• Member Since 13th Oct, 2013
  • offline last seen Apr 20th, 2021

Jordan179


I'm a long time science fiction and animation fan who stumbled into My Little Pony fandom and got caught -- I guess I'm a Brony Forever now.

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Aug
12th
2014

Retro Review - S1E20 "Green Isn't Your Color" · 2:01pm Aug 12th, 2014

Introduction

Recently rewatched "Green Isn't Your Color," which is S1E20 of the series and in my chronology takes place in early June of YOH 1501, a bit less than a year after Luna's Return. I got a few quick impressions on the rewatch, which I'll summarize here.

I. Photo Finish is an exploitative bitch

Ardashir also makes this point in Manehattan Madness (a really excellent comedy of Changelings and high fashion which I deeply recommend to you), and it's quite true. Photo Finish doesn't give a damn about anypony save as they can be used to make her dramatic photographs. She not only treats Fluttershy as an object (to some sense to be expected, since 'Shy is from a photographic POV) but as an object whose personhood is to be despised. It's a bit subtle, but if you watch it you'll notice that she actually discourages Fluttershy's attempts to be more self-confident on camera because what she likes about Fluttershy is her timidity.

This is because, unlike Rarity (who consistently through the whole series encourages Fluttershy to come out of her shell), Photo Finish isn't Fluttershy's friend. And makes no effort to become her friend, despite the fact that she works with her fairly closely over the course of the episode. In fact, I might go so far as to say that Photo Finish's whole philosophy of art involves reducing Ponies to objects, denying their person-hood. Which is to say that Photo Finish, at least professionally, is close to non-violent sociopathy -- this is especially noticeable given that the Ponies in general tend to be compassionate and friendly. In terms of her approach, she's less warm and fuzzy than (say) Trixie. Or even Gilda. We don't see Photo Finish liking anypony.

Photo Finish is to some extent a metaphor for fans, or meddling executives, who can only see the characters in terms of their stock list of strengths and weaknesses and do not want them to develop, to grow. Photo Finish is selling an image of the scared little Fluttershy, and does not care if the real, flesh-and-blood Fluttershy, might want to be something more than that. Objects, after all, don't have emotions. Only images.

II. Pinkie Pie is an exemplar of Honor Before Reason

People often think of Pinkie Pie as random rather than rule-bound. Yet one of the forces driving this episode is the extent to which Pinkie considers a promise (especially a "Pinkie Promise," which is to say one sworn on her own honor) to be unbreakable, or ideally unbreakable. This shows incredible lawfulness, and goes a long way toward explaining why Discord later on likes her far less than you'd think he would. (Instead, he likes Fluttershy, who has repeatedly shown an almost stereotyped example of a "chaotic good" alignment, in old-style D&D terms).

Pinkie, of course, takes this way too far in this episode. (Though Pinkie might argue that Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy are being way too casual about making promises). The whole comic misunderstanding which drives the plot -- that Rarity is actually unhappy that Fluttershy is becoming a famous model and eclipsing Rarity's own fame, but forces herself to accept it because she wants Fluttershy to be happy; and Fluttershy is actually unhappy about becoming a famous model and having to perform in front of crowds, but forces herself to accept it because Rarity wants her to do it -- would vaporize the moment Rarity or Fluttershy learned the other's secret. Twilight knows, but can't tell because she made a Pinkie Promise not to, and doesn't want to anger / disappoint Pinkie. Indeed, one of the points of this episode is that friends should communicate, and this communication is more important than keeping secrets.

This epsiode is one of the main reasons I go for an awesome and honorable Pinkie Pie, who is not really random, but instead moves by a strange, alien logic which is driven by the ideal of making other Ponies happy and whose convolute paths make perfect sense if one is a brilliant mare with super-equine precognitive powers and a mindlink to an artificial intelligence older than one's whole civilization, who has not quite mastered normal epistemology because it's slow and boring compared to one's occult means of knowing things -- which seem perfectly normal to oneself. A lot of the other behavior of my Pinkie Pie follows from this, and it's of course inconsistent with the behavior of Pinkie Pies who are simply stupid.

It's obvious that Pinkie learned her code of honor from somewhere. My explanation is that it was taught her, in part out of desperation, by Cloudy and Igneous (her mother and step-father) who wanted a means of making her behavior at least somewhat predictable to them and to other normal Ponies, so that Pinkie's assumptions wouldn't get so strange that she couldn't communicate with normal Ponies. This is more or less exactly what the Paradise Entity wanted them to do -- it doesn't understand being a normal Pony either -- so it approves of their actions. The moral code imparted by Cloudy and Igneous is also one of the reasons why my Pinkie doesn't act like an animate plushie sex doll (the other reason being that, until around 1503 or 1504, her own emotional development hadn't reached that point that she had any real interest in mating).

III. Rarity still mostly takes Spike for granted

This is notable because this episode comes right after S1E19 "A Dog and Pony Show," in which Spike heroically rescues Rarity from the Diamond Dogs (or would have done so, if she hadn't already done most of the rescuing herself). We get to see Sparity at a fairly early stage, and it's obvious that Rarity is at this point still mostly just letting Spike hang around her because he's helpful. Everypony who knows them both well is completely aware that Spike has a crush on Rarity, and it's of course especially obvious to Spike's adopted older sister Twilight Sparkle. That's why this is the beta plot in terms of the secret-keeping: Twilight swears to keep this secret and -- in the effort to avoid telling the important secret -- blurts it out to Photo Finish, who doesn't know or give a damn about either of the two principals.

This episode, in fact, is one of the reasons why those who disagree with Sparity often argue that Rarity isn't attracted to Spike at all. But look at the timing. It takes place toward the end of Season 1 (summer YOH 1501 in my chronology), and in particular before S2E10 "Secret of My Excess" (spring YOH 1502 in my chronology) in which it's revealed that Spike's love for Rarity is strong enough to help him overcome his Dragon greed, and also that Rarity knows about his crush and is touched by it. Then comes "Dragon Quest," in which Rarity comes along on a long expedition to save Spike, and displays ferocity in his defense; The Crystal Empire, in which she sees him save a whole ancient kingdom from enslavement by Sombra; and Nightmare Rarity -- in which he plays a major role in freeing her from the grip of the Nightmare. Finally, beginning with the last scenes of "Inspiration Manifestation," which is close to the last episode of Season Four (just before "Equestria Games" and Twilight's Kingdom) Rarity starts becoming very physically-affectionate toward Spike -- and in public, yet!

I would argue that the order of these events indicates the evolution of Rarity's attitude toward Spike. At first, she sees him almost as a talking pet, then as one of the many males whose attraction to her makes him useful. Over time, she comes to love and value him more and more, treating him as a good friend and finally -- by the end of Season Four -- perhaps a bit more than just a good friend. In Divine Jealousy and the Voice of Reason, they are not yet lovers -- mostly, because Rarity has strong scruples. It's very obvious from her thoughts that she wants to make love to him, but is afraid that such conduct would be immoral.

Conclusion

For a pure Slice of Life episode, in which nothing gets blown up by awesome cosmic powers, "Green Isn't Your Color" is a remarkably significant one in terms of the evolution of the characters and their relationships -- and I'm glad that I bothered to watch it again. I recommend it to all to re-watch.

Comments ( 17 )

I definitely agree on Pinkie's mind being so advanced that her code of ethics goes blue and orange most of the time. I like to think that her conflict with Discord lies mainly in their differing senses of humor and Discord seeing her as a potential rival/competitor. After all, if anypony could ascend (Descend? Transcend?) to draconequushood, it would be Pinkie. Well, at least in those worldlines without a dichotomy between Nature's Law and its Fury.
(Also, in certain universes, Discord just wants to distinguish himself from his mother, but that's hardly relevant to your Equestria.)

And yeah, Photo Finish is kind of a jerk.

(Also, you have an open italics tag at the end of the blog.)

I always thought Photo Finish was beleaguering Fluttershy not primarily because she's a bitch (although she is: she's supposed to be Anna Wintour, the real life inspiration for The Devil Wore Prada.) She encourages and pushes Fluttershy into her most hangdog, miserable, and pathetic looks because that is what fashion models are supposed to look like, and that is what sells. I'm thinking especially of Kate Moss. So I think it's a bit of a feminist sendup of the fashion industry and media, too--the ideal fashion model is bullied into misery and not enjoying herself and doesn't want to be there. It's not a blatant message, but it's there. I don't know if "fashion model" is one of the careers little girls yearn for today, but I sure remember the "Be A Model . . . or just look like one" ads.

Meh--maybe we've just switched over to toddler beauty pageants.

Also important on the Sparity front, this episode comes shortly before Best Night Ever, where Rarity is still planning to meet and marry Blueblood. Rarity's whole understanding of romance might be considered to be not as mature as it would later become.

(Though that does bring up the question of Trenderhoof...)

2364553

She encourages and pushes Fluttershy into her most hangdog, miserable, and pathetic looks because that is what fashion models are supposed to look like, and that is what sells.

You may very well be right. Part of the premise of modeling is that the model should show off rather than distract from the clothes, with an unspoken implication that it works best if the model is an easily-dismissible waif or airhead (which lets the women buying the clothes feel superior to the (usually more attractive) women wearing the clothes in the ads.

Fluttershy -- when she lets herself be -- has awesome emotional presence -- this is part of why Rainbow Dash (who often gets to see her happy and self-confident) has always seen her as her "goddess." This presence would be very "distracting" even in a photo shoot. So Photo Finish suppresses this presence by making Fluttershy feel awful about herself.

Which is still evil and uncaring. Photo could explain the principle of what she's trying to achieve to Fluttershy and have her as a willing and conscious collaborator. Instead, she treats Fluttershy as a semi-sapient beast and tries to condition her into the desired behavior.

I notice that Rarity is in the fashion industry and she has no trouble getting Fluttershy to help her. Photo Finish could have worked with Fluttershy through Rarity, but Photo insisted on direct control and cut Rarity out. Even though Photo didn't have to do so, and doing so hurt Rarity.

Photo just didn't care.

So I think it's a bit of a feminist sendup of the fashion industry and media, too--the ideal fashion model is bullied into misery and not enjoying herself and doesn't want to be there. It's not a blatant message, but it's there.

I think you're right.

And I think that modeling is a deeply-destructive industry, to its models.

2364635

Rarity is a curious mixture of sophistication and naivete in general. My fanon explains this as Rarity's only serious love before she became involved with Spike having been her disastrous seduction by Rush Rocks at age 12-13 in Fillydelphia. Since then (at age 22, by the end of Season Four), she's had crushes on distant figures which have inevitably fallen apart on meeting them; she's had dates (sometimes series of dates) with stallions whom she doesn't really care for; and she made a real connection with the (married and faithful) Fancy Pants. And that's it.

And she's fallen in love with Spike. Who wasn't what she was looking for.

She's still very much running on the "search image" she formed of a suitable stallion when she was around 12. At the point of "Green Isn't Your Color" she's 19 and hasn't even dated much -- she was betrayed by her "search image" in the form of Rush Rocks, but hasn't yet realized there's anything faulty about her technique other that that she needed to be more sexually-restrained. Which she is, now.

She's not yet in love with Spike. She's just making friends with him, and starting to realize that he's more than a talking animal.

I've always thought people underestimated Pinkie. She is actually quite brilliant, even in canon, but is usually thought of as completely clueless. She is nowhere near clueless (most of the time); she just has a different way of doing things and her perspective isn't what you might call normal. But the world would be a boring place if everyone was "normal". She is also much more complex than anyone gives her credit for. She always has a reason for doing things, and she isn't always fun and games, no matter what you might think, something proven especially by (in my opinion) Party of One and Pinkie Pride. And even after the episode with the parasprites (forgot the name), despite the lesson of the episode, ponies always underestimate her and shrug off everything she does as "Pinkie being Pinkie".

2364356

Well, it's strange. Pinkie can often see the long-term consequences of actions but she sees them by precognition, and in consequence is slower to develop an ordinary concept of causality. Her concept of honor is a set of rules to optimize long-term-good-outcomes on the worldliness, which she's learned from her family, from Paradise, and from experimentation. She's serious about it in part because she can see some of the possible bad outcomes directly.

One of the reasons I watched "Green Isn't Your Color" again is that I saw Ardashir's characterization of her in Manehattan Madness and wanted to see if there was ample justification in that episode for such a negative view of her. Short answer: yes, there was!

2364635

Also important on the Sparity front, this episode comes shortly before Best Night Ever, where Rarity is still planning to meet and marry Blueblood. Rarity's whole understanding of romance might be considered to be not as mature as it would later become.

That's a good point. Rarity hasn't yet discovered that the Canterlot elite aren't all they're cracked up to be.

(Though that does bring up the question of Trenderhoof...)

"Simple Ways" takes place before "Inspiration Manifestation," and you should note that in Divine Jealousy and the Voice of Reason Rarity still assumes she's going to have to marry somepony other than Spike. That's why she feels guilty about taking emotional comfort from him -- she fears that she's leading him on.

Oh, also, Trenderhoof is self-made elite, a social climber like herself. She assumes he's a kindred spirit.

2365682

One of the things that bothers me most in some fanfic is when Pinkie is rendered as being stupid. She's not -- and in canon, Twilight at least knows this to be true, though she finds Pinkie's strange reasoning methods to be rather frustrating at times.

Pinkie Pie is hard-working and honorable, and she definitely has deep emotions and her feelings can be seriously hurt. Treating her as just a bouncy pink airhead misses major elements of her personality.

2365754 She might be bouncy and pink, but she is anything but an airhead. Many ponies (and people) think she is, despite multiple scenes where she proves herself otherwise. She might like having fun, she might like parties, she may get obsessive every once in a while, she might be narrowminded every once in a while, but she is so much more than that. They treat her how most adults treat children. This is something I resent, because as a rather silly child, I am often thought of as nothing but silly, rather how some ponies think of Pinkie. Ponies don't take her seriously, ponies don't think she can do certain things, ponies don't think she can help, or they think she can't understand. This is all something I can relate to, and, as such, I am rather defensive of Pinkie because that is just plain stupid. There is almost always more than meets than eye, and thinking otherwise is judging a book by its cover. It's offensive, it's rude, and it's mean.

2365823

In case you've noticed, in my fiction I treat Pinkie Pie as awesome and heroic, though also silly and strange. She's highly-intelligent, extremely-brave, and very honorable in her personal conduct. She loves her friends, especially Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. She will not hesitate to risk her life to protect her friends, and she very rarely complains about anything serious (though she will happily whine about minor issues, partially on purpose as a form of social interaction). Note how she acts in Dragonshyness.

Scoots2 also characterizes her well.

2365837 Yes, you do, but very few stories I've read actually do that. It's rather annoying.

2365683

One of the reasons I watched "Green Isn't Your Color" again is that I saw Ardashir's characterization of her in Manehattan Madness and wanted to see if there was ample justification in that episode for such a negative view of her. Short answer: yes, there was!

While I'm not a big fan of Photo -- she struck me as more shallow and a user in the show, rather than the nasty-to-evil character I seem to have exaggerated her into. Though in Manehattan Madness she is under a LOT of stress at the time, much like Rarity, which doesn't help her good mood; and then she meets Fluttershy, who she actually liked on some level, even if more as a valued possession.

Sometimes people confuse child like with stupidity as well. Pinkie can be very child like in her mannerisms and especially her speech. This makes many underestimate her. Despite this we also know she can be very responsible while still talking/acting younger than she is.

Child like is not stupid as you can be very intelligent but like to act younger than most would consider your age. Some might think it is a problem but so long as you are a fully functioning member of sciety there is no real harm in it (though potentially it could get in the way of some professional careers though considering Pinkie's likely choice in jobs and her potential future fame I don't think it will be an issue though it could leave her type casted). Pinkie shows she can handle a job, help others deal with serious issues, and even take care of babies (not easy especially those babies).

2365837

Scoots2 also characterizes her well.

Why, thank you!


2365682 You mean "Swarm of the Century," I think. That's an episode that's hard for me to re-watch, as my feelings about bugs are much like Rarity's, but it's a really important one for Pinkie characterization.

This is why I have so much fun writing Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie. She's his Muse--the equivalent of Dante's Beatrice. She's anything but foolish (in the usual sense). He thinks that perhaps she's the only pony he's ever met who makes total sense to him. She's Laughter Herself incarnate in pony form. And he really wonders why other ponies are so blind to this. Admittedly, he's very odd himself, but the world needs its fools. That's been clear since the very first episode.

Augh--I must stop fooling around myself and get to working on the next chapter!

2366097

Yes -- some of the details of your premise about the source of Pinkie's special abilities are different, but it comes to much the same thing -- she's awesome and her Laughter is beautiful, rather than her being stupid, annoying or weak.

2366097 One of the most important ones for her characterization, in my opinion.

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