Editorial: Is MLP:Friendship is Magic... a Masterpiece?

I know what you're thinking, "Cracked, how could you ask that? Of course, the show is a masterpiece! Otherwise, why would any of us be here writing and coming up with new stories about it?” Point taken, but I want to take this moment to really examine it. Now, I know that this show has been talked about and analyzed to death, and done it again, but I want to at least talk about something that as far as I'm aware of hasn't been discussed. In that, from a critical eye, what about this particular generation so far that has stood above the others? What exactly has drawn so many people - adults for that matter - to a show that has brightly colored talking magical ponies?

Truth be told, I don't think I can answer for everyone in why this could be. However, the best I could do, especially when the show has been over for a while, is to give my two cents on the subject. To offer up why this show is not just good, but probably great.

Before I get into that, it's best to give my analysis some context. Before I became a Brony, I was... somewhat aware of this show's existence but didn't give much thought. Judging on the toys and still images, I thought that this new generation of My Little Pony was just... (how do I say this elegantly...?) mindless nonsense. Which considering Generation Three, this viewpoint is understandable as that show was overly cutesy, was designed for very, very young audiences, and it had no intelligence whatsoever. Before I watched the show, that's exactly what I thought it was going to be like. So I treated it like how I did with most shows that were aimed at girls - I avoided it like the plague. For a long time, I didn't want anything whatsoever to do with it.

That was... until with some circumstances that involved stumbling onto a creepypasta called "Cupcakes," my best friend giving the show a shot, and convincing me to give it a chance that I did. I went into this thing with a critical mindset, I was ready to pick this show apart and give my best friend an honestly blunt review of it. I even told him that to be fair, I would watch two episodes, in case if one sucked than maybe the other would be decent. I went in expecting to get nothing out of it. But after watching the first two episodes of the first season... I was stunned. Not because of the animation (at the time, I honestly thought the colors were way too bright) nor the setting and names of the characters (this made my eyes roll at how childishly these names were). What caught me completely off guard was the voice acting and the writing.

So years later, after watching a huge majority of episodes, following the good and the bad, watching the animation improved and its voice acting was top-notch (for the most part), it all leads for me to ask a question that has haunted me since I started writing on this site. It's clear that this show is doing something right... but is this nine season-long series a masterpiece?

Obviously... yeah, it is. Because I believe that what drew so many to this show, more than anything before and... arguably since this show has done something that most reincarnations (Pony Life, I'm looking at you...) haven't achieved - think. This show had a lot of stuff that shouldn't have made it work. My Little Pony isn't considered as high art in pop culture (if anything, it's practically a joke). The creator Lauren Faust had left the project at one point. Directors, producers, and writers came and went. The show experimented with characters and story-lines that should have ended the show. Fans took everything so seriously that some of them left the fandom over a few bad episodes. And... it went on for nine seasons. By all accounts, this show should have flopped.

And yet, in some ways... it didn't. Even with the changes, the show still thrives and to this day, fans are still creating art, writing fanfictions, making analysis videos, and doing so much more based on this show that wasn't originally meant for an older audience. So what was this show doing right when the rest have not?

I thought about this from my own experiences with the show and examined what about it that kept me coming back again and again? So do keep in mind, this is coming from my point of view. But I've come up with some reasons why this show should be considered a masterpiece.

Let's start with - the characters.

If I were to ask you what is this show about, most of you would probably say that it follows the journey of Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they dive into what it means to be friends. And for most of the episodes, we followed the ups and downs of these characters as they explore their and each other's element. Lauren Faust when she first made the show had placed the characters first in giving them relatable but memorable personalities. They were carefully crafted to be likable yet flawed to the point where it makes us, the audience, feel that they were real. And given that they didn't start as human, that's a tough act to pull off. Yet, they accomplish this beautifully to the point that we fans felt they were real; we wanted to be real; we wish they were real. We were shown their good sides as well their less than admirable sides (i.e. Pinkie wasn't self-aware, Rarity was bossy, extra). Yet, despite the flaws, we keep coming back to them to cheer them on because we have been shown their most fragile moments.

And Twilight alone should be talked about more for her character development. I don't know if her arch should be as moving as say... Zuko's development, but I'd say that it's pretty much up there. Going from a unicorn that was cynical about friendship to an alicorn princess that preaches the benefits of it, and doing so at a slow but realistic pace takes an extraordinary amount of skill to pull off.

Next, the morals.

What got me hooked on this show, as I said, was the ability to think. In particular, the very episode that made me a Brony was "All of the Cutie." The episode where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had become friends for the first time. It wasn't the story as much as the closing moral of it that made me realize how... mature the writing was. And by mature, I mean something that left a thought-provoking message that both kids and adults could ponder over. Twilight at the end of the episode summed it up best: "Sometimes the thing you think would cause to lose friends and feel left out, can actually be the thing that helps you make your closest friends and realize how special you are."

Speaking as a... somewhat closeted gay man, this lesson hit home to me when I first heard it. When I first saw this episode, I had recently come out to my best friend. Before I dared to say something, I was scared stiff that our years-long friendship might be destroyed in one fell swoop because I told him the truth. Yet, after it... doing so only helps solidify our friendship even more. Even doing so again with a few more of my friends, I found that it helped bond our ties even closer. So you could imagine how jaw-dropping it was for me to hear this coming from an animated show clearly aimed at children. After seeing that, I realized what this show was capable of. Since then, from season to season, it still brought up interesting and enduring morals that, while grant it not all of them were perfect, the ones that will give serious thought will endure for years to come.

Then there was the animation.

Yeah, at first I thought that it was a bit too simplistic and brightly colored for my taste. But after Twilight got her wings, the animation from there improved. Every episode, if judged by the quality of its animation alone, would get a noticeable nod at its artistry. What I found interesting that even at its worst, the animation is still giving its best to where even the animated atrocities have at least one or two meme-worthy imagines that gave joy back to the Brony community.

And then, there's the writing.

Out of everything that I've listed, perhaps this show should be remembered and celebrated by the quality of its writing. Now, grant it, I'm not going to claim that every single episode had the best writing; but when it got it right, it got it right. If many of us are bluntly honest, we watch these ponies and make our own stories because of what this show presented; especially when it was directed to young girls. With subjects ranging from a huge-ranging from (but not limited to): prejudice; divorce; having your kindness being taken advantage of; death; implied suicide; moving on from past pains... These are just stuff that I can name from the top of my head, and this show has covered so much.

I respected the show, even when it took risks because it showed that it wasn't afraid to change while sticking true to what it was supposed to be. Sure, it can be debated whether or not some of the changes paid off, but I have a respect that the show wanted to go in a new direction just to see how far they could take it. And even when Bronies have demanded they see more adult themes, it stayed true as a show for a younger audience but kept the intelligent writing.

It also has a wonderful sense of humor. Not just in Pinkie Pie, but jokes from a wide range of characters that could easily rival classic cartoons such as Looney Toons.

And... perhaps one of it's greatest strengths come from having a balance to tell us just enough to know what's going on, yet leaving out some things to let our imaginations roam free. I think that this element alone had sparked so much creativity. Sure, we may never know how Applejack's parents had died; or what lands beyond Equestria that haven't been explored are like; or what stuff happens when the camera goes off. Yet, that's the beauty of it. Because of the blanks that were left, we fans try to rush in to fill in the gaps and came up with a million different answers that help inspire some of the fandom's greatest works. Even with Alternative Universe stuff, having cross overs, humans being in the mix, and yes, even coming up with fan fiction about it has helped the show and our love of it for so long. I found this show to be one of the few animated masterpieces because, even at its weakest, it's badly written lows, it always gave us something. Maybe a face to meme from, or an idea for a thought-provoking fanfiction, or maybe fan art that helps improve it.

The ending of the show has hit on such a perfect note. While most shows by the time this ended had ended so disastrously, this made for kids show had given the dignity that it deserved. There is part of me that respects that. For I'd rather have the show end when it is still beloved than have it continue to the point that it would have become hated.

If this show should be praised as a masterpiece, perhaps it should be argued that it should be because it has inspired so many. A sign that you have a good work of art is that it got people to want to make tributes to it. This show is kinda like Ancient Greek Mythology, that the stories get grander and deeper with every retailing.

We may never know what the next reincarnations may hold in store after Pony Life. But one thing's for sure, Friendship is Magic, will remain with us as a masterpiece.

Comments

[Deep]

Great review. I'm actually gonna reread it later as well.

Have a follow.

[Herald of Opera]

I learned what a literal "masterpiece" was from Discworld, and now I can't help but feel weird about its colloquial usage. (For those who don't know, it was something a prospective apprentice made to prove to a prospective master that they were worth teaching. It obviously wouldn't be perfect, just show promise.)