Does Green Isn't Your Color Suck?

[VitalSpark 1,830]

I don't think there are any episodes of My Little Pony that I actually dislike. But of course, some episodes I like more than others. Green Isn't Your Color is one of the episodes I like the least.

 

I agree that Twilight's behaviour is unrealistic. In the situation that she was in, it was clear that even if she broke her friends' confidence, they would ultimately both be thankful for it. Twilight is intelligent enough to have realised that, and I don't think Pinkie badgering her would have stopped her.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

I found this one of the best episodes of season 1. It showcases just how close friends Rarity and Fluttershy are, and manages to show quite a lot between them even from primarily Twilight's perspective. I can't really address your points directly, proving them wrong or anything, but I will add a bit that I enjoyed related to those points.

 

Rarity spends most of the time on the sidelines being jealous, yes. Here's what I absolutely love about that. In any other show, we'd get this exchange:
"Rarity, don't you think you're just being jealous of Fluttershy?"
"Of course I'm not jealous, I just deserve success more than her!"

But this show is smart enough not to just do the same thing as always, and we get this:
"Rarity, you don't really want Fluttershy to fail, do you??"
"Oh of course not! I should be happy for her and instead I'm just... jealous! I'm a terrible friend!"

 

Rarity's struggle is not with Fluttershy but with herself, and most importantly she's completely aware of this. She agonizes inwardly because she's trying to cope with her own feelings, and in the end decides that just because she's jealous that doesn't mean she can't support her friend. From beginning to end, Rarity does not want her friend to give up on an opportunity just to spare her feelings.

 

 

Fluttershy's cutesy antics, I dunno what to say, I mean it was a plot point. At the very least I can confidently say this was done VASTLY better than in Filli Vanilli, Fluttershy becoming a model is drastically more believable than becoming a pop sensation.

First, she actually is visually appealing. I don't think anyone can really deny this, her delicate features and long hair is clearly supposed to be "pretty" compared to Twilight or Dash. Conversely, she is simply not a great singer. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie are the singers of the group, shown by how the recording studio has actual singers do their songs rather than just have the VA's sing it. They have a singers' voice, while Dash, AJ, and Fluttershy do not. Of course I'm not saying they can't sing, but they're clearly not meant to be great singers.

Second, it's not Rarity or another friend telling Fluttershy how great a model she is, it's someone she doesn't know, Photo Finish. And here's the important part, we're clearly shown that Photo Finish has a particular preference that Fluttershy satisfies. She prefers the demure, unconfident modeling and that is why Fluttershy is chosen to be a model, not because she's prettier than Rarity or some nonsense. But in Filli Vanilli, Rarity just goes up to Fluttershy and says "Wow Fluttershy you're the best singer ever." It's simply not plausible by any stretch of logic.

 

 

And Pinkie's subplot with Twilight, wasn't that the whole moral? I mean there was a lot more than that between Rarity and Fluttershy, but the moral is about Twilight's perspective of events. It's like Dragonshy, the story isn't at all about Fluttershy overcoming her fears, no she comes out the same way as she comes in. The episode is about Twilight observing and learning that sometimes your friends will surprise you in the most unexpected ways. I mean, unlike that episode, Fluttershy and Rarity really do learn a lesson, but Twilight's involvement (and by extension Pinkie's) is still important to the episode.

 

 

Meanwhile there's plenty more to love. Remember when Rarity saved Fluttershy from humiliation with dishonesty, by pretending to enjoy the performance and manipulating the socialites? Remember a season later, when Fancy Pants does the exact same thing to save Rarity? Talk about karmic absolution! And hey, who's to say Fancy Pants wasn't at the modeling show, and saw what Rarity did for her friend? Heck, even Cheese Sandwich pulls the same stunt to save Pinkie from her own jealousy.

 

Oh, and let's not forget THIS

I agree that Twilight's behaviour is unrealistic. In the situation that she was in, it was clear that even if she broke her friends' confidence, they would ultimately both be thankful for it. Twilight is intelligent enough to have realised that, and I don't think Pinkie badgering her would have stopped her.

Really? You have to remember, Twilight is new to having friends, she's still learning the most basic things. Pinkie has more friends than anyone, and she personally attests that breaking her friends' confidence is the worst thing for keeping friends. You really think Twilight would just ignore an expert's opinion? I mean it's not like she doesn't struggle with it, but NOPONY knows friendship better than Pinkie and Pinkie says "DON'T DO IT".

[Jeric 46,836]

Suck? No. Dulcet listed views that I share on this one - pretty damn near perfectly. This is one of the episodes that firmed up my opinion that Rarity was not a surface level character.

 

I honestly think that the moral in this episode was presented expertly. As Dulcet mentioned - a lesser writer would have focused on Rarity not struggling - and having a convenience based epiphany toward the end.

 

Instead we got character development, depth, and the two story lines merging together seemlessly.

 

If someone listed this episode as their favorite, I wouldn't question it.