Unpopular opinions about MLP?

[OverTheStars 207]

I don't hate Starlight, but I feel like her motive and redemption was kind of weak. Like, when I was watching her as a villain I thought "Woah, either she's evil just because she's evil (which is fine), or she has a horrifically traumatic backstory". But then her backstory was revealed and I was just like...that's it? And then she just gets a redemption arc? I mean, I understand that thinking you're losing a friend as a kid is incredibly difficult. As a kid, I lost multiple people in my life and it always felt horrible, but I don't think it would really drive an average person to do anything similar to what Starlight did. I understand how her line of thinking went, but it just felt like such an extreme leap to me. I think it'd be more interesting if she or someone she knew thought they were locked into a life they didn't want because of their cutie marks, creating resentment towards the system, but that might create a few more problems in the writing.

I guess my problem is less of her being evil and getting a redemption arc, but more that I feel like other villains (Chrysalis and Cozy Glow) didn't get redemption arcs. It feels like there wasn't much effort for redemption for them, despite the fact that Starlight pushed back/tried to get revenge too and they still worked to redeem her.

[Dawnshine Wonder 403]

33 minutes ago, OverTheStars said:

I don't hate Starlight, but I feel like her motive and redemption was kind of weak. Like, when I was watching her as a villain I thought "Woah, either she's evil just because she's evil (which is fine), or she has a horrifically traumatic backstory". But then her backstory was revealed and I was just like...that's it? And then she just gets a redemption arc? I mean, I understand that thinking you're losing a friend as a kid is incredibly difficult. As a kid, I lost multiple people in my life and it always felt horrible, but I don't think it would really drive an average person to do anything similar to what Starlight did. I understand how her line of thinking went, but it just felt like such an extreme leap to me. I think it'd be more interesting if she or someone she knew thought they were locked into a life they didn't want because of their cutie marks, creating resentment towards the system, but that might create a few more problems in the writing.

I guess my problem is less of her being evil and getting a redemption arc, but more that I feel like other villains (Chrysalis and Cozy Glow) didn't get redemption arcs. It feels like there wasn't much effort for redemption for them, despite the fact that Starlight pushed back/tried to get revenge too and they still worked to redeem her.

Queen Chrysalis pushed back against this as well, she was offered a chance, but she refused it, I don't know if she can redeem since she was a villain all the way up to the final season. Eventually even the most patient of heroes would snap, and that's exactly what happened, when she got turned to stone, if anyone pushes Luna and Celestia far enough, they will do away with them.

 

I have unpopular opinions myself, if a character is capable of showing empathy, however flawed they may be, IMO there is hope. Starlight Glimmer did eventually become regretful of said actions, it became a matter of difficulty to adapt to social norms. Her actions went from hateful to bad decisions from fear of not being accepted. We don't know what kind of upbringing Starlight had in the show, and past trauma can indeed damage a person's ability to behave proper in later life. What should have happened in My Little Pony FIM is those friendship lessons should have came in the form of therapy for her, and if she was truly sorry for what she did, she agrees to the terms of Mane Six to take those therapy sessions until she learns to not be so reckless toward others. That would've been a great redemption arc for her, to have the courage to ask for help in overcoming insecurities, that could've happened, if say, Celestia had a law against mind control and mandated this to happen.

[SidewinderX 23]

2 hours ago, OverTheStars said:

I don't hate Starlight, but I feel like her motive and redemption was kind of weak. Like, when I was watching her as a villain I thought "Woah, either she's evil just because she's evil (which is fine), or she has a horrifically traumatic backstory". But then her backstory was revealed and I was just like...that's it? And then she just gets a redemption arc? I mean, I understand that thinking you're losing a friend as a kid is incredibly difficult. As a kid, I lost multiple people in my life and it always felt horrible, but I don't think it would really drive an average person to do anything similar to what Starlight did. I understand how her line of thinking went, but it just felt like such an extreme leap to me. I think it'd be more interesting if she or someone she knew thought they were locked into a life they didn't want because of their cutie marks, creating resentment towards the system, but that might create a few more problems in the writing.

I guess my problem is less of her being evil and getting a redemption arc, but more that I feel like other villains (Chrysalis and Cozy Glow) didn't get redemption arcs. It feels like there wasn't much effort for redemption for them, despite the fact that Starlight pushed back/tried to get revenge too and they still worked to redeem her.

This. This exactly.

[Sparklefan1234 172,984]

Princess Cadance feels like a blank slate which, makes her boring when compared to Celestia and Luna who have dreams and quirks of their own. 

Changlings are boring to me. 

I do not like Granny Smith. 

On 2021-02-18 at 1:37 PM, Kyoshi Frost Wolf said:

There should have been an entire episode dedicated to why pizza is the ultimate life form.

Isn't that what Strawberry Sunrise was arguing with Applejack about in Honest Apple? 😜

[OverTheStars 207]

On 2025-01-28 at 12:24 PM, Dawnshine Wonder said:

Queen Chrysalis pushed back against this as well, she was offered a chance, but she refused it, I don't know if she can redeem since she was a villain all the way up to the final season. Eventually even the most patient of heroes would snap, and that's exactly what happened, when she got turned to stone, if anyone pushes Luna and Celestia far enough, they will do away with them.

 

I have unpopular opinions myself, if a character is capable of showing empathy, however flawed they may be, IMO there is hope. Starlight Glimmer did eventually become regretful of said actions, it became a matter of difficulty to adapt to social norms. Her actions went from hateful to bad decisions from fear of not being accepted. We don't know what kind of upbringing Starlight had in the show, and past trauma can indeed damage a person's ability to behave proper in later life. What should have happened in My Little Pony FIM is those friendship lessons should have came in the form of therapy for her, and if she was truly sorry for what she did, she agrees to the terms of Mane Six to take those therapy sessions until she learns to not be so reckless toward others. That would've been a great redemption arc for her, to have the courage to ask for help in overcoming insecurities, that could've happened, if say, Celestia had a law against mind control and mandated this to happen.

I do agree with your point about most characters being redeemable if they show empathy, like I said, I think it's good that she got a redemption arc. I just think her motives were pretty weak. It's true we don't see a lot of her upbringing, but when we do meet her dad he's really doting and loving towards her (although he can be overbearing) and most of his actions just come from wanting her to feel safe and happy. It also seems like her mom isn't really the picture, so there's something to be said about that, but I feel like if that was a major part her motives/character, it'd be mentioned. Past trauma definitely does have an impact on one's actions and behavior, but again, I do just think her perspective went from 0-100 really quick and it just confused me as to why she went to such extremes. I saw someone here say they thought she could have BPD which I think is really interesting, and that could explain some aspects of her, but otherwise I'm just not really into the writing.

I think the redemption arc itself was alright, I also agree that there should've been more attention called on her emotional growth, but I think at the end of the day she did do enough good and showed enough remorse to redeem herself. I do like Starlight a lot as a character, I just wish her motives had been written a bit differently.