Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky
  • entries
    55
  • comments
    207
  • views
    26,330

Some thoughts on Equestria Girls: It was flawed, but fun.


Wingnut

889 views

There is so much criticism leveled at this movie and rightfully so. I don't have time to hammer out all of its shortcomings here. Most of you are already aware of its flaws. If you're interested, there are two very effective reviews you can read which explain them at length.

 

Dark Qiviut wrote several blog entries before http://mlpforums.com/blog/91/entry-4814-mlp-equestria-girls-is-a-developmental-nightmare/ and after http://mlpforums.com/blog/91/entry-5625-my-little-pony-equestria-girls-reviewanalysis-revised/ watching Equestria Girls in his usual journalistic review style.

 

I don't know who TacticalRainboom is, but he rips Equestria Girls a new one here: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/171002/real-talk-feminist-issues-with-equestria-girls While this blog was posted before the movie came out, most of the complaints made about EG ring true. For one thing, I agree that the Human 6 look too skinny. But the assertion that Twilight was "seeking affirmation via the approval of others" is slightly off the mark. A weird turn of events forced Twilight to run against Sunset in the Fall Formal because that was the only way to get the crown back.

 

A common theme by both authors is that the MLP:FiM series is a breath of fresh air and a welcome departure from the usual cliché animation with teens/early 20s characters. This movie, sadly, plays right back into the humdrum world of beating a rival in a popularity contest and stealing their ex in the process.

 

There are a ton of plot holes in the movie that leave me scratching my head. But there are some that I can make a half-assed explanation for.

 

How did Twilight adapt to her human form so fast? I think the portal is designed to expedite that process by reprogramming the modified bodies. Once the portal traveler gets over the initial shock of their new appendages, they'll start doing what they want them to do. No lengthy training period needed! :)

 

How could Twilight become friends and use the Elements of Harmony with these people who only shared names and personality traits with the Mane 6? The connection goes deeper than that. In this parallel reality, everybody appears to be a true kindred spirit to their otherworld counterpart. Twilight quickly picked up on this which allowed her to approach each person in the exact way needed to win their trust and friendship. Thus she was easily able to form the bond required to utilize the Elements with them. When you stop to think about it, this is actually less amazing than the FiM opener when Twilight did the same thing with five ponies she had no foreknowledge of.

 

Why did Sunset Shimmer transform into a demon once she took the crown? Most likely Sunset was possessed or at least occupied by an evil influence of some sort. The first thing that comes to mind is Yu-Gi-Oh when it was revealed that there are "two" Marik Ishtars: The real Marik and a Yami (dark) Marik that took hold of him due to the hatred and bitterness in his heart. In the end, Marik showed the same kind of remorse that Sunset did. Or it is possible that the crown itself isn't entirely good. A parallel can be seen in Transformers because the Autobot Matrix was sometimes possessed by Decepticons. The most notable instances were Scourge in the cartoon and Thunderwing in the comic. In each case, the Decepticon morphed into a hideously powerful creature bent on inflicting death and destruction.

 

How could the crown work for Twilight if she wasn't wearing it? EOH jewelry doesn't need to be on the ponies/humanoids to be used. As long as they're within a certain distance, they'll work. Remember how the Mane 6 were able to retrieve and repair the shattered crystals in the series opener.

 

Why do we see them glowing the same way the ponies were in Magical Mystery Cure? It took three seasons for them to attain that state but in the movie they did it in less than three days. Something is wrong with this picture. I personally think this was unnecessary. All Twilight required was a friendship powerful enough to unleash the Elements and defeat Sunset Shimmer. That was accomplished credibly in my eyes. But the pink glowing stuff implies something a lot stronger has been created here. A very verbose article on what it really means can be read here. http://mlpforums.com/topic/51121-alicorn-apotheosis-an-ascension-analysis/ It makes my walls of text look concise and to the point by comparison. :P

 

Long story short, the glow indicates that an extraordinary, intense love among them now exists. This happened when demon Shimmer tried to kill Twilight and all five of her new friends were willing to die save her. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13 While Twilight no doubt deeply touched these Mane 6 look-and-act-alikes, I still find it a bit hard to believe she touched them all deeply enough to act in such a selfless way. Maybe if they had time to think it over, they wouldn't have done it. But they didn't think, they acted. There are many tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in times of crisis. So their valor seems unlikely, it's not impossible.

 

From a critical standpoint, Equestria Girls falls short, but it still manages to be a fun movie. It's full of references, shout outs to the fans, and other little touches that I enjoyed, including:

 

-Scootaloo doing the chicken!

-Twilight's wingboner!

-The fact that Twi's first meeting with human Fluttershy was a repeat of her original encounter with pony Fluttershy that we've all seen a thousand times and know by heart.

-The way they translated the ponies' occupations and interests to human high school students.

-William Anderson handled the background music well.

-Twilight's extraordinary ability to show authority without being an authority was well displayed. Fellow students responded to this newcomer's compelling yet easy going leadership style. The fact that most of them were secretly fed up with Sunset Shimmer also helped.

-It was bubble gummy, but Helping Twilight Win the Crown was the best number in the movie.

-When Sunset Shimmer told Twilight Sparkle to die! You can't say that in a TV-Y cartoon.

-Pony Twilight Sparkle is apparently an ice queen, but once she has teenage human hormones, watch out! :P

 

In summary, I'm not so infatuated by MLP that I'm blind to the movie's imperfections. But they weren't bad enough to prevent me from enjoying what was good about it.

  • Brohoof 5

2 Comments


Recommended Comments

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Join the herd!

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...