Introducing my very own analysis of the show (political and psychological) · 12:41pm Jun 19th, 2012
'My Little Pony- Friendship is Magic' has to be one of my favorite cartoons, and, indeed, TV-shows of all times. I won't go into any detail as to why and how I have become a brony and how much I love the brony community as well as the abundance of art and fiction it has produced. At this point I'd just like to say that it is the first time I'm happy to be a part of something this big and that I have a very strong desire to contribute to this rapidly expanding mythology.
I have created a lot of fanfiction myself already. Which is rather strange since I have never written any fanfiction before. Something about this show leaves me strangely... unsatisfied in a very intriguing way. I feel the need to reflect on what I have seen, ponder on the different hints hidden inside and the conflicting signals it seems to be radiating occasionally - okay, constantly.
People who are new to the series might not believe it, but MLP FiM is more than meets your awareness when you first watch it. I have a very strong feeling that what we have seen so far is merely the tip of the iceberg. In a sense, my fiction is an attempt to explore this mysterious world, to dig deeper into its secrets, to discover the things they are not showing us but that they are hinting at in a not-so-subtle way. I bet many bronies feel the same.
To use a term widely used in psychology, MLP FiM belongs to the realm of the 'uncanny'. Something is always slightly off in a very fascinating and sometimes disturbing way. Maybe that's just the natural consequence of very talented and creative people producing a children's cartoon about little ponies.
For the moment I am certainly not capable to deliver something like a complete analysis, far from it. These essays are supposed to give you a quick overview of some things I have been speculating about so far.
Before we go any further, let me tell you something about the way I'm planning to go about this. Much of what I'm doing here is inspired by the work of Rob Ager, a brilliant movie analyst who would be ashamed to be referenced by someone like me. Since I don't see Ager doing an analysis of MLP FiM anytime soon (other than "...Gwrglwrgl psychedelic pony fascism brainwashing waste of time gwrglwrgl..."), I'll have to give it a go myself.
First of all, I am basing my reading on a somewhat shaky premise: That most of what I am seeing on screen is deliberate, rather than the consequence of lazy writing. I love this show, and I tend to assume these guys knew what they were doing. I realize that it does have its imperfections, but I also like to think of it as the product of several highly creative, thinking minds coming together to deliver a unique experience. The creators themselves might laugh at the things I'm saying here and claim that any hidden "message" was completely unintentional. However, as someone who is trying to create art myself, I have come to think that when you create something, there is an underlying reason to present it one way and not another, even when you aren't aware of it. To a certain point, the boundaries between deciphering a creator's agenda and amateur-psychoanalyzing them in a patronizing way can be fluctuating, and I apologize in advance for that.
It is important to keep in mind at all times that this show is a story. It is not reality, but a tale about reality. Thus it does not necessarily follow the usual rules of causality, but has instead an inner coherence that might be difficult to decipher at times. In other words, a story works like a dream, the ends pretty much justify the means- if you need to have a giant monster pop out of nowhere to represent a character's inner fears, or make someone act completely out of character, go for it. The important part is that you deliver the message in the most efficient way. To understand a show like this, you can't take everything literally, or else you get stuck in the most superficial contradictions and apparent plot-holes. Ask yourself not only what you are shown, but what it means.
-The setting
There are different layers of the uncanny in this show. Some things are more easy to spot than others, but they all find their way into our brains and contribute to our perception of this work.
There are the ponies themselves, for instance. They have a very unique anatomy and seem to have even less in common with actual horses than the 'little ponies' of previous generations.
That's because they aren't actual horses. Maybe I'll discuss this in depth another time, but it is my strong perception that the little ponies are not just anthropomorphic animals, but a species of four-legged humanoids. In a slightly uncomfortable way, they are very, very human. They still have equine attributes, but less than humans have primate attributes.
To use drastic terms, this is basically a show about naked people who are walking on all fours. Their intelligence and spirit, compared to their incarnations in previous generations of this show, also adds to that impression. They are, for all intends and purposes, people. Weird people... but that's like saying "a square with four corners".
Thus we have the first piece of the puzzle. What makes MLP FiM so fascinating is its somewhat brutal and unconventional way of portraying the human condition. Despite all the cute colors and fluffiness, this show is not pretty in the conventional sense. It is monstrous, and in that, it is also shockingly honest. To get back to something I said a little earlier, it is the *naked* truth.
The ponies are us. They are grotesque and disturbing, a blend of biology and civilization, dreams and ideas radiated by twisted bags of meat - just as we are. We are lifeforms who have emerged from the bogs of this world, loving and thinking, singing and dancing, constructing and destroying, laughing and crying, but just as organic and vulnerable as all the other animals. Most shows simply don't bother to be quite as in-your-face about it as MLP FiM.
This observation triggers a lot of questions. What exactly is the magical land of Equestria? How does magic work? Why are there three major "tribes" of ponies with vastly different attributes, and how do they coexist? What is their relationship with other intelligent lifeforms such as griffins and donkeys? How come cows are held in captivity while buffalos roam free and have their own civilization? How did Princess Celestia, the god-queen of Equestria, get to be in charge of raising the sun, and what does that even mean? Could it really be that all life on this planet is resting in the hooves of one powerful pony - does that prove that ponies really are the pinnacle of creation and all other lifeforms and nations are reduced to the rank of background-characters? And how come no one seems to be worried even the slightest about the very concept of having a god-queen?
On the more individual level, how are the different characters interacting with one another? What is with this constant use of the concept of 'insanity' throughout the show? All major characters have proven to be somewhat mentally unstable at some point, indicating a general theme of exploration of the self and overcoming hidden traumas, but presented in such a brutal way that it looks eerily out of place in a little kid's show.
There are so many contradictions, underlying conflicts and mysteries here that I'm getting all dizzy even introducing the subject. But the show is addressing all of this. It doesn't necessarily provide satisfying answers - how could it possibly do that? - but it is certainly exploring some very fascinating questions.
So we have obtained the general 'grille de lecture' for the show. It's a show about creatures like us, and it's presented in a way that does not hesitate to ask very uncomfortable questions in very uncomfortable ways. In fact, it would probably be downright unbearable to watch if it wouldn't insist on other things as well- love and beauty, for instance. Adventure. Exploration. Humor, of course. Lots of it, some of it very dark, much of it light-hearted and kind. That does not contradict the original premise, but instead reinforces it. The ponies are weird and uncanny, but we love them, just as we love our own world and the people and creatures in it - because that IS the reality of our world. MLP FiM is simply replacing the more arbitrary elements of our world- geography, human anatomy, technology and historical timeline - while focussing on something more essential, revealing to us the abstract, underlying principles that are making it complex, mysterious... and beautiful.
First up: The Fascism of the Foal-Free Press ( http://neustrasbourg.deviantart.com/#/d53pf6k )
Second: Conformity and Racism in Ponyville http://neustrasbourg.deviantart.com/art/Conformity-and-racism-in-Ponyville-309237383
How much analysis do you plan on doing.
176392
probably more than is good for me
176413 Cool... I'mma fixing to drop an update to my fic that contains details about the possible nature of politics in
In the Tri-city precinct of Ponyville, Cloudsdale and Canterlot.
The situation is that during a threat of invasion, with all communications cut off from canterlot, A military Governor takes seat in Cloudesdale and precedes to micro manage the goings -on in Ponyvillec in a bid to fuel her defense efforts.
(funny thing is...this is just a sub plot)