Ishmael

As most of the Equestrian diet seems to be pie/cake/chocolate/ice cream, it seems like everybody can handle titanic amounts of sugar. The writers were smart to have Celestia confronting serious problems more or less on her own. She does seem a little blind to some of her faults or those of others, but I can't think of an instance where she doesn't come around. This is the through-line of "A Royal Problem", and that episode is interesting as it shows how both Celestia and Luna have serious blind spots, but both are mature enough to correct them when Starlight forcibly lifts the veil for them both. What's really interesting to me in this episode is when Celestia faces her alter-ego. Daybreaker makes clear she's a projection of Celestia's subconscious fears that she's not the princess everybody values: "I'm the smarter, prettier, and more powerful version of you," or words to that effect. Oliver's delivery captures the perfect amount of sneering and dark glee of your outwardly projected subconscious fears and lusts. Even more powerful is the deeply repressed negative feelings Celestia must have about Luna, given Daybreaker's uninhibited regret that she didn't destroy Luna/Nightmare Moon when *Celestia* had the chance. It's strange to me that people don't like Celestia for her supposed flaws and poor judgments. It's faults and imperfections that make characters interesting, and create conflicts that require growth and change. An hour talking with Celestia would be *very* interesting. Since I'm psychoanalyzing an episode of a kid's show, I got some big, knowing laughs at Starlight playing therapist. She's collected and aware enough to recognize Twilight is biased when it comes to Celestia, and tells Twilight this in a very-therapist way. Starlight also uses classic active listening technique in the second breakfast confrontation, which Starlight more or less instigates. "Celestia, how does it make you feel when Luna..." and "Princess Luna, tell Celestia how it makes you feel when..." is a technique counselors used on me! It's a valuable skill not everybody learns growing up. And it's very uncomfortable. I really felt Celestia and Luna squirming, and could relate to their lashing out at each other immediately after.

A little late to this, but just wanted to say thanks for a thoughtful and nuanced discussion about character and motivation. It's a kid's show, but at the same time, MLP:FiM has a level of sophistication and nuance that reaches far beyond a kid's show. It's not perfect--Luna's instant redemption as discussed, and Discord's uneven behavior--but on average the show treats its characters with the same care and respect taken in top-tier adult shows. Regarding Celestia, I'd add that she demonstrates the qualities you'd want in a mentor, teacher or therapist. In addition to the excellent points already made, I think it was a wise choice to present her as being a little removed. The show's young audience benefits from the unstated message that the Mane Six they're identifying with, and by extension themselves, are capable of facing crises and solving their own problems. Celestia has genuine affection for Twilight, and in general offers Carl Rodger's "unconditional positive regard" to Twilight and other characters. It's also striking to me how Celestia is shown to have flaws, and can be vulnerable. "A Royal Problem" demonstrates this, and it's easily one of the best episodes.

Weird Al has a long-running theme of cheese jokes. The Cheese Sandwich episode is full of Weird Al cheese jokes and references. I remember lighting up seeing/hearing them, recognizing them from bits Weird Al and Doctor Demento did on Demento's show, back in the 1980s. I think that's part of the joke when Pinky pops out of the float and accuses Cheese of stealing her song, and Cheese denying it in a very Weird Al way. Can't remember much more at the moment, though that episode was wonderful with its layering of allusions and riffs. Cheese as The Man With No Name is just brilliant.

Just curious if you were watching the original 1960s Star Trek or the late 80s-90s Next Generation. If the latter, glad you had the DVDs. Paramount spent a lot re-posting the entire series, thinking they'd be a sure thing, but hardly anybody bought the DVDs. Glad to make this part of something real. I've rewatched a few favorite FiM episodes too many times, and they're edging into rerun-stale. Enjoying season 4 and onward with knowing it'll be a long time before I see them again, if ever. Still, it's been nice to connect with a few people on a serious level...about a kid's pastel pony show.

Thanks for the kind words and sharing your own experience with the show. It's interesting that you could have grown up with the show, but it passed you by for some reason. Maybe it's better this way for the reasons you said. With the hype having died down, you can appreciate it for what it is. And if you're going to have a guilty pleasure, this seems like a pretty benign one. :) I'm just into season 4 now. Just taking my time and savoring them, really sitting with them. I had the thought recently in terms of the OG Star Trek I grew up with--I thought I'd seen every Star Trek episode a dozen times, but it's likely I only saw every episode just once, and a handful of favorites just a handful of times. I think it was seventh grade when I spent my kid savings on VHS tapes, and my parents let me stay up late to tape them off TV. (That was 1982!) I kept those tapes for decades, but I never watched them. After I'd seen them all, and gone through the effort of recording them, I just lost interest. So that informs my paying attention and really sitting with FiM. Maybe I'll watch them again someday, but I sense it's time to move on. There's so much great stuff to read and watch. Happy to share and glad to know it helped you. Forums like this were what the internet was 25 (!) years ago, and what it was meant to be. I'm glad there are still little sanctuaries of humanity like this one that will hopefully regenerate something real, someday.

Apologies in advance if this isn't the appropriate place for this post, but I thought it was too long for the welcome forum. I'm a straight white guy in my early 50s who really appreciates Friendship is Magic. I dimly remember my younger sister watching the original 1980s show, which aired when I was in high school. The original disgusted me like most of the era's TV animation did--same as Lauren Faust, apparently. Weak filmcraft, cheap animation, and just execrable writing. My love of things like Bambi (and its alter-ego Allegro Non Troppo) jarred against the Saturday morning and weekday afternoon animated dreck otherwise available. Animation could be so much more, and I didn't understand why so much of it was just so bad. If you're old enough, you might remember the Spike and Mike's animation festival shows, which proved animation could be serious art. (I think Spike and Mike was the vanguard of serious animation's return in the early 1990s--Spike and Mike preceded Disney finding itself again then, and The Simpsons brought great animation to TV.) I heard about bronies sometime in 2011 or 2012. I was recently divorced, spending a lot of time with my cat and Netflix's then-new streaming. FiM's fantasy elements, generally smart writing and directing (the first season is a little bumpy, but the show really found itself by season's end), and seeing Flash used to make something with a sophisticated aesthetic won me over. I greatly appreciated all the major players being strong female characters, and delighted in all the allusions to more grown-up/serious film and literature. Fantastic music, from the big setpieces to the working incidental music. I appreciated how the show respected its audience's intelligence--while the show is occasionally didactic and on-the-nose, it never talks down to kids. Such a smart, cultured show, and for kids! Finding the show in my early 40s provided a welcome sense of wonder and release. Watching brought back golden memories of rushing home from school to watch cartoons, or being in my twenties and falling into The Simpsons or Liquid Television once a week. Aside from these feelings, and the sense of guilty pleasure, I don't remember much else when I first got into the show...fifteen years ago now. The 'Bab's Seed' musical sequence stuck with me--there's an example of 'sound being half the picture'. Then life got busy, and I stopped watching. (Maybe I'd just watched all there was at the time, then forgot about it? I don't remember.) I had a stroke a year ago. Nothing like waking up in the neuro ICU to clarify things. (I've recovered from the stroke completely. I have some other serious ongoing issues, but they are in remission almost all the time now.) Maybe it was the stroke, or serious challenges my partner faced, or the 2024 holidays being positive and happy after really rough holidays several years prior--I really don't know how or why, but I found Friendship is Magic again this year. It's been the gift I didn't know I needed. Tirelessly positive (a little treacle-y sometimes), with strong characters who act at the top of their intelligence, working their way through interesting stories and complications. It is a kid's show, so the resolutions tend to be pat and simplistic, but I respect the choices made given the limitations the show was likely commanded to work under. There's so much to like and talk about. Allusions to serious literature and film, and even not-so-serious allusions, like the three Big Liebowski characters recurring in the background before they get a hilarious speaking part. The characterizations have depth and resonance; characters remember what's happened to them and to others, and they grow instead of remaining static. The actor's performances are delicious, full of warmth and heart. The cinematography is really that: depth and framing, clear lines of action, with (usually) good blocking make relationships clear, and help drive the story. Some of the set design gets a little too cute for me, but it works in the show, and it's not a show for guys in their 40s or 50s.... Characterization is what really keeps me coming back. I like most of the characters, and even the heavies have a depth surprising in a kid's show. The Mane Six tend to bump up against kid-show limitations as the series goes on, but the writing generally allows them space to be most themselves. And the actors portraying them take them seriously and never phone it in. John de Lancie just dazzles as Discord. Rarity as the Zsa Zsa Gabor scenery-chewing self-absorbed high-society aspirant who is ultimately good-hearted really speaks to me. What's driven me to write all this for strangers is realizing I'm coming to the end. I watched the first few episodes of season nine and realized that when I'd watched them all, I'd feel profoundly sad. I felt the same with Bojack Horesman--the story needed to end, and the ending was exquisite, but I'm sad there's no more Bojack. Same as with Breaking Bad, or Better Call Saul. Excellent storytelling that knew when to stop, and even though ending was the right choice, you're still sad about it. So I stopped, went back and rewatched some favorites, then committed and began from the beginning. I've reached the second season and am even more taken with the animation's richness, the performances, and the music. It's a little strange, being into something that ended six years ago now. As other threads observe, so much has ended, closed down, gone offline. I don't hear people say 'everypony' like I used to, and the word's appearance in work chats has gradually dwindled, and is now gone. Youtube now suggests fan-made videos and tributes whose joi de vivre, or sadness, really get me. So many are so, so good, and made by just a few people. It feels a little like going through old boxes in the basement, finding treasures a former you valued so highly. I'd presume many here grew up with the show. Writing this reveals I have too--first with the second-adolescence of divorce, and then these last months breathing again after being assured the stroke is over. I'm grateful for what the show's given me, even though I know it's something I need to move on from. But what a pleasure it is to inhabit this colorful little world of boldly-outlined characters for a little while--to be in this place of utter goodness in a world that so isn't. I just wanted to talk to somebody about this little haven besides my therapist.