Latest ep spoiler discussion. · 3:20pm Nov 21st, 2015
So, the new episode dropped early on youtube for...reasons?
And something in it stood out to me and I'd like to hear what other folks think. Head below the cut to discuss.
Alright, so Rara has a few points where her cutie mark sparkles/glow/shoots out wide angle laser beams/ turns into a spotlight/take your pick. I was bemused and cringing at this because it made her feel like a bad OC, as opposed to a great OC.
The excellent Gameleon pointed out that this is the same thing from Troubleshoes and DT when they realize what their cutie mark truly means.
That's all well and good but with those ponies they were doing some very different from their marks. Rara is still singing. But apparently if she sings anything other than solo with minimal musical accompaniment it's against her cutie mark? Thus when she goes back to that it's her proper talent and her cutie mark shines.
So...her cutie mark is actually limiting her abilities. It's telling her she can only sing in one way. I mean, even when she was doing her big over the top piece, she still seemed pretty passionate, so I'm reluctant to say it's because she's not passionate about it.
I find myself really conflicted about this season in terms of what it's been telling us about cutie marks.
What do you guys think?
small aside, did anyone else catch the Sven Gallop Svengali nod? Very sly and clever staffers.
Nah, I think it was more to do with singing in a way that's true to herself rather than being built into something by someone else.
I don't know, and frankly I don't care. I think I'm in the "bad OC" reaction category. It's like Princess Cadence all over again. Who is this pony? Why should we suddenly care about her?
Oh. You're the third person I've seen who noticed the reference in Svengallop's name, but the first to actually explain said reference. Thank you for doing so.
As for Rara's mark... yeah, it does seem rather more luminescent than other examples. Still, it seems like the spectacle version was treating her more as a product than a person. With all of the lasers, heavy beats, and magical Auto-Tuning, her talent didn't matter. She was there to be seen, not heard, and therein lay the problem.
In terms of OC quality, the backstory did feel a little forced, but she didn't seem that bad to me.
I have to admit I'd miss her lasers and lineup of stallions wearing (faux?) leather. I'd prefer to think that this new style shows off her real singing and musical abilities: and then she can pick up the glitz and glam again with everyone knowing the "RaRa" underneath. I enjoyed Gaga Pony, and Lady Gaga actually is quite a good musician.
3558587 I pointed this out on EQD, and someone "corrected" me, saying that it must be "Spend Gallop."
Interesting sidebar: when Weird Al did "Perform This Way," he asked and her manager made a fuss, and he wasn't going to do it--and then Lady Gaga said something like "no, are you kidding? This is great!" Source. A possible inspiration for the episode?
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Whether or not it is, I now kind of want to see Coloratura and Cheese Sandwich collaborate for some massive event.
3558876 I know! Me, too!
This episode feels like the show staff saying, "Justin Bieber, why did you let this happen?"
3558587 Yeah, it might be a bit obscure, hence wanting to clarify it ^^;
3558890 Clearly you and bookplayer should write this. Either collaboratively, or as a challenge fic.
Svengallop is not just a reference to Svengalli, but I think a reference to Phil Spector. His production technique seems to be one where he takes an artist's work and layers on sound and spectacle, until the original work is all but drowned. I think the episode was also a bit of a shot at autotune. In anycase, the point is that Rara's talent had been buried and lost underneath everything Svengallop had done, and it was stifling her real talent.
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I like to think that she will now be able to choose effects based on what she feels compliments her performance, not because her manager is just piling on the glitz.
3559006 I certainly hope so. Just think of those poor stallions, out of a job.
I thought the effect was over the top.
As far as cutie mark mythos goes, I'm going to guess that it's related to when she's deeply in tune (ha!) with her cutie mark and special talent. So… passionate. Yeah. I can definitely see how it can be taken as 'bad OC, but I've got another theory: we don't know everything about cutie marks because ponies don't know everything about cutie marks. There are exceptions, nuances, and variations that their own histories and sciences haven't fully explained or even documented.
I actually liked her just fine. She did feel a bit OCish, but at the same time, I thought she was fine really. The cutie mark shimmer might have been a bit over the top, but I actually thought she had a neat design on the whole.
Though I do have to admit I actually liked all of her songs, including the super-autotuned one.
It was an episode with a lot of nice songs, but I couldn't help thinking of this one:
You'll be makin' the scene
Until they pick your bones clean,
No, they don't leave much for the fans.
Everybody's tryin' to be a friend of mine--
Even a dog can shake hands!
(Plus--"Dear Countess RaRa--how do you play piano wit' dose horseshoes on? Sinc-erely, Strongb--er, SAD. StrongSAD. Is writin' dis letter. To da cartoon pony. In da li'l...girls...cartoon...man, I GOTTA get out more...")
Also: magic is not a computer program. When well-written it can be causally inconsistent so long as it is morally consistent. Of course, then the author's morality must be comprehensible to and sympathetic with the audience.