Thoughts straight out of the oven: Starlight Glimmer and where I am as regards the show

Hello, all. Welcome to this little feature I’m going to run every now and then so as to retain what little sanity I have left – Thoughts straight out of the oven, where I dump whatever I’m thinking about into a blog post and pray someone reads it. Today’s topic? Starlight Glimmer (ah, joy). Pop on the kettle, grab a teabag and a mug and a digestive, and get comfy.

The face of goodness

Regardless of whether Starlight Glimmer has divided the fandom to such extreme degrees as those discussed in the average blog post, the fact remains she’s a stirrer whose name is on brony lips (or fingertips). I doubt she gave rise to much controversy when introduced as the self-righteous, power-hungry dictator she was for the duration of S5 but when she joined our heroes in canon and, for better or worse, became a protagonist. That’s where the debate begins. That’s where the problem lies.

Now, some if not many of you may be thinking, ‘What problem? There’s nothing wrong with Starlight Glimmer!’ That’s fine. If you like her, good for you. If you don’t, the same goes. Don’t tear me to pieces because my opinion differs from yours. That’s a somewhat aggressive request – but a fair one. If you’ve spent any amount of time debating the issue, you’ll understand why.

For me, Starlight Glimmer was a stroke of genius that became insufferable due to mismanagement – so much so that I stopped watching. Yes, I adored her villainy and balked at the prospect of reformation, which I deemed counter-intuitive and wasteful.

You see, before becoming Twilight’s disciple, Starlight Glimmer was a perfervid totalitarian whose middle names were ‘Dogma’, ‘Suppression’ and ‘Force’. A cousin to the Trunchbull of Matilda, a sister to Napoleon of Animal Farm, she was a god, and Our Town her universe. Based on those blissful grins, Starlight derived contentment from not only controlling others’ lives but also convincing ponies they needed her in some capacity. To put it simply, she was characterised as deviously manipulative and uncaring – totally without empathy, in fact. But what’s even worse in terms of morality is she presented herself as righteous – as the most righteous. She made her own morality, and that’s a trait belonging to the most dangerous villains of all.

Let there be equality

Now, this paints a very clear picture – this character, clearly, is too far gone. Not once at any point prior to the S5 finale did we see an inkling of conflict within her. The writers did such a great job portraying Starlight as a byword for depravity, with a persistence so vengeful, that redemption shouldn’t even have crossed our minds. Her change, when it does come, is therefore ridiculously unconvincing – she’s a lunatic of sorts who has demonstrated a level of instability possessed only by the unsalvageable. So why is she suddenly so nice, and caring, and considerate? Enter the backstory . . .

Which was miserably slight – a miserable trauma that only those who are unhinged in a certain sense could take so seriously. Ironically, it makes her look even worse because she’s blown something so little so vastly out of proportion.

My life was ruined by a mark on my friend's butt

I could have taken the change if they’d executed it a whole lot better. Suggestion: why not introduce Starlight as a character already experiencing moral conflict, an individual who feels all the above but doubts herself from the beginning? Because there were heaps upon heaps of opportunities in those first two episodes alone to do it, writers. How about when she busts the Mane 6 eyeing up her Cutie Mark Vault? How about when reprimanding Party Favor for his impiety? How about when brainwashing ponies in her propaganda hut, or even when she’s rumbled? I mean, it’s torturous, really. So many good moments to introduce a little humanity, but instead we were given two full episodes of the most evil, vile, wicked and cruel character imaginable, with no internal conflict and a level of self-assuredness visible only in psychopaths. You done effed up, writers, as they say. Now Starlight is insufferable because the whole scenario smacks of clumsiness and discontinuity.

Just like the show. S5 marked the beginning of the end, in my opinion. OK, it was bearable. Some episodes were very, very good, e.g., Bloom and Gloom, but by and large, a shift in tone stuck out like a handful of sore thumbs (good image, that). I wondered what had changed. S6 told me, because it was even worse. The humour has changed and not for the better. It has lost its wit, intelligence and naturalness and has become forced and generic – and not funny at all. The humour in S5-6 impacts the characters, forcing them to act stupidly and illogically. (Rarity’s dumb-ass bouncing about in an imitation of Pinkie, for example. You know, like Rarity always does.) Bottom line is, it’s now trying to be funny, and that’s what’s causing the shift in tone. Before, it happened to be funny, because it was believable, natural and relatable – because it was good. Now I can’t even watch without gagging, which is why I gave up three-quarters in. I haven’t seen anything past S6. Some people tell me it’s changed. Will I pluck up the courage?

Who knows?

Acologic out.