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Why the Unfair Character Bashing?


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On 12/6/2017 at 2:01 AM, WiiGuy2014 said:

I'll never understand why people do continue to bash on Characters who clearly got better (Zephyr Breeze, Starlight to some, Feather Bangs), and yet forgive Characters who did so much worse and acting like the worst they did is nothing compared to the bashed character (Discord mind raping the ponies in the past).I love Discord, but why are characters like him being treated better than Characters that did far less harm and actually got better as a person, like Zephyr?

At least Zephyr got better as time goes on, which is more than I can say for people like the Flim-Flam Bros., SvenGallop, and the Food Critic from S6's "Spice Up Your Life", all who never got better and stayed jerks! I understand the hate on the latter characters because they didn't change, but characters like Zephyr Breeze who overcome his insecurities and actually did something with himself continue to get the shaft! At least Feather Bangs accepted the fact that Sugar Belle chose Big Mac as her special somepony and moved on to other ponies who were interested in him. At least he didn't act like Gaston, who tried to kill the Beast because Belle loved him instead. Feather Bangs is morally better than Gaston by moving on with another and yet he get bashed like they're no redeeming qualities about him!

To me, it's very unfair to the character who actually learns a lesson and get morally better to be bashed like this by the viewers. It makes no sense. And I would like a straight answer as to why this unfair character bashing on any character like Zephyr Breeze or Feather Bangs exists.

Remember, This topic doesn't apply only to Zephyr Breeze and Feather Bangs; it applies to any character that seems to be unfairly bashed.

Well, honestly I've always thought that Rainbow Dash in particular gets away with far too much when it comes to being unpleasant in some episodes (don't crucify me for saying that) Don't get wrong, in general I quite like Rainbow Dash, I like every member of the Mane 6. But in some episodes ("May The Best Pet Win" immediately comes to mind) she acts like such an unlikable jerk for no reason whatsoever and never really gets any sort of comeuppance for it, either in, or more importantly out of the episode. Yes, she arguably learns an important lesson from it, but simply realizing why what you did was wrong in the first place does not immediately put in in the clear. The fan-base tends to just see it as "she did something bad, but she learnt from it so who cares?". The same could be said of some of the show's villains. Discord and Starlight, I love them both, but their redemption are so...abrupt, and all of their serious, SERIOUS crimes against Equestria are instantly forgotten. I'm all for forgiveness in the show, it's an important part of friendship, but damn. And, yet most of the fan-base still loves them, hell, Rainbow Dash is the most popular character in the show. Old characters just seem to be able to get away with a lot more than new ones, which isn't fair in my opinion.

I know that this statement is controversial, but I never did understand the hatred for Zephyr. He's obnoxious and lazy, sure, but he's fairly humorous as well as relatable and it DOES feel like he's matured somewhat since his initial appearance, and, yet, people still moan about him.

All I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't give favorites, new or.old should not be given immunity from being held to the same standards as characters that we've only seen once or twice, that philosophy doesn't make any sense. All characters in the show should be held accountable by the fan-base for their respective mistakes. We can't just decide who can or cannot do something out of personal preference.

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8 minutes ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

As said, I don't think hating Starlight just because her reformation and ignoring any scenes or developments after that is judging in a fair way. It's unfair, simply. Also as said, disliking for numerous reasons is fine even if I disagree, it's the people who can only ever say "Bad redemption" or "Mary Sue' that I say are unfair.

So if someone really hates her redemption and can't get over it due to their own personality and personal beliefs, are they unfair to the character by their own standards? They'd probably look right at you and state you are treating her in the wrong manner. People can take sides, but in the end it's all personal opinions, bad redemptions and Mary Sues included. There ain't no right or wrong. Though, you can debate bad redemptions and Mary Sues in a less personal manner but that's a long story for a very different thread.

15 minutes ago, DonMaguz said:

I think this summarizes the topic perfectly.

I'm amazed at how much interest and favoritism in background characters exist in this fandom. That is something I hadn't experienced in other fandoms where people focus on main and secondary characters only. Now, I don't bash background characters but I couldn't care less about them either. I understand that many fans got involved in them because of all the fan theories and amazing fanart of them, but when talking about the show I have a hard time understanding when someone claims her favorite pony to be a background character.
Having said that, I wouldn't tell anyone to choose another favorite character because theirs are "not developed and are just there to fill crowds". On the other hand, no one can tell me either that I'm wrong on thinking about them that way. We're just people with a different focus on the show, each one takes what we feel it's important and that's that.

As Jerry Boy said, people can be very protective of their favorite characters. Say one wrong thing and you'll be sailing in a storm. We need to be more like r/Star vs TFOE. They have turned character bashing and ship wars into an art.

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Just now, Goat-kun said:

So if someone really hates her redemption and can't get over it due to their own personality and personal beliefs, are they unfair to the character by their own standards? They'd probably look right at you and state you are treating her in the wrong manner. People can take sides, but in the end it's all personal opinions, bad redemptions and Mary Sues included. There ain't no right or wrong. Though, you can debate bad redemptions and Mary Sues in a less personal manner but that's a long story for a very different thread.

 

 

Again, it isn't that they are wrong to think that or that their opinion isn't valid or objectively wrong.

All I am saying is that if you hate a character based on a single moment in a long line of development, you are being unfair to that character.

To repeat, it wouldn't be fair to hate Twilight to this day because she didn't want to make friends in the first episode.

We are going in circles. So, to conclude

#Featherbangsdidnothingwrong

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3 minutes ago, Rarity the Supreme said:

All characters in the show should be held accountable by the fan-base for their respective mistakes. We can't just decide who can or cannot do something out of personal preference.

Holding characters accountable for their mistakes in a show that’s Main theme revolves around those character constantly making mistakes to teach a character lesson seems counterproductive. Why not just focus on the lessons learned instead off the mistakes made?

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4 minutes ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

Again, it isn't that they are wrong to think that or that their opinion isn't valid or objectively wrong.

All I am saying is that if you hate a character based on a single moment in a long line of development, you are being unfair to that character.

To repeat, it wouldn't be fair to hate Twilight to this day because she didn't want to make friends in the first episode.

We are going in circles. So, to conclude

#Featherbangsdidnothingwrong

I'd agree that their opinion is weird. A competent hater must know how to bash a character wholesomely :P

 

#GarbleDidNothingWrong

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6 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Holding characters accountable for their mistakes in a show that’s Main theme revolves around those character constantly making mistakes to teach a character lesson seems counterproductive. Why not just focus on the lessons learned instead off the mistakes made?

I don't primarily mean in the show itself. I'm talking about how the fan-base deals with things about the matter. That being said though, forgiveness maybe an important aspect in friendship, but so is responsibility. If the main point of the show is to educate the masses about ALL aspects of friendship, then it should go into greater depth about it. It doesn't even have to be much. In the case of "Dragonshy" for example, all that had to be done to tell Rainbow Dash that judging people for their fears is not okay was for one of the other Members of the Mane 6 to say something like "You should be more considerate to other people's feelings" and for her to say something like "Oh, sorry I gave you such a hard time Fluttershy". Quick, easy and not counter-productive at all. Rather helpful actually as it informs the people watching what is socially acceptable to do and what isn't.

Edited by Rarity the Supreme
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If Zerphyl is getting better in his next appearance, and people still find some ways to hate him just because his last episode then i can conclude people are being unfair to him. 

From i saw, I dont see many more people love Starlight Glimmer (many people I know still have the same opinions about her since S6) but i see more people being OK with her presence, season 7 definitely improved Starlight popularity.

Edited by Lambdadelta
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A few posts had to be hidden partially because of going off topic, but also because of needless insults. Do we really need to resort to those? Please avoid that in the future. Not only is it against the rules, but it does nothing to contribute to the main point of the thread. Please keep that in mind.

Also, please avoid backseat moderating. If you see an issue; please report. Don't point it out in the thread.

Thank you.

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10 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

I see your point of emotional baggage in the first paragraph. It was unfair of Zephyr to mooch off his folks like that in the first half.

But it sounds to me that you're missing MY point that a jerk character who managed to improve himself for the better (in this case his fear of failure) can actually be an inspiration to some people to improve themseves! Unlike the other jerk like Flim-Flam bros. and Svengallop, who didn't learn anything!

Do you now see why I'm willing to forgive Zephyr as much as the Mane 6 has forgiven people who did so much worst, like Discord and Starlight?

EDIT: Because I relate to his fear of failure. So when I saw him succeed, it inspired me to finish University.

And that's great and all, but that's not the thing I was answering. The question was "why the unfair character bashing?" 

And I gave you that answer. It's because those characters remind people of assholes in real life, so they have a near Pavlovian response to them when they show up in an episode. It has nothing to do with being fair to the character, it's just how some people respond to those types of individuals. If he ended up being an inspiration to you, great! However not everyone is going to have that response to that personality type. Hell any character on this show can rub a person the wrong way, especially with all of the "I hate X pony cause reasons" threads there are. 

The important thing is to realize that this is just a fictional character and it's best to not put too much emotional investment into defending them. I've known people to take their self identifying with a character WAY to far and would become entirely irrational whenever their character was criticized. It's not healthy to get that worked up over something so trivial. Not saying that is what you are doing, but I am saying make sure to remember that at the end of the day somebody on the internet not liking a character you do isn't the end of the world. 

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8 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Did you not see my whole point that Zephyr actually improved himself AND had something to relate to. (His fear of Failure) I personally get annoyed when people are ignoring the fact that Zephyr CAN be relatable to certain fans in the right way. Like me.

I just wish Critics would stop acting that there was absolutely nothing good to Zephyr's character at all, when there CAN be something relatable. Can't any of you at least understand that?

I never said that there was nothing good about Zephyr's character.  I was actually just trying to rationalize why people hate on him.  He does redeem himself in the end.  I think people are less concerned with that though, and more focused on the first two acts of the episode.  There's also the recent Equestria Girls short that features the unlikable Zephyr for the sake of a gag which does him no favours.  I certainly think he's a far better character than Zesty, and I'd take him over Feather Bangs too.

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  • 4 years later...

There will always be a few people who bash characters regardless of whether or not the character deserve it. However, there are some characters who receive more bashing than others because of certain qualities they possess that many consider unlikeable.

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People bashing on characters isn't worth putting your attention too much to, and it doesn't bother me... except in a couple of specific instances.

Stygian is a pony who is incredibly dear to me and I have a gigantic attachment to him and his backstory. But sometimes people will say they disliked him, and that's easy enough to ignore.

....except when it's in a post or video just chock full of negativity, then it runs the risk of getting under my skin and I start wondering what's wrong with them.

Case in point: I search for Stygian in google image search to see if there's something new I can find and upload to derpibooru, but I found someone's post recently that wasn't pleasant to me. https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/847231/mlp-villain-rankings-stygian-the-pony-of-shadows Just full on bashing and rating a 0/10.  I mean, nobody has to like the same characters you do but sometimes it just seems really harsh, more than it needs to.

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Why not? Bash away. That is how certain I am of my position regarding some of these characters. It is not like I will go around telling people that they cannot express their opinions. Because if anything, this kind of attitude inspires more critique from people of bad faith, only because you are demostrating your weak position in regards to taking criticism. In other words, it is always better to learn living with oneself, as well as the fact that poeple's perspectives can differ, even when it comes to the meaning of "unfair bashing".

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