and Tolerate' ideology, I sadly think the show itself is responsible for the slippage there - ideals need a foundation, something as perfect and beautiful as possible to create inspiration, and as the quality of the writing failed to equal the original conception, that beauty became increasingly tarnished. In effect, the audience can only be as noble as the show that inspires that nobility. The show was the anchor.
That said, there is still much left to cling to, and the ultimate goal would always be to create our own nobility inside ourselves, and not need a cartoon to inspire us at all. Of course, if humanity could do such a thing, the ideals of MLP:FIM would never have been so entrancing in the first place. We are such needy apes.
As one who has been here from the start I agree with what you say, we were idealists we were a fandom based on togetherness
I for one remain a brony till the day I die
And my friendship never die