What Happened to Rarity?!

[Harmony Spark 265]

This question had me scratching my head for days. Why is Rarity so bloody mean? In season 1 and half of season 2, she was kind and generous and thought about others. Now, in season 3, she is so mean-spirited that I feel sorry for her. She forces her little sister to be slave and carry all of her stuff in Sleepless in Ponyville and pretends to care for Sweetie Belle when she fucking using her like a servant, she has very cruel to Spike in Spike at Your Service (she was nice to Cadance in Games Ponies Play but that's it!) and her being the Element of Generousity is starting to make no sense. So what I'm getting at is.. What the hell happened to Rarity?!

[Darkshift 85]

I see what your saying and agree with it because for the element of generosity she is extremely mean and mean and generous don't come in the same sentence.Maybe her sister kind of owes Rarity because everytime Sweetie Belle does something Boom,Crash,Wollop so maybe she deserves it.Lets not forget Rarity pays for Sweetie Belle so maybe it is like rent

[Rory 150]

she really always kind was that way I don't think she knows shes being I think its just the fact that that's how she was brought up kind of in the high light and looking at things that if they don't make sense to her or if its just something she sort of does not like its instantly a bad thing to her.

[An Old Head 4,816]

I dunno, she's done more decent things than people give her credit for in S3. Remember when she offered to throw a buffet "with punch and zesty cucumber sandwiches!" in Too Many Pinkie Pies? And she was as helpful as the rest of them during Crystal Empire, and she clearly didn't want to eat Spike's cake but did it anyway just to please him. The reason she was being a grouch in Sleepless in Ponyville is because she didn't even want to come camping anyway, she just wanted to be friendly to her sister (another thing to credit her for) but got too caught up in how to avoid the earthy part of camping.

 

But I agree, she was definitely better portrayed in Season 2. I'm thinking especially Secret of My Excess, where she appreciates generosity and vessels the idea that generous actions cause a chain of positive actions.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Flipturn ツ

[Argumedies 1,748]

No this is not mean.. this is sibling rivalry.. there is a difference.

 

Rarity WAS being generous simply by agreeing to go. She didn't have to go camping. But she went despite all that "ugh nature"

 

But sweetybell paid the price for talking her into going... and ya know something... I'd have made her pull the damn cart too

Edited May 30, 2013 by Argumedies

[Motion Spark 7,807]

not another "I don't see the element of generosity in Rarity" kind of thread!! ugh!! D:

 

I disagree with every single one of you, I actually saw the meanest side of Rarity in previous seasons. TBH, in which probably sonic rainboom being the worst case for her for how she acted.

 

Sadly, this season had a huge lack of Rarity and while her appearances were really brief, they were memorable, some took it the bad way and some find her adorable, still, it wasn't enough screentime to make her justice. Now, moving to sleepless in Ponyville, I think it was said before that Rarity and Sweetie Belle were only used for comedy because the epsisode was heavily focused on Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. But ok, I can take that out and focus only on the story.

 

Both Sweetie Belle and Rarity have a manipulative sister kind of relationship, and it's not the first time I've seen this, Sweetie Belle knew that Rarity hated the outdoors, so she decided to make a brat scene and manipulate her with her HUGE ADORABLE eyes to convince her to go, true, Sweetie did pull Rarity's HUGE carriage, but you could see by her facial expressions that she was happy that Rarity could join then. Also you forgot to mention how protective and motherly Rarity was towards Sweetie when they were by the campfire.

Spike at your Service? Sorry! all I saw was Applejack, Applejack and more Applejack, there was no time for Rarity to be mean at all. I don't recall her being purposely mean to Spike.

 

Rarity has a very complex personality, like I said before, she is ladylike, she is vain, appearances DO matter to her, but that doesn't make her a bad person, she is just really outspoken and outgoing, and she is not afraid to speak her mind which can make her look as "mean".

 

Comparing each pony to their element is ridiculous, because if they acted exactly like their element on each episode MLP would be a really BORING show, with one sided characters' personalities.

[Harmony Spark 265]

No this is not mean.. this is sibling rivalry.. there is a difference.

Rarity WAS being generous simply by agreeing to go. She didn't have to go camping. But she went despite all that "ugh nature"

But sweetybell paired the price for talking her into going... and ya know something... I'd have made her pull the damn cart too

U know what? You're right, I may have overreacted thanks is for that point sometimes when I get angry about this show, I sort of lose it , Aplogies

[Wubsie 1,123]

Nothing. She's still there. Being a pony. Having four legs. Not harmed..

She is still highly generous, you only have about 2 little things that she did in your post. They're not too big. So they shouldn't change her entire personality.

Rarity is still ans always will be a generous and beautiful pony. Helping people when she can.

[Batbrony 16,056]

The only problem is that all through Season 3, the sole role Rarity filled was that of a supporting character.  As such, she generally has only filled secondary roles throughout Season 3, and more often than not comedic roles, which usually bring out her less flattering characteristics.  She hasn't changed; she's just shown up more often than not recently portrayed in a less than flattering light, but I don't think she's changed at all.  We just don't see her more generous characteristics as often when she doesn't show up as the main character of episodes, and that didn't happen once this season because Studio B had to work with a season half as long as the previous two.

 

Edit: for the record, I also had no problem really with Rarity's behavior this season; she was just the same good ol' Rarity to me.  

Edited May 30, 2013 by Batbrony

[Harmony Spark 265]

Yeah you all are right I sometimes can get a bit over reactive for some reason Cos of Sleepless in Ponyvilleso you're all right and I'm wrong

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

The show only did that bit with Sweetie Belle for comic effect, I think. I wouldn't think they were trying to portray Rarity as mean, or as her making Sweetie Belle do that to make up for the fact she even did go camping with her. She didn't have as big a role this season, and I think if she did, we could have seen her more positive characteristics come to light. 

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Most likely because season three was boring in retrospect.

 

There was an abundance of rushed episodes because of the compressed 13-episode schedule, therefore more sacrifices of characterization for the sake of adding humour. Do not be fooled. The "mistreatment" of Sweetie Belle was your classic cartoon joke. No rational person would ever think of giving that much luggage for a little kid to carry and handle. That's not the point, though... it was just a forced joke, much like the majority of the scripts in just about every episode.

 

That gets old after a while, to be frank. That's why this season lacked.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

<==== Rarity's thoughts on this thread.

 

As severely disappointed in a lack of Rarity in S3, calling her mean is a bit much. There was only one real moment that painted her in a actively negative light (the gem thing), but if one moment is all it takes, every other Mane Six member would be counted as mean.

Edited May 31, 2013 by CITRUS KING46

[Shanks 10,816]

The reason why Rarity seems more mean spirited though I do not believe this is the case is because is season 3 she had so little attention that I am surprised nobody did any background pony jokes like they did with Applejack and one thing I have noticed with Rarity is that her positive traits tend to come out quite well in the episodes that focus on her but are not as apparent when she is taking a supporting role. I seriously think a lot of times that the writers aren't really sure what to do with her which is a bit of a shame because she has a great deal of untapped potential as a character.

[applelatch 44]

I think the season was just short so we didn't get alot of Rarity time. In Just for Sidekicks when she gives Spike the tiny gem I thought it was bad, but then the CMCs use the same gem to buy an industrial sized pet dryer, so I guess it was pretty valuable. Rarity always has her moments where she may seem cruel or not generous, look at Sisterhooves Social or in Dragonshy when she tries to loot the Dragon : p In the end though she still has a good heart, hopefuly we'll see more Rarity next season

[Righteous Fury 344]

Am I the only one who remembers how badly Sweetie Belle wanted to help Rarity in Sisterhooves Social? And how Rarity refusing to let Sweetie Belle help her most of the problems between the two?

 

Sweetie Belle pulled that cart because she wanted to do something nice for her big sister. Rarity knew that saying no would just make Sweetie Belle get in trouble. She already learned that lesson.

[Argumedies 1,748]

Am I the only one who remembers how badly Sweetie Belle wanted to help Rarity in Sisterhooves Social? And how Rarity refusing to let Sweetie Belle help her most of the problems between the two?

Yep. And Rarity paid the price for her attitude in that episode.

 

What I love about this Rarity/Sweetybell relationship is that its NOT this gushy, omg, will do anything for one another relationship like Applejack/Apple bloom. They are the perfect contrast towards one another and I say its moments like these that shows that they don't live in a perfect world either

Edited May 30, 2013 by Argumedies

[~Starlight~ 764]

Personally I think it is the writers, Lauren knew all the characters very well but the other writers are not as comfortable with some characters. 

 

Some writers struggle with knowing the characters, from the news of season 4 Applejack and Rarity are the hardest to write for, this may be because when they say Rarity is uptight they have added a bit of meanness into her storyline.

 

So overall it's just because some writers struggle with different ponies, and obviously the people who wrote 'Spike at you Service' and 'Sleepless in Ponyville' struggle with writing for Rarity while the writers who wrote 'Games that ponies play' find it easier to write for Rarity character!

 

 

 

[Lord Bloodpool 3]

I don't know. Maybe she never properly recovered from Discord's corruption or something... Personally, I think it's just down to poor writing.

[Red Diamond 549]

I don't know. Maybe she never properly recovered from Discord's corruption or something... Personally, I think it's just down to poor writing.

What the? All the ponies recovered from Discord's corruption.

 

As Motion Spark said, I've seen the meanest side of Rarity in the previous seasons.

[Lord Bloodpool 3]

@, 

 

I was just throwing some theories out there. I never stated that anything I said was true.

 

And anyway, like I said before, I think it's just down to shitty writing more than anything else.

[Wingnut 7,003]

Sleeping in Ponyville was Corey’s first episode and, if she were to write it today, she might “soften” Rarity’s demanding nature by having her take a turn pulling the cart to give Sweetie a break instead of volunteering Scootaloo into the role.  Anyway, Rarity didn’t “force” Sweetie to be a slave.  She asked her nicely, I’m sure, if she’d be willing to take all these chores on as a condition of coming along on the camping trip.  And Sweetie eagerly agreed.  As far as I can tell, it’s give and take between two sisters. 

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

I wouldn't be to hard on Rarity. Especially about the deal with her and Sweetie in Sleepless in Ponyville. She didn't want to go but she sensed that Sweetie really wanted her to go with her and (with the help of Sweetie Belles infamous beg look) Rarity generously went along with her despite her dislike for the outdoors.

 

Also with Sweetie pulling the cart. Sweetie agreed to take it probably in return for Rarity even coming.

 

Then she self-sacrifices her taste buds in Spike at Your Service in effort to avoid hurting Spike's feelings. She could have said no or said the pie tasted awful but she didn't. 

 

Finally in the pets episode she gave him a small gem but as that was pointed out. It was enough to buy a big machine so maybe she's not so greedy after all.

[Guest]

I never really noticed. I don't remember her ever being really overtly mean except for the sister thing but that was more her developing as a character, and she had a good reason: sweetie belle was driving her crazy!

[HunterTSN 1,444]

Whenever Rarity was being "mean" it was because she was pretty much being forced into something she didn't want to do. In Sleepless in Ponyville she didn't want to go on that camping trip to begin with, she was being generous enough to take Sweetie at all. Making Sweetie do all the work, giving spike less of a reward, etc. etc., it is sort of Rarity's way of being passively aggressive. That is one of reasons her character is so fascinating to me. It's not that the other characters are shallow, all the main characters (excluding Fluttershy) are very deep, but Rarity's character is constantly growing and adapting to everything that happens.

 

And plus it's pretty clear that Sweetie needed that exercise anyway, just because she's a robot doesn't mean she can automatically keep up with Applebloom and Scootaloo on a whim. Rarity was doing her sister a favor. 

Edited May 31, 2013 by TheSteampunkNinja (TSN)