Is satire against Celestia illegal in Equestria?

[SteveMorison 408]

I just ask because they seems to be alot of respect for Celestia by citizens and very little questioning of her. Obviously there is Twilight who worships her and goes out of her way to impress her, but even the rest of the ponies seem to "act in line" when she is present. It seems in earlier seasons ponies would start bowing whenever she walks by and would go through alot of preparation when she comes to visit. The cakes seemed very nervous to make sure hosting Celestia's lunch party went perfectly. In fact she gets so much praise and admiration that she actually seems uncomfortable with it all. There are 3 instances off the top of my head which involved disrespect to Princess Celestia, Discord calling her boring, which resulted in him being attacked by Rainbow Dash, the dragons (I forget their names) throwing away a letter from Celestia, which would have probably led to an attack from Twilight (but then she's Twilight) and GabbyGums printing about her private life, which would suggest articles questioning Celestia are in fact legal to print. In our modern day society the media has been allowed to do whatever they like to question or satirise our leaders whether it be Barack Obama, David Cameron, the Queen or whoever else. 200 years ago questioning rulers would have carried a death sentence. It get's me wondering how would a piece which made fun of Celestia (e.g. Trollestia, Molestia) be recieved by the ponies of Equestria, would any pony find it funny or "just a tease" or would the publisher be arrested for treason.

[Black Sabbath 2,488]

Satire against Celestia is not illegal because Celestia isn't a tyrant. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

I think the ponies just respect her too much to do any sort of major satire. This also goes in line with why they freak out when she is near it seems. Granted I myself kinda dislike that sort of behaviour in shows like this but it goes with the point. I think they all just hardcore respect Celestia since she was essentially the sole ruler of Equestria for at least 1,000 years and she ruled with Luna even longer than that. 

[Silver Letter 1,832]

It's probably legal but mostly unheard of as Celestia is the ruler of the land and also guardian of the sun, which perhaps involves religious or somewhat religious concepts if the ponies worship the sun itself.

[ThatOneComrade 1,092]

I'm sure Celestia can take a joke

[Cwanky 17,755]

Hardly. If we actually look at the brief instances we do see Celestia, the opposite seems to be the case. Just because there’s a lack of visible criticism doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s the same with real situations. Just because we don’t hear or know about government corruption and espionage, doesn’t mean its nonexistent.

 

Arguably, at one of the most formal and official events of Canterlot – The Grand Galloping Gala, we see that Celestia is probably among the most relaxed and laid back people there, bar Pinkie. She complains that the events are predictable, boring, overly formal and the guests are too serious and uptight. In fact the MLP wiki describes a large part of Celestia’s personality as being rather relaxed:

 

 

 

Despite being royalty, she often encourages her subjects to relax with jokes and gentle questions. She also shows great patience with any inappropriate behavior towards her, as seen when Pinkie Pie snatches a cupcake from her at a party in A Bird in the Hoof.

 

Besides that she was not only willing to have Discord as an ally, she enjoyed his antics when he came to Canterlot. The ponies may be holier than tho worshipping Celestia like royalty or a god, but Celestia shows that she prefers quite the opposite.    Remember, Celestia herself is presented as the polar opposite of Luna, whose uptight, formal and demands respect. Its not hard to tell between the two who can't take a joke.  :comeatus: 

[DeadAccount 4,604]

Celestia seems to be the most mature out of the princesses. So I think she could handle it.

[SteveMorison 408]

Just to point out that it may be outlawed by most or all local councils, it doesn't necessarily have to be Celestia's law.

[Daring_Do 552]

Hardly. If we actually look at the brief instances we do see Celestia, the opposite seems to be the case. Just because there’s a lack of visible criticism doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s the same with real situations. Just because we don’t hear or know about government corruption and espionage, doesn’t mean its nonexistent.

 

Arguably, at one of the most formal and official events of Canterlot – The Grand Galloping Gala, we see that Celestia is probably among the most relaxed and laid back people there, bar Pinkie. She complains that the events are predictable, boring, overly formal and the guests are too serious and uptight. In fact the MLP wiki describes a large part of Celestia’s personality as being rather relaxed:

 

 

 

 

Besides that she was not only willing to have Discord as an ally, she enjoyed his antics when he came to Canterlot. The ponies may be holier than tho worshipping Celestia like royalty or a god, but Celestia shows that she prefers quite the opposite.    Remember, Celestia herself is presented as the polar opposite of Luna, whose uptight, formal and demands respect. Its not hard to tell between the two who can't take a joke.  :comeatus: 

The Wiki is written by fans. It's fine to source information from it (I've learned valuable things from it myself) but quoting it on subjective qualities like that doesn't really mean anything - You're just quoting some brony on her or his observations. You might as well be quoting any one of us here.

[Marimo 555]

Just to point out that it may be outlawed by most or all local councils, it doesn't necessarily have to be Celestia's law.

I doubt Celestia would want such laws to exist about her. And which local governments have been shown to be so devoted to Celestia that they would restrict freedom of speech?

[Cwanky 17,755]

The Wiki is written by fans. It's fine to source information from it (I've learned valuable things from it myself) but quoting it on subjective qualities like that doesn't really mean anything - You're just quoting some brony on her or his observations. You might as well be quoting any one of us here.

All the same, the information written there is at least somewhat sanctioned by Hasbro and/or whoever's running FiM. Its not like fans can go post complete nonsense, errors and defame the show on what purports to be the official wiki.  I quote the wiki because its one of the most consistently accurate and updated sources for the show.

 

But that's besides the point anyways. We can look at examples in the show that indicate Equestria is not some 1984 dystopia with thought police. If that were so, Pinkie would have gotten jailed or punished ages ago for harassing both Celestia and Twilight. Besides most of the villains seem to get a free pass with the citizens of Equestria. Its only when the Mane 6 step in, as always  , that they are brought to justice.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

If it was we would never have learned about her cake addiction from the CMC

[Cwanky 17,755]

If it was we would never have learned about her cake addiction from the CMC

 

 

 

Guilty as charged, your highness. 

[Stormghost 136]

Who is satire you mean? from a TV show by HASBRO?

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

I like to think Celestia can take a joke, but Luna can not. As such, Celestia would shrug off a roast while Luna would condemn the ponies who made fun of her...which would then result in the mane 6 explaining that sometimes jokes come from a good place....you know...this would make a good episode. 

[Daring_Do 552]

All the same, the information written there is at least somewhat sanctioned by Hasbro and/or whoever's running FiM. Its not like fans can go post complete nonsense, errors and defame the show on what purports to be the official wiki.  I quote the wiki because its one of the most consistently accurate and updated sources for the show.

 

But that's besides the point anyways. We can look at examples in the show that indicate Equestria is not some 1984 dystopia with thought police. If that were so, Pinkie would have gotten jailed or punished ages ago for harassing both Celestia and Twilight. Besides most of the villains seem to get a free pass with the citizens of Equestria. Its only when the Mane 6 step in, as always  , that they are brought to justice.

Well, you're right, it is kinda besides the point - and I agree completely, Celestia definitely isn't a tyrant. That being said, it *doesn't* purport to be official - It's a fansite, created and maintained entirely by fans. The reason people can't go post complete nonsense, errors and defame the show is because it's the fans running it who'll revert your edits.

 

Sorry about this, it's just that I have past experience with a wikia.com Wiki having errors but people mistakenly trusting it anyway. It was a major fansite for the thing in question, used by loads of people, but "official" people had nothing to do with it, let alone correcting any of the mistakes there (some of which festered for years without anyone fixing them).

Edited August 14, 2015 by Daring_Do

[Untitled Goose Q 5,138]

There's not currently a way to know for sure, but Celestia doesn't seem like the type to object to satire about her.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

I don't think it's illegal, just that nopony wants to do it. They love and respect Her almost universally. I say almost because Starlight Glimmer proves not all are in favor of her rule, but she's an outright dissident that would be considered an enemy of the state not a mere critical satirist.

 

Knowing Celestia Herself, she would not take jokes made at Her expense as affronts to Her authority. I mean She's been around for more than a thousand years and ruling a nation during the lion's share of a century, I think She's far past having a thin skin.

[Demirari 454]

A work that is satirical against Princess Celestia would be seen differently depending on the pony in my opinion. Considering that Princess Celestia is rather benevolent and not malevolent (unless there was a sudden change in her personality), she wouldn't mind having a work criticizing her. During her long reign, there had to be political works centered around criticizing her work; it's only natural for such things to occur. 

 

What other ponies would think of a work that is centered around criticizing Princess Celestia would probably fall between "How dare you question our glorious supreme leader, Princess Celestia?" and "Oh wow, funny!" Due to the amount of respect and loyalty she, probably, holds as a princess, I doubt many would take kindly on someone criticizing her. Sure, I can see some laughing and agreeing with the work, but others would either be quiet, discomforted at the work, or peeved at it. I mean, criticizing popular leaders tend to not produce favorable results amongst the populace. 

 

I tend to think of ponies in Equestria is some-what fanatical worshipers for some odd reason.

[HereComesTom 2,271]

From the grand list of things Hasbro won't let a Brony do while making a game adaptation of FiM:

 

649) The incident where "Gabby Gums" wrote an article showing Celestia making a pig of herself with a slice of cake did not cause freedom of press to be revoked in Equestria.

 

...

 

In all seriousness, I don't think it's illegal per se, but I think ponies would be so angry at whoever wrote an article satirizing Celestia that whoever wrote it would go out of business.  In one sense, that is censorship, albeit it's censorship by the people rather than censorship by the government---but that's another topic.

[ShutterBat 134]

I feel like that rule does not even need to be set. Equestria is full of lovely ponies, except for Cloudsdale (not being rude but come on.. Most of them are pretty mean). I feel like the respect for their leaders are so high, it's an after thought. They just know to respect her. Done.

[ManaMinori 4,149]

I like to think Celestia can take a joke, but Luna can not. As such, Celestia would shrug off a roast while Luna would condemn the ponies who made fun of her...which would then result in the mane 6 explaining that sometimes jokes come from a good place....you know...this would make a good episode.

 

that's actually not true at all about Luna. The Journal of the Two sisters confrms that she's also a bit of a prankster, since the hall of hooves and trap doors, slides, etc. In the old castle were all her idea. And sh also prank scared other royals, like Princess Platinum, and Starswirl's entourage

[White 190]

 

Yes I think it is allowed.

[cider float 2,539]

 

 

 

Guilty as charged, your highness. 

Guess she doesn't care. There's another instance Fluttershy dresses as her but it was used for a historical lesson for Rainbow Dash.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhBg8doWvLc

[Buck Testa 5,505]

She's probably love a good zinger about her, she's got a good sense of humor. 

 

Now LUNA on the other hand