Things I Hate About Things I Love: MLP · 6:29am Jul 18th, 2015
It's 2 AM at the time of me writing this, and I can't sleep. Whether or not that has to do with the lack of an episode remains to be seen. In any case, I have to satisfy my craving to talk to the internet, regardless of how few people actually read this and/or care. Since I have no episode to share my thoughts on later today, I decided to turn my semi-analytical mind onto something else. Specifically, things that I love. Even more specifically, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. So, I'm going to access Krisstoffer's powers and unlock my inner cynical pessimist.
I've watched a lot of cartoons in my day, but My Little Pony is definitely one of my favorites. It's right up there with Avatar, Danny Phantom, Rugrats, Steven Universe and Kim Possible (though not in that order). I'm of the opinion that cartoons are a dying race, by which I mean they get dumber and dumber as time goes on. There are some gems here and there, namely Adventure Time, Regular Show, and the aforementioned Steven Universe, but they're mostly horrendous. Even the classics, Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Teen Titans, they've been destroyed, mere shells of their former selves. That's part of the reason I love MLP so much; It's cartoons the way cartoons were meant to be: fun, exciting, and clever.
This by no means makes this show perfect. Far from it, in fact. There are several things I hate about my currently favorite cartoon. Weird, huh? But I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.
First, let's go with the obvious, I despise the theme song. No need to say much there, besides the fact that it's terrible and we need a new one. It hearkens back to the old days of My Little Pony, and that's not really a good thing. EG's dubstep remix was definitely better, but I think we need something brand new and original. I don't expect it to fit into my preferred genres of music (though it would be interesting to see the Mane Six have a free-style rap battle), but it can definitely be done better.
Next thing I hate is the number of main characters. I love all of the Mane Six, and Spike, too, but there are just too many. With six, there's never enough screentime to go around. And, oddly enough, the two characters who need the most buildup are getting shafted by this layout, those two being Aj and Rarity. Seasons 4 and 5, and earlier in some cases, the joke has been that these two are background ponies. It's not fair, really. I wish there was a way for us to have all the characters, but each of them have a fair and reasonable amount of time on screen. Only solution I can come up with is to make the episodes longer, and that causes a whole slew of problems.
I hate some of the names in this show! They just make me want to smash my head against the wall! Perfect example here being Rarity's parents. I had to write a little line about them in my story Love Is Like A Cure (Which you should check out if you haven't), so I decided to hop on the wiki and find their names. I nearly vomited, because her dad is named Hondo Flanks and her mom is named Cookie Crumble. How did these two get together and name their daughters such elegant and beautiful names? A sub-complaint about names is that they don't make any sense, in terms of surnames. The Pie family checks out, but then there's the Apple family, who are named after apples but don't have Apple in their name, and Twilight's family, consisting of herself, Shining Armor, her father Night Light, and her mother Twilight Velvet. So, does that make Twilight Sparkle a junior (do you call women named after their mom "junior"?)
I hate the portrayal of Equestria's citizens, particularly in Season 5. They're so dumb and petty and annoying. They drive me insane. I talked about it a bit in My Thoughts on Princess Spike. I don't want to live in a place where people act the way that most Equestrians seem to. Granted, the Mane Six, particularly Fluttershy, more than make up for it, but still!
Finally, I hate the scheduling. For example, this mid-season break that I didn't know we were having. Why? What purpose is there? There was a three week gap leading up to Slice of Life. Por que? I see no reason at all, other than to extend the season, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If someone understands why, please explain it to me, because it'll make me happy to know that this hiatus isn't entirely pointless.
Well, that's enough of me ranting. Nobody's gonna read this, anyway. If you somehow did find yourself reading this, share in the comments things you hate about this wonderful show. I always found it interesting what things people will tolerate in the name of their favorite shows. At some point, I'll likely do another one of these for something else, probably this website. Til then, my comrades, farewell!
I also hate the theme song... but sometimes I catch myself singing a line in a very melancholy way: /I always wondered what friendship could be/ ... it makes me wish I could find a slow, sad cover of it. Personally, I'd like to see a punk rock version :P
If I had a stupid name, I'd go out of my way to name my foal something special. I actually find Rarity's name a bit strange... along with any other one-name ponies. Makes me wonder if they actually have a second part of their name, but opt to drop it like many of our divas (Cher, Madonna...).
As far as the citizens are concerned, they piss me off in a "crowds are stupid" way. And I hate people so that distinction never occurred to me, since when taken individually non-mane 6 characters are pretty innocuous (except when they're making a point to be mean to Fluttershy).
I'm going to be twiddling my thumbs until the next new episode and the next movie, anxious and bored simultaneously.
3248317 I totally get you on that theme song thing. Recently, I've been singing it to the beat and tune of In the End by Linkin Park. It's spectacular
3248695 that's a good song. I mean, I enjoy the lyrics and rhetoric enough, but it's been 5 seasons, don't they think Twilight knows about friendship by now?