Roughshod

Well I guess the producers thought that making Cheerilee the same age as the mane 6, a teenager, as well as a teacher would look somewhat odd. So they went with the with the latter. I'm also going to assume that the often implied interest she has in Big Mac in FiM is not a reality in the human world. With her being a teacher and him being a student that would definitely raise some controversy. That fact does seem to border on being a plot hole except when you consider that almost nobody(except apparently Sombra) ever dies in this show, or if they are presumed dead like Star Swirl it's never brought up. The writers would probably say their magic helped them stay young for so long which might mean they're capable of aging and eventually dying now that their gems have been destroyed. The Sirens' origin was definitely half baked to say the least but I can forgive it since they were immensely better as villains than Sunset Shimmer was in EG.

That raises an interesting question for me; are Luna's guards and Flutterbat both to be considered the same type of pony or are they subspecies of some sort? Or is Flutterbat just a mutation or hybrid of sorts? Obviously they're not completely identical, but I've also never seen a canon female night guard either. I would like to see the guards react to Fluttershy's alternate state.

This question has been raised by many of the Bronies who have reviewed and/or criticize the films. For example: If Mayor Mare has a human equivalent in the human world, like she probably should, who is also a mayor then that would obviously give her higher status than a high school principal. I think it can be reasoned that the system of the human world and that of Equestria are much different. Celestia and Luna were made principal and vice principal in order to help familiarize the two universes to the audience and maintain some degree of continuity despite some confusion it may create in the process. Canonically there has never really been mentioned anyone who outranks Celestia in the world if FIM and Meghan McCarthy has stated that she has no parents with more power than her. Although the picture book 'My Little Pony: Under the Sparkling Sea' had a character called King Leo who rules over "Aquastria". This seapony is supposedly a cousin to Celestia as well as a member of the 'Cosmic Council'. How much this is actually canon and what the hierarchy of this council is has not to my knowledge been disclosed yet. I think it would most likely be an organization similar to the United Nations, where decisions are made by consensus. However... It is theoretically possible that if this council had a predominate leader who was not Celestia then they would have authority over her to some degree. Possibilities...

The first piece of merchandise I ever came across was a thrown out plushie of Rainbow Dash I found behind my apartment. Unfortunately it was extremely dirty and had weird stains all over it so I left it there. I still wonder what happened to it. It looks like Discord corrupted Octavia.

I once saw a video of an old Nigerian man seeing bronies cosplay in San Diego and breaking down in tears... I'm still trying to find it but I think it was taken down. That has to be one of the more dramatic reactions I've ever seen to date.

Hasbro and DreamWorks together... It could work. I'm not familiar enough with either company to accurately speculate as to what the consequences might be if such a merger occurred. I doubt it would be either tremendously successful or disastrous but more likely somewhere in between. Such events should have no real influence on the show in the near future so for now I'm not altogether concerned over corporate business dealings.

When I said that I think there is more to this than happenstance I was implying that the world of MLP:FIM, both in the context of its own universe as well as the reality of it being a fictional world, shows disregard towards the male gender through its portrayal of characters identified as belonging to that gender. Whether this is because of the producers intentions or in spite of them, it doesn't change the reality that there is a subtext of mockery and blanketing of male characters. Perhaps it's because the show's primary demographic is young girls that this problem had gone largely unnoticed and unattended. Or it might be due to hypersensitive fans who become intensely defensive towards any criticism of the show as a result of the treatment they may have had from others who dislike MLP and the Brony fandom. Fans like yourself. Either way it's not excusable to me. Attempting to espouse what a fictional character's values are is pretty absurd. All we can really judge is their actions. Any sentiment about their reasoning or righteousness attached to that is just apologetic conjecture. Obviously you are not Celestia nor is it likely have made any contribution in her creation or portrayal in the series. If you have proof that you have I'd like to see it. In fact I think everyone here would. Anyway, to say that she only gives others what they deserve is also just shallow justification, not really a logical argument. And this still doesn't resolve the issue I raised regarding the fact that only Celestia seems to possess this power and responsibility. Why is it that no one else has any say in the matter? Celestia's autocratic methods, whether taken in the context of the show or from beyond the fourth wall, are just that. An undemocratic matriarchial society maybe be your idea of a better world but it's not mine. You did not really address my assertion that this show still pushes stereotypes, both through the use of shallow archetypes and the simplistic use of its male characters. You mostly just stated what most fans already know, which is that the main cast are not just one dimensional tropes but characters who have wide appeal due to their fairly complex personalities. Well, complex for the medium anyway they're presented in anyway. You mentioned some of the male cast as examples to support your argument. I'd like to address some of these: Shining Armor is hardly any more than a shallow pretense for plugging Hasbro's toy lines. Perhaps tge same could be said about all the characters but with him as well as Cadance it's much more obvious. Even if he is capable of showing different emotions that doesn't automatically make him more developed or deep. It just gives his two-dimensional state an extra hue. Spike, who as you stated has helped save the lives of the main characters, has reaped almost nothing for his efforts. He is still largely disrespected and looked down upon by the mane six and is commonly used as a punching bag of comic relief. There's nothing inherently wrong with a character having a humorous aspect to them, but despite the many lessons Spike is supposed to have learned he is still made to appear as a generally foolish, obnoxious and insensitive young male who apparently never learns from his mistakes or the challenges he faces. As for Discord, he's received much better treatment than the other male characters in the show which is no doubt a reason he's so well liked by the fandom. Although he may feel remorse for his actions it evidently has not changed his overall personality which I think is more realistic for a complex and intelligent being. But even with multiple appearances on the show he is still largely used as a visual gag and jester like trope without much more depth to him than that. Now because this is primarily a children's show I don't really expect a Shakespearean type of development, but I will say that Discord's transition in the season four finale came off as somewhat forced and unconvincing to myself and also others I know. I think you meant the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia who aren't even Equestrian. And the fact that the Duke attended the very meetings he came for and Twilight didn't says more about her rank amongst the princesses than about his status in relation to hers. He even explained that the reason for her exclusion was to keep the number of ponies aware of the discussion to a minimum. When there are no males with any prominent or effectual positions of leadership or genuine importance, when they are given hackneyed portrayals for the convenience of the writers that helps feed into their main audience's preconceived notions of males in our society, and when the so called mission statement of that show is to help girls achieve their full potential but does it in such a one sided manner I find it to have some serious flaws. You can't say gender isn't an issue when it's clearly a focus of the show because that idea contradicts itself. Something is rotten in the state of Equestria. There, I've said my piece. So are you suggesting that cutie marks are a metaphor for children's hope of personal fulfillment? That's a charming concept despite its somewhat saccharine message. I don't entirely like the concepts of cutie marks myself because I hold the view that human beings don't have destinies but rather choices determined by realities in the world. And since it's been shown that ponies are basically equivalent to humans in another dimension I think I can still make that complaint in this context. It seems to me like CM's would limit to some extent a pony's freedom to change. What if a pony lost interest in their talent or wanted to acquire a new one? Would this be possible? If they did could their CM possibly change? If not then how could a pony ever call themselves free? A society where everyone is expected to find their place and never depart from it doesn't sound all that perfect. The citizens of Equestria all seem to value harmony but... I don't know, it seems like they're afraid of change and just prefer a boring life of mundane repetition. But that's not really substantially different from this world I suppose.

@Shimmer5000 First and foremost I'd just like to point out that this discussion would be a lot more informed were there more content for us to use as a resource. The use of the term happenstance is not, in my view, a valid argument. Its the equivalent of saying "It is what it is." That doesnt mean its theoretically justified. So you can keep stating that but I'm not going to agree with it because I think there's much more to it than that. I also find it really hard to believe that in over a thousand years Princess Celestia could not find a single stallion that was deserving of the position of alicorn and yet in the span of a few years she rewards both Cadance and Twilight with it. Both of whom are mares of course. Well, wouldn't reversing a stereotype still leave you with just a backwards stereotype? If you reversed the stereotype that all female characters are weak then you would create the stereotype that they're all strong and powerful. Obviously that's ridiculous. I think trying to help young girls realize thier potential is a noble effort, I don't however think it should come at the expense of male characters and thier portrayal. Especially for a show with such a divers fanbase as this one. Also, I am not suggesting that the male royalty should be the focus of the show at all nor am I suggesting that a male alicorn would or should have more importance were there to be one introduced. Just that it raises a question about how much equality really exists in Equestria. The bold was likely just a formatting glitch on my smart phone, I didn't really mean for that sentence to have any extra intent. But since we're on the subject, you're right that princesses are commonly portrayed as weak and helpless. It's because they usually are. In real life princesses are simply female members of royalty, they generally don't have any particular traits or abilities that make them better than anyone else and they lead a sheltered, pampered lifestyle. They rely on others for their livelihood and protection. I would agree with most of what you said about the princesses of Equestria though. I want to make it clear that I don't hate any of them, and that i agree they all have pstive qualities. But when you call them "benevolent queens" I don't particularly like that notion nor do I agree that it is needed in the media. Maybe it's my democratic sensibilities talking, but I do not consider the idea of any type of queen to be benevolent or ideal.

I might be a little upset by that.