Why "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is a Terrible Show · 9:17pm Aug 8th, 2014
Disclaimer: This review is only relevant in the context of Adults watching MLP, not children. The show is great for its actual target audience.
I'm not exactly a stranger to reviewing MLP fics. Throughout the four years I've been here, I've left giant tl;dr-needing posts in comment sections, blogs, and Ponychan forum threads. I rarely publicize a review on a FIMFiction blog unless it's overwhelmingly positive, such as when I took a look at The Price of Grace and The Cellist of Saraneighvo. That said, I've decided to make like any random on /r/offmychest and shout my opinions. Not about a fic this time, though; instead, I'm going to talk about the show itself.
You might assume by the fact that I'm here means I must enjoy the show enough to be on this site. Let me give you a bit of context: I first learned about MLP:FiM from Ghost, the host of True Capitalist Radio, while listening to Radio Graffiti on his show in 2010 when a user played a recording from one of the original episodes. Being a dutiful soldier of the infinite internet armie, it was my responsibility to investigate and publish proof of fake and gay. So I found FiM, and with it, a budding pop culture movement that ended up exploding far past what people on 4chan would have thought back then. Fast forward through the life of the show, my watching was basically a feeling of obligation to see through what I start.
Now onto the actual review.
In the beginning, we meet the socially-awkward Twilight Sparkle whose characterization made having absolutely no friends throughout your entire life look like a real party. Seriously, it's obvious she was isolated, but is it realistic for someone to be that upbeat all the time, and even annoyed at the concept of having to interact with other people? It's beyond not having friends: it's as if Twilight had absolutely no concept of the social world whatsoever, like she didn't believe it existed. And without an ounce of lethargy? With minimal social contact, a human will regress and become depressed. A rat will commit suicide if it doesn't interact with another rat within about two days of being alone. Twilight seemed to be entirely pleased. Sure she had her brother and Spike, but hey, who needs peers with similar interests and conflicts. To say the least, it wasn't the best precursor to the type of writing that would come.
The other characters are also very flat. There's very little visible development. They all seemed particularly keen to welcome someone with zero social skills as the new leader of their makeshift group, so hey, what do they need for characterization anyways. Twilight Sparkle is the ultimate Mary Sue, and if the rest of the Mane Six are one-trick ponies. They learn many "lessons" (most of which are common sense to any adult watching the show) yet never actually change.
As far as conflicts go, the show again turns up short. While at least it's not recovering a lost tea set, pretty much everything that happens in FiM is very shallow and could be solved from the start with only one of the main characters asking "Do you guys really not get this shit?" There is never a conflict in MLP complex enough to have different viewpoints or grey areas as to who is right, who is wrong, and whether something is morally acceptable to change. Here's an example: in Luna Eclipsed, the Arch Princess of Shift Key whined on about how everyone was afraid of her. The episode could have gone like this and made a lot more sense:
Luna: Everyone is afraid of me!
Twilight: Well how about you stop fucking yelling at them?
With underdeveloped characters, inconsistent canon, and overwhelmingly petty, shallow plotlines, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic makes for a great children's show; that said, it is a terrible show for adults to watch. As far as even cartoons go, there are many more emotionally mature and more entertaining things out there. I truly don't understand how so many can be seriously attached and fascinated to these characters (they often annoy me).
The community makes for at least a halfway interesting pass-time. FIMFiction is the most hilarious website ever invented solely because the butthurt one inflicts can spread like fire and affect randoms exponentially. I wrote for this fandom simply because it gave me the means to write about the human element and be read by many people, even if I had to do it under the pretext of technicolor horses. You guys organize like locusts, and it makes for a great spot to put words—there will always be some people there to hear what you have to say as long as you coat it in a way they can relate to.
Enjoy what you enjoy, but don't be fooled into thinking something is exceptional just because some ironic people chuckled to themselves while telling you they liked it.
You have no idea the shit this is probably going to stir.
2354306
I like the show for the creativity it has inspired; fics and other fan works are immeasurably more interesting than the raw episodes and characters on which they're based.
The fact that FIM is so neutral is precisely what enabled the existence of such a robust fandom, by virtue of being able to do pretty much anything with it. It's sort of a blank slate, like a bin of colourful legos.
I just like silly ponies
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48209791/Meme/17el.jpg
2354407
I think Fox has got a better handle on this than you do, LunaUsesCaps. Just sayin'.
Huh... Honestly, I feel as if Beonies cause many arguments that could be avoided. Their are too many flame wars to count.
2354627
I'm pretty sure he echoed exactly what I was saying, man! But hey, what do I know.
2354667
Your avatar is pretty dumb and your mother and I have had relations. Your move, Federpy. /s
You're right, MLP is a terrible show horribly written with truly awful fans. So my main question is this: when are you updating Athanasia?
2354930
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we made it seven comments this time
2354943
New record! Fans are like alligators: ignore the "do not feed" sign at your peril.
I'm annoyed at the concept of having to interact with other people all the time. This particular way that Twilight actually likes learning and studying and is irritated at anything - especially people - that interrupts her solitary ambitions is what drew me into the show. Usually, loners are depicted as pathetic individuals who are unable to make friends, shun society out of fear, and turn to academics (or drugs, same thing) as a copying mechanism. Making the main character of a children's show about friendship a nerdy introvert who's unabashedly proud of her knowledge, well, sign me up!
I'll certainly grant that the show hasn't lived up to it's full potential. In part at least in part to (like most shows) having the Sword of Damocles of cancellation hanging overhead, but also due to faults on the part of writers and directors. There is indeed a lack of character development on the show. It would've been really nice to have some overarching plots, or at least have the characters in Season 3 and 4 be more mature than in 1 and 2. It's kind of disheartening that they weren't acting much better in the Crystal Empire episodes than they were all the way back at the beginning.
If not serious:
If serious:
Well, I disagree on just about everything you said, with reasons, but that's neither here nor there. You're free to have whatever printer you want.
2355575
What reasons?
Also, thanks man, I use a LaserJet 3000 printer.
2355904
Oh gods I said printer instead of opinion
Anyway, you'll probably see this as a total cop-out, but I'm going to politely decline from explaining why I disagree with you on your assertions concerning characterizations and conflicts and plotlines and overall quality of the show. Primarily because I simply don't have the energy to get into a deep discussion about it (which is what it would require), and secondly because we're both thinkers, we don't come to our opinions on a whim, and so I doubt either of us would dissuade the other. Of course, persuasion doesn't have to be the reason for discussion--we could just share ideas--but like I said, I'm just too lazy for it right now.
Sorry. xD
2357167
Just type what you think it's not hard lmfao don't overanalyze it.
You're an idiot who doesn't "get it".
You might not like the show any.
But that doesn't mean that others don't.
2357167
Hey, don't feel so bad. I once said "porn" instead of "opinion". And wound up permbanned from that forum. Which really wasn't fair of them since that was my first offense there. Oh well, there are plenty of other RPG Maker forums around.
5599434
The typos get us all lol.
And nah I think LUC got it, he just wasn't as zany as the rest of us about it.