Justpassingthrough

Am I the only one who ever hated Rainbow Dash because of bad experiences with fans? The experiences are long past, but they did a hit in making me hate her at the time. Some people hate RD's bragging, her ego, and her rudeness, but all of those are part of her archetype. Ace pilot characters tend to have cocky, competitive traits that can make them seem insensitive to those who don't possess the same drive. These characters are often more vulnerable than they appear on the surface. I think peoples' criticisms of Rainbow Dash's character tend to be exaggerated or singularly scrutinized, to the point of ignoring the rest of her character as it's appeared in 8 seasons and 5 movies. So, I think it's generally either a distaste for RD's character type or a misunderstanding of what that type is like.

Biting everyone and starting miniature fires because of how mean everyone was to him in early seasons. :p

I loved Pinkie in the beginning of the show but after that found her to be extremely irritating. She's OK as of now. Fluttershy was adorable at first, but people were too quick to defend her from the mildest criticism. I greatly disliked how her timidity was exaggerated in Season 2 For the Funnies, which didn't come off as funny in the first place. I think the staff does a much better job portraying Fluttershy now. A lot of people dislike Rainbow Dash for her attitude, but when I disliked her, it was because of bad experiences with fans. I have always strongly disagreed with the way Spike was treated throughout the show. Everyone else was waaaaaaaaaay too mean to him for far too long. I haven't followed the show for years so IDK what it's like now, but the way Spike is treated does seem to be improving. I don't really agree with Gilda's redemption. The episode was solid, but Gilda originally represented how you have to let go of some friendships because they turn toxic. I think the ponies could have made friends with a different "cool" griffin (compared to Gabby, who was a perky griffin :p). In fact, I don't like the general trend of every character apparently needing to see the magic of friendship. G4 has done more than anyone ever believed MLP could, and it arguably sparked the possibility for little girls' cartoons to have broader horizons. Since the show has achieved so much, I find it disappointing that mean or evil characters get redeemed so often. It's not realistic to have every bully, con artist, and royal tyrant turn out to be a misunderstood outsider who needs a hug. In fact, teaching little girls to see the world that way is dangerous. However, it is up to the girls' parents to explain that what they see on TV is not always real. I have faith that characters like Chrysalis, Sombra, and Tirek will remain evil, since the staff has said not everyone can change. Also, I've always liked Celestia more than Luna. :p

They've personified the Mane Six so well that it's hard to choose...I guess I'll go with Rainbow Dash or Applejack. RD has a unique voice that everyone can recognize as belonging to her alone. As for Applejack, well, I really like that accent. Pinkie Pie might have been here too, but I don't particularly like her. So it's hard for me to appreciate her awesome, bubbly voice, being combined with the things she says.

It's hard to enjoy it completely if you've never been a brony. There were lots of references slipped in for fans, which caused an alienation to outside viewers that relied on the rest of the movie to compensate. Unfortunately, the compensation didn't hold up, IMO. The movie shunted from scene to scene with simple solutions to each problem--it felt like a RUSHED episode of Season 1. There were also many cliches and shallow character lines/interactions that cheapened the cast we've grown with over the past several years. The only main characters who had anything to do with anything were Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie is too zany and random to be relegated to the background, Rainbow Dash is too full of brass to sit idly by, and Twilight is the central protagonist so of course she's going to get screen time. However, I felt she was a total Mary Sue throughout the movie, and not adorkable at all. That was another thing that could have grated critics' nerves. The other three and Spike were more or less tacked on because you couldn't have a movie without all of them. Also, as others have mentioned, so many celebrity voices may have made the movie feel sold out. That's my two bits, anyway. The movie is enjoyable, but for the cinematic debut of such an influential show, it disappointed in multiple aspects. I'm sure people can appreciate the music and the great animation, but even a couple of the songs could have probably been cut or shortened in favor of focusing on the storyline.

Regardless of how you feel about them, the show would be drastically different with the absence of any one of these gals. Mane Six unite!

In some ways, Applejack is the typical farmer character. Southern accent, down-to-earth, straightforward, persuasive by persistence (aka: stubborn). But that's not automatically a bad thing. I enjoy these traits about Applejack, even if her character is dull at times. There's just something about a straightforward, practical character who's normal enough to balance out a group of dynamically exaggerated archetypes. It's great that she's the Element of Honesty. And the accent is cute.

Sometime in early 2011. I saw a fervent discussion about it on a social media chat that included someone I knew. It was mind-blowing to these guys that the show could be so awesome. They went back and forth between "this is gold" and making references to the title and characters. I didn't get it. I mean, we were all adults here and they're talking about My Little Pony? And I said as much. As per brony fever, the others replied with an bombard of appeals that the show really was good, that it was the biggest hit of the decade, and I had to watch it. This was the first clip I saw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7PGKcikaGY As you can guess, I was not impressed. Nor did it do anything to quell my confusion. I reported back that it didn't make sense to me and just didn't seem all that special. Participants were insistent, saying that it was a matter of finding something that clicked. So for about the next two weeks I watched clips on-and-off, occasionally trying to watch an episode but giving up. Eventually, the overall charm of FiM started to rub off on me. It was something new, and I was drawn to it with a certain form of wonder. Overnight I became a HUGE fan of My Little Pony. And funny thing, the first episode I watched all the way through was the same one that contained the link above. I'll admit, I was an annoying brony (pegasister?) for a while, bringing it up unnecessarily to try to get people into it. But I stopped after being laughed at for talking about it in class (granted, it was uni). After that I watched the show quietly, and enjoyed it for the time I enjoyed it.