Debunking "Debunking Tanks for the Memories (Concept of Death)" · 12:29pm Mar 19th, 2021
Everyone knows how Tanks for the Memories is about dealing with death, right? No? Well, you're right, it's not about dealing with death. But what is it about Mykan that makes him insist that an episode of MLP is sending a different message than it actually is? As I rip off Rationality Rules' intro, this is Debunking "Debunking Tanks for the Memories (Concept of Death)". And that's a mouthful.
It's ironic that Mykan isn't even wrong in this case. The episode doesn't address death. But I can sum up my debunk of Mykan's entire blog post in just three words...
It's a metaphor!
The episode is not about dealing with death. He's right about that detail. But what the episode does address is the grieving process. Death is not a requirement to grieve, but the process does include dealing with death. This actually means that you can have an episode dealing with the grieving process of losing a loved one without actually using death. So despite the episode not addressing death directly, it does address how someone deals with death.
But I will address a few points that Mykan made. After all, there is more to the post than just how he addresses the episode.
The most similar to anything it can be compared to is such as a friend moving away temporarily/permanently, but it does not teach how to face and accept death (Preferably Tragic Deaths)
Why is it preferable that it's a tragic death? I'd argue that death itself is tragic to some extent.
True, it shows Rainbow really loves her pet, but in addition it does show how she (a grown mare) is rather incompetent and clueless.
I could point out just how Mykan lacks self-awareness in that comment, and how he's projecting. But I won't (wink wink).
Then again there is the cliche "Love can make us do crazy things"
Actually, that cliche doesn't apply. That cliche only applies to romantic love. Love of a pet is more akin to platonic love (friendship) or familial love (since pets are members of the family too). So romantic love doesn't apply to pets, and therefore, neither does the cliche (or if it does, you seriously need to get some psychological help).
Why my Starfleet has a better concept of Death than that ridiculous episode did...
S6EP22 "This Little Piggy went to a better place"
Norman (Often called Norm) a old pig, was Applebloom's favorite animal on the farm and like a best friend to her growing up without parents, but as she grew older, so did Norm, and in his declining days, he was attacked when a group of bandits attacked the farm and he was injured.
Norm's hind legs were broken, and it was very doubtful he would recover because he was very old, and Applebloom was told to "Prepare for the worst."
Applebloom didn't want Norm to be taken away, so she kidnapped him on a wagon and took him out, hoping to find place to keep him and care for him herself, only to find she bit off more than she could chew, and Norm, himself (Who could talk)
gave her a heart-to-heart talk how it was okay to be sad, and that they had a lot of good times... but now it was his time to go, which helped give Applebloom some strength to start the journey of acceptance.
...And he died right there with her.
I assume that there's a motive for the bandits attacking the farm. Personally, I feel like that concept could've easily been done using timberwolves instead of bandits. Unless I can also assume that the death of a pig wasn't the primary focus of the story.
But considering that the story has a talking pig, which is strange even for the MLP universe, I'm not convinced that the actual events happened as the story claims they did. I think Apple Bloom was hallucinating. Maybe smoking Poison Joke gets you high like weed does.
THAT... is a concept of Death.
But only addresses two stages of grief. So the message doesn't get across.
The Way Tanks for the Memories did it, is not. Even if the concept is about letting go, that's not the topic. The topic is Death, not Going away for a while.
Actually, yeah, it is about letting go. That's the final step in the grieving process, and arguably the most important one. Acceptance. I suppose someone could make the argument that you don't have to go through all the steps of the grieving process (when my grandmother died, I pretty much jumped straight to acceptance since that's just how I am). But that doesn't mean the steps don't exist. But it also depends on what step you're on and where you can jump from there. I don't think you can jump straight from Denial to Acceptance like Apple Bloom did unless there's more to that story that I'm missing.
You're still all entitled to your own beliefs and opinions, but this is my own, which I am equally entitled to.
Well, the topic of the episode isn't about opinion, it's about objective facts. And Mykan got those facts wrong. Though I do appreciate that he basically gave his consent for me to debunk his clearly wrong opinion. And technically, he also gave consent for Alchemystudent to continue riffing his stories. After all, it's just Alchemystudent's opinions.
Not as long as my last debunk. But I was able to cut a lot of it out. Most of it would just be addressing the fact that it's a metaphor, so I got that over and done with it at the very beginning. And a shout-out to Alchemystudent and his riffs on his Martialartfruituser YouTube channel. I'm sure he'll recognize who I am (I'm one of the only people who leaves comments after all).
"... and Norm, himself (Who could talk)"
Wait, wait, wait, wait. In the Starfleet Universe, we now have talking pigs as well as talking cattle (which do exist in MLP as evidenced by The Bison, Yaks, Iron Will [by technicality], and the cows from Applebucking Season). But by that same token, the Starfleet Universe has Space Alicorns and even Equestrians eating bacon, steaks, meatballs, and other beef and pork products... In a universe where pigs and cattle talk...
That is just... I think I'm feeling a little green around the gills, right now...
5490582
I never thought of it that way. But when you think of it, I don't know if it would count as cannibalism. But morally, it would be about the same as cannibalism. Thank you for making me think even lower of Mykan than I already do.
Fun Fact: I've actually received a message on DeviantArt from Mykan about a month ago of him telling me to leave him alone. He said that as a warning... but I'm waiting for results of not heading that warning. Link to screenshot
5490582
Not exactly. Norm doesn't normally talk but he does in this one scene and given the context it sounds like it's more supposed to be Applebloom subconsciously accepting her pet's death but fantasizing about him saying goodbye or something.
The problem is that Mykan doesn't mention this in the blog post and it feels out of place when it happens.
5514232
Well, I don't actually read the stories. I just don't have the tolerance to. However, I was debunking his blog post, not his story. And since Mykan never said anything about that being a fantasy in his blog post, I feel like I'm justified in what I said. In other words, you can blame Mykan for me not getting that accurate.
Even when I'm wrong about Mykan's intent, it's still Mykan's fault. How's that for bizarre? If I'm right, it's Mykan's fault. If I'm wrong, it's Mykan's fault. And I'm the type of person to has issues with that kind of mindset.