Mystic Mind Analysis: School Daze and Overcoming Prejudice · 10:30pm Jun 9th, 2018
Greetings, one and all! Welcome to Mystic Mind analysis; my irregular critiques of MLP episodes.
I am the Mage of Mind, reminding you as always that even a Cheeseburger can be deconstructed to its original source.
"Good lord it's a cheeseburger! A DOUBLE!
The first half of season 8 has come to a close, so I feel now is a good time to reflect on how the season has measured up. The opener, "School Daze", giving us a fresh start with a new direction for the series .We’ve come a long way in the past couple of seasons. With the Cutie Map, the Mane Six and Starlight have gone to the furthest reaches of Equestria, crossing over into other Kingdoms to repair conflicts of friendship.
However, these creatures were not one-shot characters. They’ve had a lasting impression, meeting other established races to add more dynamic conflict to the show, and by extension, for our central protagonists. Now they bring the next generation; with one student for each of the races Equestria is allied with. Henceforth known as the "Young Six".
A field day for fandom shippers, no doubt.
What I like about this introduction is how each of the kids’ personalities have a basis in their race’s culture, while being more than miniature versions of their adult peers. Yona may share the Yak culture’s heavy-hoofed approach to, well, everything; but she’s still embracing the new culture, rather than rejecting it. Likewise, Gallus shares the dry sarcasm of Gilda and other Griffons but doesn’t look down upon others as “uncool” simply for being different.
The episode accurately demonstrates how kids, especially younger kids, can easily overlook differences in one another to form friendships through play, since they lack the preconceived national biases the adults have formed. Smoulder and Gallus quickly become friends, due to the more self-centred nature of their cultures, but become more open to the other kids when when they discover aspects which aid in their play.
"Falalalala"
In a sense, the restrictions placed upon them encourage them to come together, as they are all equally bored stiff by the standardized lesson style (something I will come back to later). It shows that there are universal skills which transcend culture: such as quick thinking, creativity and a willingness to apply individual talents to a challenge.
Starlight Glimmer also has a positive supporting role, which the writers have emphasised (for good or for ill) these past couple of seasons. Her experiences with friendship helped her to understand how one-size-fits all solutions limit creativity, often causing more problems than they intend to solve. So, she is the perfect individual to show Twilight the tough love required to spur Twilight back into action; because what other pony has such a history of all trying to fit square pegs in round holes? It isn't Twilight that failed the EEA; it’s the other way around!
Starlight's reaction to Twilight's pity party being, in her words, "Overbooked".
While the episode is a great one overall, I do have two key issues with it. The first is Twilight Sparkle’s implementation of the EEA’s standards, of which even Celestia’s school must adhere t. We know she’s under a ton of pressure to get this school working, and we also know that Twilight can easily get tunnel vision when setting herself against a high achievement bar. However, the issue becomes evident upon remembering the Season 4 episode; Testing, Testing, 123.
Twilight should remember how difficult it was for Rainbow Dash to remember Wonderbolts history facts until she found her own method of learning. She should know how, for a school of any kind to function, multiple learning methods are required, as focusing on only one will always, inevitably, leave some students feeling bored and unengaged.
There really is a fetish for everything, isn't there?
However, there is one other factor which I feel seriously bogs the episode down; Gallus and Smoulder excusing their truancy by calling it a “Mental Health Break”. This may seem like a trivial line to many; however, keep in mind that this is the only explicit mention of mental health in the entirety of MLP so far. Mental health is a subject that is being taken seriously more than ever before in schools, and for good reason. The mental wellbeing of children is just as important as their physical health.
So, to write characters who roll their eyes and state “Mental Health” in a sarcastic manner implies that it’s a thinly veiled excuse for getting out of class, and in the process, framing the idea of mental health as trivial. What’s worse, is that this line feels carelessly thrown in there, without much consideration given to the unfortunate implications. I know Gallus needed to make skipping class sound innocent, but it should have been easy to use a myriad of other low-effort excuses; like the weather, for example.
Twilight was the one who seriously needed the Mental Health break.
*Phew*. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can finally talk about the best aspect of this two-parter; the anti-racism message. Chancellor Neighsay is a perfect example of how modern alt-right groups frame their hatred of others. Neighsay insists that outside creatures are a threat to Equestria, and that this school must exist to train ponies on self-defence against invaders!
This is scarily close to white nationalist rhetoric, which insists that we need to close borders to prevent the foreign invader coming in to ruin our way of life. While Neighsay doesn't quite go as far as to suggest that Equestrian culture will be destroyed by creature diversity, you can tell by the way he looks at the other races that, in his eyes, they’re no good!
Tell me you don't see the similarities.
This is a classic example of the psychology of in-group, out-group scenarios. We identify with our “in group”, heralding specific qualities as the ideal, while excluding those in the “out-group” based on arbitrary differences. It doesn’t matter to Neighsay that the other races have already formed friendships with ponies, or their societal complexities that we’ve seen. He just sees the “other” being reason enough to consider them dangerous.
Which makes it even more amazing when Twilight brings her own rulebook of friendship to stick in his face! Twilight defies such acts of bigotry, including the narrow-minded standards of the EEA, ensuring that all creatures can feel included. It’s a powerful message of acceptance in a time where so much fear and bigotry over the foreign baddy exists, and one that a show like MLP is perfect for delivering!
We're not gonna take it anymore!
Overall, this was a fun opener, and a significant improvement over the previous season. It gives us exceptional world building, showing how various creatures can find common ground despite cultural differences, while also demonstrating how limiting standardized education can be. While I do think Twilight was a little headstrong in sticking to the rulebook, and the whole issue with the “Mental Health Break” could've easily been avoided, the overall messages of anti-racism and cultural acceptance do plenty to outshine these flaws!
I give “School Daze” a final grade of an A-. What did you make of this episode? Feel free to discuss it in the comments below! Until next time, I'm Mystic Mind, never stop learning.
WTF? What happened to my post?
4880254
TBH it was a bit of a gish gallop, and I didn't have the time nor energy to really respond to it. I deleted it, but you may repost it if you wish. I can't guarantee I'll be up for a long discussion. Especially when it repeats several white nationalist talking points about "immigrants not assimilating with other cultures".
4880360
That's not just a 'white nationalist' point of view, China has a similar point of view with regards to growing population of Africans in Hong Kong and other southern China cities, and there are many East Afrians that are feeling the effects of China's own incursion into their nations.
Also have you heard of the Black Panthers? They are Black Nationalist.
Ethnocentrism is not exclusive to Eupoearns, for the longest time China called itself the Middle Kingdom, as it viewed itself as the center of the world.
Also how do you think Europeans were able to settle in The Americans? most of the first cultures that they interacted with allowed them to settle and not assimilate. Heck the Aztecs first viewed Cortez to be a god.
4880371
Ethnocentrism is racism, full stop, because it suggests that other cultures are inherently dangerous. It's this whole "Great Replacement" bullshit. If anything, the European settlers didn't assimilate; they slaughtered the indigenous population and claimed land for their own.
Also, the "Black Panthers" were a self-defence movement during the civil-rights marches, meeting violent oppression with equal measure to survive. They aren't seeking Black dominance or genocide as White Nationalists want POC dead. There are plenty of resources out there on youtube, so I suggest you do some research before trying to argue again.
4880371
This claim has been frequently contested by a number of academic historians and most likely originated as Spanish pro-conquistador propaganda. This isn’t an example to be using if you want to support your point.
4880416
Contested, but not disproven. Thus still valid.
4880379
Thanks for proving my point. The natives allowed Europeans to take root and were killed off.
However, you do neglect the existence of Virgin soil diseases, such as Small Pox.
Have you even read the Koran? Fuck even in Christianity there is support of violence and arguably inherently violent, even in the Gospels, Matthew 10:34. And I am a Roman Catholic.
That's for you to provide. You made the claim, you provide the evidence. It's not my job to your legwork.
Still doesn't address my point of Black Nationism,
And here is my evidence, Black Hitler himself https://www.youtube.com/user/smiletone
Also, you failed to counter my point that Ethnocentrism is exclusive to 'White Nationalists', is it because you know I right?
4880485
Not how that works. Historians are trained to look at contemporary sources with a critical eye, especially when they involve political conflicts, and contemporary sources that come entirely from one faction are generally presumed to be biased in favor of that faction until evidence from other perspectives are taken into account.
Case in point, the evidence of Cortes’s arrival being treated as the harbinger of Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs comes almost entirely from Spanish primary sources during the conquistador campaigns. There’s no reliable corroborating evidence from the perspective of the Aztecs, or from anywhere other than blatantly pro-Spanish Empire sources. The claim can’t be taken on its face because there’s no reason to trust that the historical evidence is an accurate account.
The European conquests can’t be treated as similar to modern immigration because the conquests were specifically made with the purpose of exploiting native labor and natural resources for profit. This isn’t the case for most immigrants, who simply move to other places because of war or economic hardships that push them to seek places where they have a better chance at surviving.
Religion is much more complex than the literal word of any given holy book and there’s a large intersecting body of social, economic, and political forces that can drive people towards violent extremism. The Koran says “violent things” sometimes, but the majority of Muslims are content to live peaceful lives because there are many things besides their literal religious text that can influence how they interact with others.
A much more effective analysis of terrorism is to look at what they hope to get out of it, rather than whatever holy book they have says. Political scientist Louise Richardson goes over this in her book What Terrorists Want and describes the three main aims of terrorism as “Revenge, Renown, and Reaction.”
Terrorists act out of Revenge in order to get back at an enemy they believe to have wronged them, they act out of desire for Renown by media coverage and infamy, and they act in order to provoke a Reaction from people who are watching them. These desires aren’t specific to any one holy book, and a lot of what we see from terrorism in “other cultures” is born out of a resentment for “the west” due to the hardships they’ve faced (oftentimes at the hands of American military and its allies.) Religion and culture can act as a sort of “adhesive” for these resentments that bring them together into violent action, but they aren’t anywhere near enough to cause terrorism. To blame religion or culture for terrorism is a distraction from the real root of the problem — one that’s usually used to fuel xenophobia that harms far more than it helps.
4880508
You still have not provided an actual thing that counters the claim, such you can sight 'an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence', but there is nothing that an empericaly disputes the claim.
If these were mostly women and children coming into Europe, you would have a point, but what do we see, armies of men that are unemployable, and can only survive based on Government handouts, which will dry out due to the decreasing number of tax-payers in comparison to the number of people on welfare.
Also, cultures don't need war to be obliterated. Virgin Soil Diseases, bred more. And its still a valid comparison, cultures are on the verge of being snuffed out, this time the cultures being snuffed out are still electing to not fight back.
50.0000001% is a majorty, but that doesn't mean much.
Also the same can be said for Christians, but you strike me as someone who would gladly use the Crusades to make a moral grandstand. So
You really don't know much about 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Century Middle Eastern and European History, do you? Because the people there were as violent then as they are now and Europe was in the depths of the Dark Ages.
Also since you made the initial claim, Citation needed.
Sometimes? Quran (3:151- "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".
Quran (8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion is all for Allah"
Quran (8:59-60)- "And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy."
Need I go on?
The fact is Islam and the Western are not compatible cultures, for one to survive, the other must be eliminated and Islam has a history of its borders being marked with blood, and that has been true for almost a millennium before Europeans started exploring the West African coast and the Americas.