My Little Pony Episodes that are Inappropriate for the Target Audience · 10:02pm Dec 14th, 2018
I've noticed quite a few episodes, that are dangerous for the target audience:
S5E6: Appleoosa's Most Wanted:
The CMCs hang around a man who their babysitter tells them is dangerous (and the man's a known criminal to boot). The episode shows them as being right to disobey their babysitter.They Crusaders got lucky, the man turned out to be harmless. It could have ended very badly for them! It could end very badly for a real kid who tries the same stunt!
Equestria Girls 4: Legend of Everfree:
A camp counselor blatantly hits on one of the (teenage) kids at his camp, and tries to start a romantic relationship with her. That was shown as normal and acceptable.
S8E10: The Break Up Breakdown:
The CMCs mistakenly think Sweetie Belle has a secret admirer. A secret romantic admirer. And Scootaloo says this line: “I don't get it. We asked every stallion in Ponyville [if he was Sweetie's secret admirer]”.Notice, she didn't say “colt”. She said “stallion”! Scootaloo mentions the possibility of a grown man having a romantic interest in a pre-pubesent girl, as if that's something normal and acceptable. That's the last thing we want to tell a bunch of little girls!
Also, that episode did show lesbian couples (in the scene where Big Mac looks at romantic couples longingly, because he misses his girlfriend). I think LGBT stuff doesn't belong in a kids' show. But whether you agree or disagree with me there: I hope we can all agree that pedophilia shouldn't be shown as normal and acceptable.
S8E20: The Washouts:
There's team of stunt-fliers, who preform very dangerous death-defying stunts. They recruit a child onto the team, without asking her mother's (well, big sister's) permission. And not as a mascot, or something safe like that: They're going to have the kid preform the same dangerous stunts as the adult members of the team.Now, you'd think Rainbow Dash would rescue her kid, and drag the tike home kicking and screaming if she has too. She almost does. But instead, Dash decides to let Scootaloo remain on the team, telling her “You're your own foal”.
That's wrong! A child does not have the right to do something dangerous, because “he's his own child”. He's his parents' child, and it's his parents' job to protect him (Dash wasn't doing that). For the show to tell kids that their parents should let them to dangerous things, because “you're your own child”: That's dangerous!
To be fair to the episode: It did end with the leader of the team being revealed as a nasty person. That's good, but the episode still gives kids a dangerous message.
In conclusion:
The really sad part is: How many people have to give the green light, before an episode (or Equestria Girls movie) makes it to our TVs? Probably a lot of people. And yet somehow, not one of them stepped back and said “Wait a minute. We can't air that!”.
Edit:
At least one inappropriate episode has come out, since I first posted this:
S9E18: “She Talks to Angel”:
Fluttershy feeds one of her animals, and tells the creature "It's vegan". You do not feed pets a vegan diet! That is animal abuse. It makes nasty things happen to the poor thing, such as going blind and dying. MLP should not be showing that as normal and acceptable.
I mean, part of me - a big part - loves the show specifically because it does shit like this. It's a kid's show that's not a kid's show. I think one of the earliest indicators for me (which is partly why I grew to love the show so quickly) was in Fall Weather Friends. Now, in what you'd consider a 'normal' or 'appropriate' children's show, you probably wouldn't expect to see two of the main characters getting into a fist fight. But that's exactly what we got. And I loved it to bits.
I never really thought about it, but now that I do, it's probably a lot to do with nostalgia. I grew up watching cartoons like Ren & Stimpy, the Power Puff Girls, Rocko's Modern Life, Invader Zim, etc. Shows that had a lot of violence, and could be really fucked up. Those were shows that weren't afraid to do stuff like that (probably because nobody really put them under a magnifying glass to see if this was ok for kids to watch...), and I loved watching them.
However, more on the subject of
promotingsuggesting, um, shall we say, 'inappropriate' social scenarios - which, yes I definitely agree that your examples do suggest inappropriate things - I'd like to say that maybe you're reading way to far into it. The kids watching this kind of stuff are not sitting there dissecting each episode and formulating some kind of twisted secondary morals from the show, and then proceeding to live their lives by a set of rules that they inferred from a TV show. Though even so, yes, these things probably are leaving an impression on the children viewers. It's just that I really don't think it's anywhere near as powerful or damaging as you seem to think.4981984
I don't think that fist-fight is comparable to the stuff on my list (for one thing, the episode showed AJ and Rainbow Dash as being in the wrong).
And yes, there are cartoons with comedic over-the-top violence (such the "The PowerPuff Girls" and "Tom and Jerry"). It's up to parents to be parents, and decide if they want to let their kids watch that stuff. I don't think that's the same thing as "Hey kids. Pedophilia's a-okay! And so is hanging around people your parents say are dangerous!".
I think that impression is more dangerous then you think it is. Let's take Equestria Girls 4 as an example: Say a girl watches it. And the girl sees Twilight's camp counselor blatantly hitting on her, like that's just something normal.
Then our girl grows up, and becomes a teenager herself. And her own camp counselor (or teacher) tries to seduce her. The appropriate reaction is, of course, for the girl to run away screaming and tell her parents. But a lot of girls don't do that. And that's not what Twilight did. Twilight showed her, as a child, that that kind of thing is just normal.
Don't you think makes it more likely, that our girl won't run away screaming and tell her parents? That instead, she might actuality form a romantic (or sexual) relationship with her counselor, as Twilight did?
4982077 I see your point. Let's take EqG 4, while you make a totally valid point that a kid shouldn't become romantically involved with their camp counselor - I agree - what I'm trying to say is that the severity of it isn't so bad. And here's why: you're operating on the assumption that what's-his-nuts was an adult and Twilight was a minor. I mean, that's the only reason that situation would be unacceptable, right? The thing is we just don't know. It's, what do you call it? Cartoon convention, I think. It's a cartoon, and they are implying that the camp counselors are also teenagers. They're trying to show them as peers to the main characters. While in real life, I suppose a camp counselor for a bunch of teenagers might also be a teenager, I have to admit, it's highly unlikely that the only 2 people running the camp - who own the place - are minors. Yeah, so I see where you're coming from with that. But my point is that, at least in this example, the subtext is a little odd, and perhaps even socially unacceptable, but I personally don't see it as being that damaging, simply because that show is working on the premise that both individuals are peers of the same age. Stupid as that me seem, to people who are examining this from an outside perspective.
Now if the counselor was intended to be some older adult, it would be really messed up.
But this brings me to another point, or perhaps just a reason why they would have something like that happening in the show. At least why the counselor dude would be made out to be of a similar age, and hitting on Twilight. It's because kids like that kinda thing. More specifically, young children desire, more than anything else, to grow up and be adults, and do adult things, like having a boyfriend/girlfriend. So it makes sense why they would include such a part in the plot.
(I will agree, though, it probably would've been less awkward if it wasn't the camp counselor dude, no matter how old he is...)
All this having been said, I don't really like EqG much. It has its moments, and I actually really love Sunset as a character, but the rest of it is really not on par with FiM. For that matter, even including in the plot some silly teenage romantic infatuation with some random guy, is - in my opinion - really beneath the My Little Pony that I know and love. (I mean because it's a cheap plot thing, not that I find it morally unacceptable for children.)
Speaking of romantic stuff, I actually somehow missed S8E10, so I watched it yesterday. I really didn't see anything terribly inappropriate in it. The fact that Scoots said 'stallion' instead of 'colt' could really just be chalked up to the writers having a brain fart. As they are wont to do (ie, whenever they use the word 'hand'). The visual indicators that we have all imply they were talking to colts in the same age bracket. Except maybe Pipsqueak, that kid looks like he's in kindergarten. Then again, you could even say that this is just young girls using the word for a grown-up male, because boys are gross and they want to be adults and do adult things, like having boyfriends. Ya know?
Also, also, in that episode, there where two stallions having a conversation at a cafe table, and it happened to be on Hearts and Hooves day. That was about the only implication of homos in that episode. Except for Lyra and Bon Bon, who were totally, obviously, unashamedly exchanging Hearts and Hooves gifts. But ya know what? They get a pass, dammit!
Besides them (which us fans made them fillyfoolers, not the show), there has been really no LGBT push in this show. Thank Celestia, I say. Unlike a lot of other TV shows and media and stuff these days.
4982552
You're mostly offering in-universe explanations, that would make it innocent in-universe (I don't think your EG4 explanation would make it innocent, but that's not my point). I don't think that cuts it. Because this isn't an in-universe problem, that can be fixed by with some hypothetical in-universe explanation.
The problem is, as you said:
And the show's just done that too many times. You said it was a brain fart (with Scootallo's line), but they've had too many “brain farts”. I'm convinced that the writers/staff (too many of them anyway) are either incompetent when it comes to child safety, or outright creeps!
4982637 Nah, they're just overworked and have deadlines. It's literally one word that makes the difference. They don't have the time (nor are they really being paid to) fine tune every detail to ensure there are zero possible moral quandaries that can be derived by people who are dissecting and analyzing every minute piece of their work.
4982640
That's the thing: It's not a single word in a single episode. If it were, I could forgive that. But it's multiple episodes. And "The Break Up Breakdown" is the only episode, where the problem is a single word.
Now, I'm not expecting the writers to catch everything on their own. Like I said: A lot of people probably have to give the green light, before an episode makes it to our TVs. One of them should have caught that stuff.
4982637
4982640
Speaking of single words: I just noticed that I said "hypocritical" in my post, when I meant to say "hypothetical" (I've fixed it). If you read that as "hypocritical", and took that as me calling you a hypocrite: Sorry about that.
I mean, not really.
Colt and stallion can be used interchangeably in Equestria. "I now declare you mare and colt."
The counselor was also a teenager.
Appleloosa's Most Wanted had the moral of appearances can be deceiving-a good moral.
The Washouts one was...alright, you got me on that one but remember nobody, not even her parents, actually loves Scootaloo. Well, Dash does, but sometimes you have to let the toddler touch the hot stove.
5163463
Yeah, and that only came out with the novelized version, so it feels like it was just tacked on to assuage any criticism they received. Plus, even if he wasn't much older Twilight was, he was a camp counselor, aka an authority figure. It's VERY inappropriate for someone in a position of authority to have a romantic relationship with a subordinate. There's a reason why the military doesn't allow fraternization.
4982552
It doesn't matter if he's not much older than her, he's an authority figure. It's not appropriate.
5163463
And if it were just that one word, in that one episode: I might just think it was a bit strange. But combined with the other stuff on my list, and combined with the writers putting LGBTism in that same episode: It’s creepy!
I think 5165148 made my point for me. The only think I have to add to that is: Do we really want to tell the target audience (girls) that once they become teenagers: It’s normal acceptable behavior for camp counselors, teachers, and the like, to try to start romantic relationships with them?
And that’s a good moral, I’m not objecting to that. The moral I’m objecting to is this:
“Kids: Go hang around people your parents say are dangerous. Even if those people are known criminals. Your parents don’t know what they’re talking about, you know better!”
5165163
Don't know what you have against gay people (quite frankly, I'm tired of straight men raping little girls, but that's just me.)
Also, yeah, the Timber thing, okay, ya got me there.
5165257
If you want to talk about little kids getting raped by adult men: Statistically speaking, a homosexual man is far more likely to rape a boy, then a heterosexual man is to rape a girl.
Does this mean that all men who are into men, are also into boys? No, and you're an idiot if you think it does. What it does mean is: The Gay community has a serous pedophilia problem. And so does the MLP fan community, for that matter: “Foacon” is an accepted part of the culture on this site, and in this fan community.
More to the point: It is creepy when a kids' show promotes homosexuality, while strongly hinting at pedophilia. Actuality, it's just creepy when a kids' show promotes homosexuality. If a kid goes that way later in life, on his own: That's one thing. But he should not be encouraged, from the time he's a child, to go that way!
Can we at least agree that it would have been better, and less creepy, if the episode had said “colt” instead of “stallion”?
5165279
Well, yes, but Shining gets called a colt so...I mean someone should have picked up a dictionary.
You can not encourage homosexuality anymore than you encourage having blue eyes. It's an inborn, fixed genetic trait.
Also true for pedophilia-but the differences between those two are too obvious to be mentioned. Quite frankly, our entire culture has a pedophile problem and a problem with sexual deviancy due to the perverted elite.
5165279
Also, this looks like a fine gentleman.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-rape-girl-snapchat
5165290
I think it’s more complicated that that, but we should take this to PM. I don’t feel like having this comments section go off-topic, and become all about homosexuality like the last one.
That said: At lest you’re not being a prick about it. Seems that whenever the slightest criticism of anything LGBTBSDM comes up, people think you’re a heretic who has to be burned at the stake.
I'mma nitpick. It varies from animal to animal. There exists safe healthy vegan dog food, but yes, you cannot put your cat on a no-meat diet.
fanatic
5683738
If you're going to criticize me on my own blog: Give me more than a one-word comment, where you don't even bother to capitalize the first letter of a sentence! Dig into my points, make some counter-points. At least give me a complete sentence, something like this:
If you can't do that, if can only give me one-word comments: Please don't post on my blog anymore.
two word