Character Analysis: Silver Spoon · 4:26am Jan 9th, 2014
Of all the fillies and colts of this show, none get as much hatred as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
Sorry, but that's kinda a "duh" moment.
They're bullies. They were written as bullies. They were designed to be annoying, shameless, and to be hated.
So why is it then, time after time, when one of these two are redeemed, it's always Silver Spoon?
Well, I have a little insight on this, so let me shed some light on this.
Nature:
What is Silver Spoon? Well, she's a pony. But unlike Spike, we are going to have to dig a little deeper.
So, what was she written to be? In one sentence? She's Diamond's support.
She is Tiara's friend. Just that. Tiara is not her friend, she is Tiara's friend. She is not the leader here, she a follower.
A very specific type of follower at that. My mother, you see, works at Teen Challenge, a Christianity-based Rehab center, one that comes highly recommended by Judges across the country, and in the business, the word used for someone like Spoon is an "enabler." She enables Tiara to bully well. Her entire purpose in the relationship is to be there to make Tiara's job easier. She hardly ever begins the bullying, in fact, without something to go off of, she hardly comes up with a original insult. She just goes off of Tiara's lead and adds to it.
Truth be told, if it weren't for the fact that Diamond instigated these bullying sessions, she probably would have left the Crusaders alone.
Personality:
This, in truth is the key to Silver's character.
She is a follower.
She is not an instigator, she is not a hero, she follows. If she has a friend in the right crowd, she will follow them, and do her best to gain his/her approval. Why does she want a friend's approval so bad? Probably because she also has a low self-esteem. This furthers her need to be an enabler, because, instead of being a victim of a bully, she ensures she never get bullied by being a bully. There may even be a bit of bitterness in her insults if this is the case, brought on by jealousy in most cases.
If stronger friends appeared on the lighter side of the Force, she could change sides. It really depends on how her friendship with Diamond Tiara is.
As someone who has experienced being an enabler (an unwilling one, I might add), I can certainly vouch that just because you are "friends" with a bully does not mean you're friends with him. If Tiara makes fun of Spoon, even if she meant it to be joking, it could certainly sour the relationship, perhaps not enough to dissolve it, but certainly enough to weaken it to the point for her to consider leaving.
Of course, the threat of being left alone in the dark may be worse.
This is the secret to Silver Spoon. Even if she is friends with Tiara, she probably fears her more.
And that is why she is redeemed so often, because people see her as a good pony gone wrong.
Really, she fears being on the wrong side too much to risk it.
But she can face her fear.
Glad to see a fellow Spoon isn't too far gone.
You make some good points, likely due, as you mentioned, to being in a similar-ish position.
Though perhaps not for the same reasons you have surmised.
Anyway, thanks for shedding some light on your views on a Spoon.
Can't wait for your next analysis.
I still don't know how you do it with this analysis and all. It's well said and done, I like them. I can't wait to see more of these in the future. These are awesome.