Pearl Kyaw 10 - Power Dynamics in Equestria
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” - George Orwell (Animal Farm).
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a children’s show that follows the story of a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle as she travels to Ponyville to make friends. As she does so, she discovers herself and her new friends (the mane six) represent the Elements of Harmony. They go on various adventures to save the world while utilizing the Power of Friendship. The world in this universe consists of the kingdom of Equestria, where ponies primarily preside—earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and above all, alicorns who have ultimate power.
Throughout the show, due to its target audience of children, the idea of kindness, equality, and, well, friendship is promoted. In doing so, many of the episodes’ themes include a conflict in order to get to the resolution at the end—the moral of the story. Many of these conflicts include power dynamics and imbalance. In the episode “Hearth’s Warming Eve” the mane six explore the origins of Equestria’s creation. Originally, the three tribes of ponies all lived together in harmony, supporting each other in ways pertaining to their specific pony type. In spite of this, the ponies held a deep disdain for one another. At the end of the story, they realized that their troubles were a result of their fighting and decided to melt away their differences, sharing their new land of Equestria with each other. However, despite this reconciliation, small acts of microaggressions against pony types are strewn all throughout the course of the show. Following the show's theme, these acts of discrimination are frowned upon, however, it is interesting to consider the dynamic the ponies create amongst themselves, as if there is a sort of hierarchy.
In this particular episode, small details suggest that some ponies are considered to be of higher standing than others. Earth ponies are clothed in rags and show signs of fatigue. Pegasi are thought of to be aggressive warriors. Unicorns display a sort of class and regality to them. These visual details are symbolic to the power standing each pony type holds. An Earth pony’s special ability is generally considered to be “super strength,” if any. However, the capabilities of an Earth pony doesn’t equate to a pegasus’s ability to fly above ground. Similarly, this pales in comparison to a unicorn’s magic, which can do almost anything, including flight and granting themselves super strength.
In spite of all of these differences between fellow ponykind, Equestria is considered to be a kingdom full of love and peace, where ponies care for one another. That can’t be held true when it comes to other species. Although ponies are the main focus for a show called My Little Pony, other species do exist in this world. This includes but is not limited to dragons, griffins, yaks, and more. In various instances, ponies, including the mane six, display feelings of hostility and distaste towards them. In the episode “Bridle Gossip,” the main characters accuse a zebra named Zecora for cursing them, only for her appearing “strange,” and “dangerous” to them. In reality, she only wanted to help. In another episode, “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone,” Rainbow Dash reveals a past of falling out with an old friend who happened to be a griffon. She takes this one experience and decides to generalize all griffons to be mean creatures, ignoring the fact that not every griffon is the same. Again, her old griffon friend was later shown to be kind. Lastly, a big part of the story for season eight of My Little Pony was Twilight Sparkle opening a School of Friendship, which was welcome to all species, pony or not. A minor antagonist, Chancellor Neighsay, takes this opportunity to squander other species as a threat to Equestria, simply for not being ponies. The main antagonist of this season is later discovered to be a pony herself.
In the end, My Little Pony is a child-friendly show that encourages positive themes, having its flaws here and there, but it also demonstrates that, like the real world, nothing is always sunshine and rainbows.
Hi Pearl! I had a lot of fun reading your blog. It really made me nostalgic too since I pretty much binge-watched My Little Pony for about three years straight and enjoyed every second of it. Your knowledge of the show and the things that happen in it really surprised me and it felt like I was getting flashbacks and rewatching the specific episodes you mentioned. I learned a lot from this show and other than friendship, I did learn the importance of equality too. It was really interesting how you talked about the equality shown in My Little Pony and it really made me think about how a kids show can teach so much, almost making me think that everyone should watch the show. This simple show presented so many modern-day ideals, presenting a society that is functioning perfectly imperfectly but chooses to embrace rather than fight each other. I thought your blog was great though and I hope I get to sit with you again in class!
ReplyDeleteHi Pearl! I was really excited to read your post as soon as I saw that opening quote—I absolutely love Animal Farm, and it is such a perfect way to frame this discussion. I never thought to analyze My Little Pony through this lens, but now that you have broken it down, I cannot stop thinking about it. It is so fun to imagine little six-year-old Pearl watching MLP and picking apart the power dynamics in Equestria! As a kid, I definitely gravitated towards Pegasi and unicorns, barely giving earth ponies a second thought. Honestly, I even found it kind of annoying when they got too much screen time—I never considered how the show might have been subtly reinforcing the idea all along. Your point about the non-pony characters is something I totally relate to. I remember thinking it was so weird whenever other species showed up, especially with Flutter shy and Discord. The show is quite literally called My Little Pony and one of the most favored and popular friendships is between a character that is… not even a pony? I guess I never questioned why I felt this way but now I see how the show encouraged my opinions with underlying biases. This was a super-duper cool fun read, and I am definitely going to think about it any time I see anything My Little Pony related! (Reading this back I have started to question why the character of Spike never raised any red flags)
ReplyDeletePearl, starting with a quote from Animal Farm and leading into an analysis of My Little Pony was a bold tone shift, but I absolutely loved it. I haven't watched My Little Pony, but I have definitely heard from friends about how it contains much deeper themes than many assume just knowing the surface level aesthetic. Reading this Blog Post gave me some insight as to why. Your citation of specific episodes and characters coupled with contextual information makes this read like actual literary analysis, and it definitely gave me a feel for how the show portrays differences and equality. Your concluding sentence was also really interesting because, again, many people consider MLP to be a very "sunshine and rainbows"-esque show because their knowledge is limited to a vague understanding of its premise, but ultimately, your Blog Post shows that its "positive themes" do not prevent it from exploring more uncomfortable topics. Great job on this Blog Post!
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