von-questenberg replied to your post: Finally getting caught up on My Little Pony:FiM season 2

The universe keeps knocking me over the head with ‘watch MLP:FiM’. Is it worth it?

Ehhhh. I think it depends on your tastes. 

I have an obsession with children’s media as it relates to girls, so it falls right in my interests anyway. It’s worth giving a shot, maybe the first three episodes (the first two are a two-part pilot that’s fun and introduces the characters well, but might mislead you on the show’s normal format). 

PROS: 

• Lots of strong female characters! A pretty much entirely female cast of leads! With different personalities and different interests, all of which are treated as equally valid!
• A lady showrunner! Lauren Faust, who previously worked on Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, was the main brain behind season one, and remains in a consulting producer position (and credited as creator), still. She’s one of the coolest most influential women in animated TV and kids programming right now, and she’s kind of great.
• It’s funny, genuinely. Really funny, and its sense of humor goes for absurd or dry instead of mean almost all the time. 
• It actually often has nuanced morals and character interactions, more than you would expect from most shows aimed at the age group it is.
• There’s even a small amount of serial storytelling (though not much. It’s mostly one-shots). 
• If I had kids, it’s one of the shows I’d feel more comfortable having them watch.
• Music! Sometimes the episodes randomly become musicals, and the songs are often wonderful. 

CONS:

• Ableism. “Crazy” is used as a slur almost every episode, and there’s a character who was named “Ditzy Doo”, who the fans then dubbed “Derpy Hooves” (ugggggh) who then gets called Derpy on the show.It’s a very small moment, but it’s worth mentioning, because UGH. From what I know (though you may want to double check me) the creators have since apologized and her name is changing back. This may have already been addressed, as season 2 is finished and I’m only halfway through.
• It is a kids’ show, meaning it can be a little heavy-handed with the preaching.
• Once or twice they haven’t hit the mark they were going for, or I disagreed with the moral. (See the Pinkie Pie’s Powers episode which condemned Twilight Sparkle for trying to understand Pinkie’s powers as some sort of lack of faith).
• The world-building is fun, but it can be a little inconsistent. 

It kinds of depends on what you’re into. It doesn’t hurt to give it a shot, but I don’t expect the show to be everyone’s cup of tea. 

It’s worth it for me. I like lots of it, and what I don’t like are small things that could be easily fixed. But, like I said, it’s the sort of thing that falls right into my weird fascination with girls’ media, both good and bad. I’m not so into it I have to see it right away (like I said, I’m only watching season 2 now, and I’m months behind), but it entertains me. 

I like to support it because I’d like to see networks valuing girls the way this show does, and for more things like it to be made. But I really like kids’ things. I completely understand anyone who doesn’t like it or get it. It’s not a great masterpiece of understated glory and intellect. It’s just a really good contemporary adaptation of My Little Pony. 

1. von-questenberg said: I remember hearing about a really cringe-inducing episode re:Native American vs Cowboy ponies, but I’ve also heard a lot of femmeslash fans who love it. Might give it a try then.
2. timemachineyeah posted this