On Assimilation · 5:32pm May 11th, 2019
There's a specific noun I'm looking for to use in the title of this blog post. It's not "assimilation." It's also not "conformity," and I already used that one for "Discordant Harmony." It's possible it doesn't even exist.
Such is the detriment of a bountiful vocabulary; when the optimal word fails to emerge naturally there's no good means to locate it, but you're abundantly cognizant, or at least confident, that there's a superior option to what you have.
So let's talk about "She's All Yak" before I try to change myself.
Our moral is of course that you should be yourself and not change to fit in. Frankly, in this case—and I wouldn't say this to Yona's face because there are legitimately offensive undertones to what I am about to say—I am reminded of the saying that the marvel is not that the bear dances well, but that the bear dances at all. No creature would fail to recognize that Yona is not, in fact, a pony. Nothing she could do would make her truly fit in, and by trying so hard she makes a spectacle of herself to the point that most ponies wouldn't even notice or care whether she's doing a good job of her pony impression. Even if she hadn't run into trouble dancing in that ridiculous getup I'm pretty sure she still would have stood out more than she would have if she had come as just normal Yona.
Of course, now I have to include the usual disclaimer about how the above moral is oversimplified and it's rude to not make an appropriate amount of effort. The elocution lessons were excessive and outfit was preposterous (I guess Rarity went all "Suited for Success" on it, letting Yona's requests push it into the "awful" territory without stopping to reconsider the whole thing?), but some dressing up would not have been unreasonable and it was nice to understand the traditions that were being carried over from the Fetlock Fête. (I'm not sure though what she ought to have done about the Lucky Pod dinner; I wouldn't like to tell her to bring pony food, but her execution of yak food is clearly very much not perfect. We've seen yak food before, and while a lot of it would be unfamiliar to a resident of Ponyville, I doubt any of it is supposed to smell like that, and I'm sure none of it is supposed to have huge sticks in it.)
Still, the cliche bones of this story are enlivened by the clear subtext about minority representation. I do appreciate that it's unambiguous that Yona went this route because everything about the Amity Ball said "pony," both in words and images, and it made her feel like she was expected to be a pony to participate. If you pay attention to what I say in these things (for some reason) then you've heard me complain before about things that make me feel like an outsider, make me feel othered. It never goes amiss to remind everybody to be more conscious of such things and thus less likely to perpetrate them unwittingly. I think a lot of us know what it's like to metaphorically look into the mirror and either see or want to see a pony, as something makes us doubt that what we are is valid. I'm sure the remainder of us benefit from considering such experiences.
Okay, let's get some words straight. Sandbar only refers to Yona as a "friend" in this episode, never anything more, but we know that's not entirely honest. As much as I like to see a good, solid friendship, I think we've only once before seen Sandbar show the level of nerves he seemed to feel about asking Yona to the dance, and that was in a nightmare about cupcakes so let's not even try to analyze that. He's clearly got a crush.
I'm not sure where to draw the line on when the Mane Six went too far in preparing Yona. As her teachers they do have a certain responsibility to look out for her if they notice a problem, but at the same time they ought to respect her wishes within reason. I do agree with them at the end that they went too far ponying Yona up for the ball and it does not excuse them that Yona asked for all of it, but I can't decide where they should have put their hooves down and refused to enable her any further.
Yeah, the point too far is hard to pin down. I think it was the elocution lessons. Not embarrassing herself at the dance? All well and good. Making a palatable meal? Great. But putting on a facade and going full My Fair Lady was a bit much.
Still, free Brussels sprouts.
Dude had blushing cheecks, that's the universal cartoon symbol for "crush."
And as for food, that's an easy one. Yaks make that traditional cake with perfect vanilla that's supposed to be fantastic.