Deconstruction is Magic: A My Little Pony Retrospective (S1E20)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrreetings everypony, and welcome back to Deconstruction is Magic, my Retrospective/Review/Analysis of every episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is magic ever. I'm back from my break and recharged, ready to move from one of the best episodes of season 1, to one of the worst. It's time to tackle Green Isn't Your Colour! Without wasting any more time, let's get on with the analysis! I am the Mage of Mind, reminding you, as always, that even a cheeseburger can be deconstructed to its source.

This is an episode which is all about the growing schism between two characters. In this case, it's between Rarity and Fluttershy. With fashion, the model is often conisdered to be as much a part of the art piece as the clothing itself. So, for Rarity, something about Fluttershy just brings out the best in her dresses, to which the newly introduced Photo Finish agrees! But here is where we run in to the first problem of the episode, and it seems to be endemic of Rarity-centric episodes in general.

Photo Finish is a one-dimensional snob! She exists to be the foil, and while her vaguely German accent and mannerisms make her line delivery a treat for the ears, her personality leaves alot to be desired. She's supposed to be a fashion critic, and yet she is more enchanted by Fluttershy as a model than the clothes she's presenting? It seems rather strange to me that she'd snub Rarity, yet hone in on a clearly uncomfortable model? It makes you wonder what Photo Finish came there to see in the first place.

("I vant to stuff her and put her on my mantle place! ...Vy are you looking at me zat way?")

My other major issue the episode is how much of Fluttershy's body language signals her to be incredibly uncomfortable. She is Ponyville's prime introvert, and while we get a lot of flowery descriptives from Rarity about how fabulous Fluttershy looks, but we need more specifics, as otherwise it feels completely arbitrary. I know that Fluttershy is the ideal candidate to tell an aesop of this kind, but when the animation team repeatedly hints to the audience over and over how she doesn't enjoy the attention, it gets repetitive fast.

This is a sign of weak storytelling. There isn't enough in-universe justification for the farce to continue! Nopony notices the obvious, and so the plot feels specifically crafted to make Fluttershy unhappy. Plus, for an aesop about jealousy, nothing really comes of it. Rarity keeps a lid on it most of the time, and aside from a few choice lines of frustration, this feeling doesn't have an impact on the plot itself. You could write it out completely and almost nothing would change!

(Curse that Fluttershy, with her beautiful grimaces and running away from hordes of unwanted fangirls!)

Despite my many complaints with this episode, it isn't a total loss. There's nothing outright rancid about the moral, or its presentation, which makes the repetition more dull than irritating. The moral about when to keep secrets is also an interesting one, as some secrets obviously carry more weight than others. This is why therapists always have specific exceptions to their confidentiality statements, because when a potential client is at risk of harming themselves or others, keeping a secret can do far worse! Fluttershy's moments of meek rage are a perfect example of comedy through under-reactions. Since much of comedy is based on the subversion of expectations, when there is this much build up to an action, the minimal outcome is timed perfectly!

The expressions of both Pinkie Pie and Twilight are extra level of funny, since it shows the absurd lengths they go to in order to keep the secret.
Pinkie is an ominous force, lingering over Twilight's head (literally in some cases), acting as her conscience. Given the amount of empathy Twilight has for her friends, it's actually admirable that she'd try so hard to keep their secrets for so long, even if the attempts were misguided. Unlike the side characters, no pony is actively malitious in this episode. Stubborn? Yes. But desiring to harm another? Not at all! So the episode demonstrates how, despite the best of intentions over what you think another person wants, positive actions can still potentially backfire.

(A bunch of paparazzi popping out of nowhere
Cameras in your face, and then suddenly
You're on TMZ, you're on TMZ!)

Conclusion

This was not a great episode. Has the show done worse? Absolutely, but we'll get to those at a later date. In the grand scheme of things, this episode wasn't terrible, more just underwhelming. Most of the side characters are completely one dimensional, existing only to make Fluttershy unhappy. Rarity's personal conflict is almost non-existent, and despite the occasional clever misunderstanding, the episode is incredibly repetitive in its plot details. For this reason, I'll give Green Isn't Your Colour a final rating of 4.5/10.

What did you think of this episode? Was I too harsh, or did I miss something? Feel free to let me know in the comments of this blog! Until next time, stay safe and take care all~