TheEngineer

Heck yes! Gummy is one of my favorite pets from the show, I would take him into my home in a heartbeat; given that he is a special brand of alligator that doesn't actually grow teeth.

Amazing animation...no, this is not a mere animation, this is an episode! Seriously, am I the only one who thinks this beats out many of the regular MLP episodes. Hasbro, DHX: HIRE THESE PEOPLE! The episode was touching, well-animated, heart-warming, and did an exceptional job creating a character and giving her a simple and fulfilling backstory in the course of a minute or two. Seriously, well done, bravo to the creators! You are an inspiration to the entire fandom!

From the beginning I was a bit shy, but recently I've definitely opened up to wearing a bright Fluttershy "YAY" shirt around campus. It usually opens up some interesting conversations.

Oh boy. I've met quite a few at my college, the first experience I had, though, was nice. I remember it was in one of my sociology classes called Deviance and Social Control. This was well before I got into the show myself, but the classmate I sat next to actually did quite a bit in the brony community and gave a presentation to the class about bronies near the end of the class itself. His presentation even became quite successful on Youtube, so serious props to him on that (though the class seemed more confused than anything by the end of it). Now I wish I had been a fan at the time to chat with him about the show! Anyhow, that was the first time I remember running into a brony, since then I've found quite a few; and I'm at a military college!

Until recently, I had wondered if My Little Pony contributed to the overarching (and over-simplified) motif of Good vs. Evil in cartoons. I explained in another thread how I felt that this motif, present in most cartoons, represents a part of the socialization process. Evil, in children’s cartoons, is something that people have as an inherent characteristic, it just is and some people are just (and thus inexplicably) evil. Of course, in the real word, people do morally egregious things for complex reasons that are worth understanding. When I had written the previous article, season three had not been released and I based my assessment primarily on Discord and a few other characters. Now, however, I have realized that I was wrong and I feel it is only appropriate to write a follow up article. My Little Pony’s ethics are surprising, firstly, because they run contrary to a lot of society’s expectations. In my experience growing up in the Deep South, revenge often becomes intricately bound up in justice. One part of the human experience is experiencing the desire to “get back” at someone, it is why there is a feeling of closure many experience when a criminal is punished. Yet, is punishment really the height of justice? Is collective revenge, the suffering of the criminal, really what is desired when we claim we want justice? There is no better counter-argument to the idea of justice as punishment than Discord. Discord, in Season 2 begins as just another evil character. Not only is he bent on becoming ruler of a chaotic and disordered Equestria, but he also is given very little background story other than being sealed up before by the forces of order and good. In season 3, however with Keep Calm and Flutter On Discord gets a new dimension. It turns out that he isn’t evil just because of being evil, but rather is in the state he is because he has had no friends. Furthermore, though he is initially turned to stone by the ponies; as he was before he was set loose. Near the conclusion of the episode, however, after being set free, Discord is indeed reformed and realizes the value and magic of friendship. This transformation is interesting because it contains a number of possible implications such as that 1) Discord is not inevitably evil, 2) even evil characters can become good, and 3) that reform is preferable to punishment. The turning to stone of Discord represents his separation from mainstream society. Notice that he can still hear what everyone is saying, he is just sealed away from the main population, unable to move and interact with them. Then Princess Celestia decides to set him free with the goal of reforming him. Keep in mind that Discord essentially attempted what amounted to treason or violent political revolution in modern times with the result of suffering to many ponies. This is no small-time thief or other convict, clearly Discord, in the eyes of many, should simply be sealed away forever, which is death in a sense. Celestia, however, sees potential in Discord and decides that he should be reformed rather than forever dead to everyone but himself. This high-level criminal, then, is reformed and brought to serve good when very few people have hope in him. Discord is transformed, furthermore, not through torture but by kindness, friendship, and radical compassion. Instead of torture or further suffering, he sees the value of friendship through one pony who shows him that he can be good and that he needs friends in an otherwise cold world. This message is something of a disruptive one: even those who seem evil can be reformed and brought to be good in society. Perhaps I’m reading too far into this, but it is, at least, a refreshing break from the usual Good vs. Evil dichotomy that is reproduced in cartoons and anime series’ across the world. Babs Seed is another excellent example of a secondary character that initially is a bully but learns that compassion and friendship are what is truly important. Trixie, too, eventually apologizes and learns from her power trip. In MLP, compassion is ultimately the solution to society’s problems. Babs seed is bullied and so he bullies others, Discord didn’t have a friend and so he turns against the order of the world, and Trixie felt humiliated and had to hard labor without anyone to befriend her so she became drunk with the idea of having power over others. Sure, you have the King Sombras of the world who are more of an ancient evil, but the rest of the “villains” are all too human/pony and can be reformed with friendship and compassion. What’s more is that the show’s values ring true in contemporary research. Give convicts more free time and time to reflect on their misdeeds and what happens? They actually begin to change their ways and become more amicable towards society. In the Netherlands, where the justice system is considerably more tolerant towards low-level convicts, this system has worked wonderfully and resulted in even more open experimental prisons, the country also recently emptied eight of prisons because of a lack of crime. We have the ability to change our world if we adopt more compassionate policy and ideas towards even those we despise. In many cases, school shootings, bullying, and crime can be prevented merely by befriending and showing kindness to people who are abused, hurt, or down; but we have to take the first step and extend a hoof. It’s our world, we can either choose to ignore, hate, and declare hopeless the Trixies, Discords, and Babs Seeds of the world or take their complex existence seriously. All it takes is compassion and kindness towards those who we normally despise, a radical compassion that applies to all humans, to change the world. What a fantastic way to inspire such an idea than through a bright, adorable TV show that appeals to a wide demographic.

I personally really enjoyed this episode, especially seeing Pinkie Pie show herself a bit more and Rainbow Dash is also portrayed as having more than one dimension to her. I would have liked to have more coverage of the mane six as a whole, but it wasn't too bad. Personally, though I wish there could have been a little more emphasis on Spitfire in the show. As a pony who represents the military, I'm glad they accurately show how the military always ends up making the right decision, even if they may make some mistakes. It's like with the phillip...erm vietna....erm kore...er Ira...oh never mind; but you get my point. In any case, I enjoyed it; though it needs some improvement and it wasn't my favorite of Season 3.

I wouldn't leave myself, lack of new content probably causes part of those who leave to do so. Still, after experiencing the awesome community and seeing daily new content about the show itself, I see that, even in this temporary drought, we have seen an abundance of creativity which keeps things interesting.

Us bronies are just like any other group that has a wide diversity of people, we include people who can be mean, arrogant, hurtful, and have many other character flaws. We aren't perfect people just like everyone else, that's a given, and some of us do act like jerks at times. Whenever you get a large group of people who are brought together by one unifying factor, you will inevitable find various members who don't act very tolerantly. Unfortunately, this still occurs within the Brony community even though our saying is Love and Tolerate. I try to be nice, but I admit that there are times when I've been a jerk; everyone has their moments. There are others who are consistently inconsiderate, but that's the case with any group. Still, look at the good bronies do as well (that includes fans who don't identify; whom I won't put the label of "brony" on)! The MLP community has donated money to cancer for children, creates CDs for charities, and (in general) tries to be encouraging and accepting of all other people. I think we are a fantastic group of upstanding people, even with our flaws, and we shouldn't be ashamed of ourselves!

Well, I suppose we've reached something of a philosophical impasse. I'm not convinced that evil exists, you believe it does. I'm also a bit unsure that teaching children to be compassionate is a complex thing, I think the idea of treat others as you would like to be treated is actually pretty simple.