What morals do you wish mlp had taught but it didn't

[Moonstarleader10101 13]

Basically, we know the episodes of my little pony are formulated around morals, question is what morals do you wish were taught but weren't in my little pony?

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,811]

Personally, I think MLP covered quite the range of morals. I really wish they chased more of remembering who you really are. 

[zinto 22]

Disclaimer: I release the content of my/this post to the public domain; no attribution necessary.

There are a lot of morals; so, I might mention something they've actually done, because I forgot, but here goes:

1. Being sensitive/polite to ponies with sound-sensitivity, perfume-intolerance, food-intolerances, chemical-sensitivities, etc. For light-sensitivity, you could have an episode where they keep inviting the pony to activities in broad daylight on sunny days, or indoors with bright lights (counting on them to be there). Have them actually keep showing up, though, even though it's hurting them or whatever, before they figure it out. Teaching people to be perceptive/empathetic/sympathetic would be awesome.

2. Don't disregard others' goals as unimportant and trample over them, just because it's unimportant to you, or because you think it's not a big deal. Goals are sometimes larger than they appear, and even if not, they're still goals, and deserve respect.

3. Listen to what a pony really has to say before you start giving advice.

4. Don't devalue obsessive interests just because they're obsessive and the person is young or doesn't have a string of accomplishments that you appreciate. Treat them like they're ambitious (beyond what they seem to have ever attempted), and worthy of adult conversation. If you don't understand it yourself, why judge? Don't over-simplify others.

5. When you're in school (or whatever else), don't assume everyone you meet is, too.

6. Don't make things unnecessarily difficult for others by default. I mean, if you're a teacher, you can focus on the end result, rather than tedious work that doesn't even need to be done, if you do things slightly differently. I mean, if *most* of your classwork is just to build character and make the person a well-rounded person, some people might never learn the actual subject matter who would otherwise flourish. Make sure your character-building techniques don't get in the way of the actual class too much, if at all.

7. If someone you meet isn't in a very esteemed life position, try not to be awkward about it. Focus on the good, even with your face.

8. Simple answers don't always make for simple solutions. Sometimes complex answers lead to simple solutions. There's a time and a place for each kind of answer.

9. You don't need a published, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, 10-year FDA-approved study just to know if your hat fits. You can just try it on. You have to draw the line somewhere, or you won't get anything done. Yeah, those things have a place, but if you don't have millions of dollars, you kind of have to settle for something else, sometimes (and sometimes it's enough).

10. Society is overcautious for a reason (even if that reason doesn't apply to most circumstances). I mean, you might be advised to go to a doctor for consultation before you eat celery (and you've eaten celery all your life), but there's actually a reason they say that (liability, special cases where people take high-dose supplements, allergies, if you take certain medications that might interact with celery, etc.)

11. Don't be ambiguous. I mean, don't say things you intend to be interpreted one way that could easily be interpreted lots of ways (if you can help it). Being vague is different from being what I mean by ambiguous (being vague is less harmful, because the speaker doesn't necessarily expect, or even want, you to understand them, and you may not have any interpretations to consider).

12. What do you do when seemingly everyone else on the planet *suddenly* seems to have a strange opinion that you don't share. This has happened to me more than once.

13. Respect people who choose not to be aggressive. It's not a sign of weakness (whether or not it's merited). It can require a lot of self-control.

14. Drinking more water isn't *always* the answer (even if it frequently is).

15. Try something new.

16. Read the label before you eat something. It might contain unexpected ingredients.

17. Things sometimes look easy on TV that take a lot of skill, knowledge, time, or practice. But, don't give up; don't be discouraged (if it's worth it, anyhow).

18. Don't make fun of or mock stuff (demographics, shows, toys, etc.) It's not nice, even if you think others with you do or should share the same opinion. (And for a toy company, it may boost their sales if fewer people are making fun of toys, and teaching their children not to when they themselves get older. Same for TV show companies.)

19. Just because it's commercialism doesn't mean it's not a good thing. Some commercialism *isn't* a good thing, but some of it brings a whole lot of joy to people's lives.

20. Others can get really ticked off if you don't believe them. How to be diplomatic, and when to actually believe them. Realize that it can indeed be mean to disbelieve people sometimes. My personal take on it is to treat them like you believe them unless you have a good reason to do otherwise (like if they're trying to get you to do something risky based on that knowledge)--or just because you disblieve them, that doesn't mean it's always helpful to say so. When people are believed, they can feel loved. Similarly, it can be good to teach people why others are often skeptical (so you don't think they think you're a lier all the time).

21. Why you shouldn't exaggerate habitually, even if you think people know what you're doing.

22. Learning new stuff can make your life better, even if your life is already fine.

23. Try not to overwhelm your friends by trying to get them to work for/with you all the time when they have lives of their own. Once in a while is okay, but every time you meet?

24. Don't ask your friend to come over (or ask if you can come over) *every* single time they call or email you, especially if you have something you want them to do for you every time. Sometimes, they just want to talk and they aren't prepared for an in-person interaction. If you have more people who can help you, don't ask the same person every time (and if you don't, be sensitive).

25. People might say they like apple pie more, but they eat cherry pie more when given the chance. If you said you wanted lots of apple pies and only one cherry pie, try not to hog all the cherry pie, leaving the true cherry pie fans within nothing but apple pie. Yeah, I've experienced this. I love cherry pie; everyone else votes for apple, but they eat the cherry anyway! It's so frustrating. I mean, I'm happy that they suddenly remember they like cherry pie for a few minutes, but the supply just isn't there to accommodate that behavior.

26. Be polite in lines (like when you're getting in a line to dish up some food). It never ceases to amaze me just how much ettiquette most others ignore in lines. (I mean, how aggressive and unaware of others some act vs. courtesy and caring about others.)

27. If somepony is on a special diet, try not to pressure them into breaking it.

28. If you're not willing to help, don't get in the way.

29. If someone's in the bathroom with the door open, brushing their teeth or something, try not to commandeer the bathroom so they don't feel comfortable using it. You can often just wait until they're done, or ask for permission to do what you want to do before you do it. This is especially important if the person has a lot of personal space and the bathroom is small.

30. Don't give people more responsibility than they can handle (at least, not too much more, too often).

31. Don't assume people are lazy. They may have a lot of stuff they're doing that they just don't tell anyone else (and that might take a lot of time and effort).

32. Just because you know someone and are comfortable with them that doesn't mean they aren't famous, prestigious, accomplished, etc. I mean, if you grow up somewhere, move away, do a lot of great things, and come home, people might not recognize your accomplishments (or even know about them)--and if you told them, they might not believe you. So, the moral is, don't judge a sequel based on the first book.

33. It's almost impossible to find people that don't think short jokes are corny (no matter the joke, and no matter how funny it actually is). So, you can pretty much expect that in advance. Also, don't say joke are corny all the time: it's cliche.

34. Some get tired of trends/repetition faster than others. I mean, what might seem profound to some for years might seem profound to another for a day (and the constant repetition of it can be painful). That doesn't mean they don't believe in or appreciate it; they just need a break from hearing it over and over in the same way. Imagine hearing your favorite song on and off all day every day wherever you go for a year.

35. It's easier to like something if you're focusing on it. I mean, if you're overhearing a movie while you're unsuccessfully trying to sleep you probably won't like it as much as if you sat down to watch it with friends. If someone's showing you their favorite song when you're focusing on something else, it might not sound as great as if your mind is clear of distractions.

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by zinto

[HedonismBot 227]

A couple of episodes had some major missed opportunities in that department:

"The Washouts": We had Scootaloo come across a quality alternative to the Wonderbolts, a career opportunity which would make good use of her scooter skills and appeal to her thrill-seeking nature - only to be given the message that this was a BAD thing. Reforming Lightning Dust could have produced a lovely lesson in finding something noteworthy to do with one's life in spite of a disability.

 

"Between Dark and Dawn": In the vacation plot, Celestia and Luna going their seperate ways is treated as a failure in their relationship, when by all logic it was the only solution for both of them to have an enjoyable vacation. A lesson of "Being in a relationship doesn't mean you have to do everything together" would have fit beautifully there, as well as being a nice addition to the kinds of relationship-related morals the show was known for.

 

2 hours ago, zinto said:

2. Don't disregard others' goals as unimportant and trample over them, just because it's unimportant to you, or because you think it's not a big deal. Goals are sometimes larger than they appear, and even if not, they're still goals, and deserve respect.

That was basically the intended moral of "2, 4, 6, Great", though it would have been nice to deliver it in a way that didn't exaggerate Rainbow Dash's negative traits to the point of borderline sociopathy.

[HereComesTom 2,251]

You know, they never did a moral about peer pressure.  Peer pressure is like the dark side of friendship, and even friendship can become morally corrupted.

 

...You'll never guess the context of where I came up with that, though:  imagine a human-in-equestria fanfic where the human finds he's immune to magic, simply because his universe doesn't have any magic in it.  Twilight, knowing he's a predator but not knowing anything else, blasts him with magic.  He says, "Hmm, I don't feel any different; what was that meant to do?"  Twilight, freaking out, answers, "That was supposed to vaporize you!!"  After a moment, he answers sarcastically, "You know, there's this thing called 'due process', and you might want to give it a try.  All the cool governments are doing it!!"

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,811]

@zinto

I went ahead and merged your two replies. 

I think #6 applies to Applejack's Day Off. 

 

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,769]

From what I remember, I did not agree with Maud Pie becoming friends with the Mane 6: it struck me as too optimistic of an ending. I thought it would have been better to have them remain distant with the moral of the episode being that it will often be the case where establishing a friendship will be very difficult with certain people if interests diverge too much or other factors... and that that is completely fine; friendship will not emerge naturally with everyone you meet.

[Toastypk 920]

I know Silver Quill wanted to see an episode about what he called "the friend who got away". Someone somepony befriended but it turned out to not work, and the message being that it doesn't always work out.

He talked about Gilda, but since she reconciled that didn't count.

I think Lightning Dust fits the bill.

[Cagey 4,214]

Morals about friends who are bad for each other, peer pressure, letting friends go, etc. Friendship-based stuff that was a little more complex than average, mostly. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,231]

Because Newbie Dash implicated that hazing and toxic clubhouse culture is a good thing, a great counter-lesson for a future episode would’ve been that a clubhouse with a culture that folks embraced doesn’t mean it’s healthy. What if another Wonderbolt encountered many of the same toxic elements, yet unlike Dash, this environment took such a toll that they may quit? Dash, who found herself doubtful over it before coming to terms, takes over and stands up for the newbie.

19 hours ago, HedonismBot said:

"The Washouts": We had Scootaloo come across a quality alternative to the Wonderbolts, a career opportunity which would make good use of her scooter skills and appeal to her thrill-seeking nature - only to be given the message that this was a BAD thing. Reforming Lightning Dust could have produced a lovely lesson in finding something noteworthy to do with one's life in spite of a disability.

Lightning Dust is Dash’s spitting image without the utter care for anyone other than herself. While Rainbow Dash cares for her friends and Scootaloo, Dust, Short Fuse, and Rolling Thunder only saw each other as acquaintances.

Yes, an alternative to appeal to Scoot’s love for thrills would be great. However, the Washouts weren’t that group. Their tension between them (hence Dust’s passive aggression) and complete disregard for each other means that if someone gets seriously hurt or dies, Dust would put them out to pasture. Plus, Dust knew of Scoot’s disability and used it to stir conflict between them and manipulate Scootaloo. There was no low that Dust wouldn’t cross just to get Dash back.

Washouts did the right thing to NOT teach that lesson.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Dark Qiviut

[Gabi 10]

I think if they had an episode about two Transgender pony's (Trans dude and Trans girl) about their struggles with gender dyphoria along with other people not accepting them would've been amazing.

[Flying Pencil 3,023]

Morals on harmful/toxic friendships. Such as peer pressure, manipulation, etc. I would also liked to see them do morals on anxiety and depression.

And an episode that introduced a pony with either anxiety and depression may give the viewer some pony they can relate to. And may give tips on those struggling with anxiety and depression throughout the episode.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Flying Pencil

[HedonismBot 227]

7 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Because Newbie Dash implicated that hazing and toxic clubhouse culture is a good thing, a great counter-lesson for a future episode would’ve been that a clubhouse with a culture that folks embraced doesn’t mean it’s healthy. What if another Wonderbolt encountered many of the same toxic elements, yet unlike Dash, this environment took such a toll that they may quit? Dash, who found herself doubtful over it before coming to terms, takes over and stands up for the newbie.

Or just rework the episode to keep the lesson on being a team player, but ditch the pro-hazing nonsense.

 

7 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Lightning Dust is Dash’s spitting image without the utter care for anyone other than herself. While Rainbow Dash cares for her friends and Scootaloo, Dust, Short Fuse, and Rolling Thunder only saw each other as acquaintances.

Yes, an alternative to appeal to Scoot’s love for thrills would be great. However, the Washouts weren’t that group. Their tension between them (hence Dust’s passive aggression) and complete disregard for each other means that if someone gets seriously hurt or dies, Dust would put them out to pasture. Plus, Dust knew of Scoot’s disability and used it to stir conflict between them and manipulate Scootaloo. There was no low that Dust wouldn’t cross just to get Dash back.

Washouts did the right thing to NOT teach that lesson.

Then there should have been some intelligent discussion of respectable alternatives to the Wonderbolts elsewhere. The ending with the Scootaloo Fan Club felt like it was saying that she shouldn't have to bother doing anything noteworthy with her life, just be praised for whatever ordinary things she's done and be happy with that - rather like all those "inspirational" stories of people with disabilities being held up as heroes just for not killing themselves.

Besides, MLP villains have been reformed after attempting to do much much worse than Lightning Dust.

That and/or let Scootaloo partake of one of the numerous examples of heavier-than-air flight technology exhibited across the series. If they really wanted to do the "disability representation" thing, it might have been cool to teach kids that there's no shame in getting around on artificial parts (What's not cool is implying that feel-good platitudes are a valid substitute for meaningful solutions).

[zinto 22]

6 hours ago, Flying Pencil said:

Morals on harmful/toxic friendships. Such as peer pressure, manipulation, etc. I would also liked to see them do morals on anxiety and depression.

And an episode that introduced a pony with either anxiety and depression may give the viewer some pony they can relate to. And may give tips on those struggling with anxiety and depression throughout the episode.

 

 

I thought Gilda was kind of toxic for Rainbow Dash, initially (although she might not have realized it). I like how Rainbow Dash handled it at the end of that episode, though. They could probably do more on that topic, though.

[Evil Pink One 13,475]

sex........ definitely about sex .... not that gender crap sex...... lust sex. now if they can pull that one off they are legends.

[Dark Qiviut 22,231]

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

Or just rework the episode to keep the lesson on being a team player, but ditch the pro-hazing nonsense.

Much more is needed to fix Newbie Dash. The torture pornography and the cancerous culture go hand in hand. The episode is broken and needs to be reworked from the ground up.

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

Besides, MLP villains have been reformed after attempting to do much much worse than Lightning Dust.

Whether they do worse than another villain or not isn't the point of reformations in the series. In order to trigger one, they need to understand what they did is wrong, feel remorse for what they did, and want to work to correct them. Luna, Sunset, Diamond Tiara, Juniper Montage, Sci-Twi, and Starlight each fall into this category.

Lightning Dust doesn't. Did she feel any remorse for causing the tornado and the near-carnage? No. In Washouts, she doubled down, using her actions and expulsion to not only reject everything she learned from the academy, but also be a worse person. LD in The Washouts is much more manipulative and calculating than in WA. Her usage of Scootaloo's disability and self-confidence issues is intentional; she knows they're close and used them to drive a wedge between them.

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

The ending with the Scootaloo Fan Club felt like it was saying that she shouldn't have to bother doing anything noteworthy with her life, just be praised for whatever ordinary things she's done and be happy with that - rather like all those "inspirational" stories of people with disabilities being held up as heroes just for not killing themselves.

You're looking waaaaaaaaaaaay too deeply. When Scootaloo was a massive fan of the Washouts, she didn't know who they were. Even when there were clues, she was too star-struck over them for presumably welcoming disadvantaged pegasi like her. But once Lightning Dust manipulated her on the scooter, she realized RD was right; they weren't the group she expected them to be. The Washouts tokenized her disability. Their actions were far worse than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon from FttF.

Her fanclub, OTOH, does care about her. Dash and Scoot know each other very well. Each member's appreciation for her is genuine, so she gives them her blessing. Unlike LD, they'll never give her any shit for her lack of flight. They love her for who she is and have her back, no matter what.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Dark Qiviut

[honk friend 1,972]

I don't get my moral values from MLP, though I do REALLY wish some of the people in this fandom did.

Personally I'd have liked if at least one of the episodes stressed the importance of trans acceptance and at least one of the show's fans got something out of it. I've never received more bullying from any other fandom on the basis of being trans with the exception of maybe the anime community.

[Megas 27,234]

Two wrongs don't make a right. I don't think they ever actually addressed this one, but they went the opposite direction arguably more than once. Most egregious offender 28 Pranks Later

On 2021-11-13 at 8:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

Or just rework the episode to keep the lesson on being a team player, but ditch the pro-hazing nonsense.

Only way to rework that episode is to put it in an industrial blender and burning the remains

On 2021-11-13 at 8:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

The ending with the Scootaloo Fan Club felt like it was saying that she shouldn't have to bother doing anything noteworthy with her life, just be praised for whatever ordinary things she's done and be happy with that - rather like all those "inspirational" stories of people with disabilities being held up as heroes just for not killing themselves.

That's not what the episode said at all. The whole point of that final sequence with the fan club was that everyone loved her for who she was, which the Washouts clearly didn't with how Lightning Dust treated her in the final show

[Malarkey 45]

I apologize if any of these things were already taught as morals and I just forgot.

It's OK to like childish things. The episode Forever Filly made me feel awful and worthless because I like all the same things I did as a little kid. It makes me feel as if I need to abandon all the babyish things that make me happy in order to grow up. That's the reason I haven't watched Toy Story 3 despite seeing all the other Toy Story films; I know it would make me feel dumb and useless.

Your interests should be respected even if you like something nobody else likes. I like quite a few hated things, and it hurts when people call things I care about "objectively bad" or when people harass me for the harmless "cringey" things that bring me happiness.

Sometimes a person you hurt won't forgive you, but you need to let go and just be the best person you can be for the sake of future friends. I'm sure a lot of us have screwed up, but sometimes you just aren't forgiven even if you've worked hard to change or make amends. So it would be nice to see an episode about learning how to move on without being crushed by the guilt forever.

It's OK to not have a job or play a big role in society. Sometimes just being here is enough. There is a lot of pressure and shame put on unemployed people, and they're considered "unproductive" members of society. In my opinion, you don't need to have a job to earn your place in the world. I think this would be an important message for people who are unable to work due to physical disabilities or mental health issues.

Domestic verbal abuse among couples can be really damaging to children. This sounds heavy but what I mean is, an episode about a foal whose parents fight all the time and it really depresses them. Maybe the foal would end up running away from home and getting caught in a dangerous situation, which teaches their parents to try and fight less. Fighting parents is something A LOT of kids have to deal with and it can leave eternal mental scars depending on the severity, so this would be an important episode and I hope something similar is expressed in G5.

[Megas 27,234]

42 minutes ago, Malarkey said:

It's OK to not have a job or play a big role in society. Sometimes just being here is enough. There is a lot of pressure and shame put on unemployed people, and they're considered "unproductive" members of society. In my opinion, you don't need to have a job to earn your place in the world. I think this would be an important message for people who are unable to work due to physical disabilities or mental health issues.

I feel like this is what both Hurricane Fluttershy and Slice of Life addressed this topic

[HedonismBot 227]

On 2021-11-15 at 7:17 AM, Megas said:

That's not what the episode said at all. The whole point of that final sequence with the fan club was that everyone loved her for who she was, which the Washouts clearly didn't with how Lightning Dust treated her in the final show

Of course the episode didn't intend to send that message. The problem is that "The Washouts" was the only time in all of MLP canon that there was even the briefest mention of Scootaloo seeking out some meaningful alternative to the Wonderbolts. She was taught that even if she can't fly, she's still special, but the issue of her actually doing something special with her life was abandoned minutes after it was brought up.

Combine that with the multiple scenes of her yearning to fly and zero mention of anypony giving her any meaningful help in that department (especially after Rainbow Dash helped Apple Bloom try hang gliding and got her pet tortoise a device for him to fly alongside her), and it makes her situation feel all the more tragic.

 

On 2021-11-15 at 8:40 AM, Malarkey said:

It's OK to like childish things. The episode Forever Filly made me feel awful and worthless because I like all the same things I did as a little kid. It makes me feel as if I need to abandon all the babyish things that make me happy in order to grow up. That's the reason I haven't watched Toy Story 3 despite seeing all the other Toy Story films; I know it would make me feel dumb and useless.

Your interests should be respected even if you like something nobody else likes. I like quite a few hated things, and it hurts when people call things I care about "objectively bad" or when people harass me for the harmless "cringey" things that bring me happiness.

"Read it and Weep" kind of indirectly touched on that, with it having an unspoken secondary moral of "Don't be ashamed to like the things you like".

[Steve Piranha 29,373]

On 2021-11-15 at 6:45 AM, Berdly is best boy said:

 

Personally I'd have liked if at least one of the episodes stressed the importance of trans acceptance and at least one of the show's fans got something out of it. I've never received more bullying from any other fandom on the basis of being trans with the exception of maybe the anime community.

That’s rather redundant as villains are pretty much the only folks NOT accepted in the show 

[Tom Gallagher 33,539]

I think it covered everything.