As promised, this one will have a response to the anti-lesbian mare side from the last one. Soapboxes are for open opinion, and while many of us don't agree with this argument at all, I asked for both and got both.
Note: We are low on soapboxes again. Get those opinions in so it's not just Booksmart and Nightmare Muffin every time! As much as we love them~
Expect these posts normally when not late every Tuesday at 2:00 PM PST. To submit your own, see this post.
Note: These soapboxes do not at all reflect the ideas of EQD. They are an open forum for anyone to post whatever crazy theory they want.
Headlines for the week:
- Pushing the Boundary of Pony Morals
- The Power of Pop Culture Inspiration In My little pony!
- In Defense of Those who Don’t Want Lesbian Couples in MLP
- The Hypocrisy of Fandoms
- Rainbow Dash Isn't Dumb
And get your soapboxes below!
Pushing the Boundary of Pony Morals
By: Nightmare Muffin
FiM is a show that had been marketed to little kids, but over the course of its 7 year history, has done well with maturing with its audience. Gone are the days where simplistic friendship lessons were written about in a journal, or villains taken down with the dues ex machina elements. Now we have villains being maturely talked to to change their ways. Friendship has never been shown to fail the ponies (though literal magic has, at times), but will there come a time when it does? Can the Mane 6’s moral boundaries be pushed, even still, when they are forced to face a problem that neither friendship nor powerful magic can fix? For instance, an evil and dangerous artifact that needs to be destroyed, but its embedded within a sentient and non-threatening/ evil creature like a pony, against their will. Do they take the good pony out and the evil artifact with it? Leave it alone, while evil things still happen because of the artifact? The Mane 6 and its side characters could likely be faced with moral grey area such as this in future seasons, where friendship and magic doesn’t solve everything.
The Power of Pop Culture Inspiration In My little pony!
By Booksmart
My little Pony: Friendship is Magic truly brought a new revolution in both art and philosophy! IF MY little Pony :Friendship is Magic is Successful, Then I'm pretty sure The 2017 MY Little Pony Movie will be successful too! Here what Think inspired them to that will make The Movie successful: Songbird Serenade , a Pegasus Pop Star mare may inspired, modeled after,(And voiced )By Sia, But I'm pretty sure She got a extra inspiration from Past Gen Ponies such as Knight Shade , Half Note And Dazzleglow too., along with Gazelle, a character from the 2016 Disney animated Movie Zootopia ! After all, Both have an angelic voice and truly mean by the message and virtues they give to their art! Capper the Cat withou i s probably inspired by Catrina, a female anthropomorphic feline rogue turned good from G1 MLP as well as well as benevolent Machiavellians like Danny Ocean from the OCean franchise, Scott Lang/Ant -Man from the Marvel Cinematic universe!. and Nick Wilde , another beloved character from Zootopia ! Aside from The Sea Ponies , Princess Skystar, Quen Novo, and Stratus SkyRanger are probably inspired by Pluma, A shape shifting bird from G1 MLP! AS STorm King, Turns out he is also, G1 villain getting a reboot ! The inspiration for art can come from anywhere from the past and the present! Even Taika Waititi , the director of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok is taking creative risks! And now that the 2017 MLP movie is 100'% complete , let's hope the creative risks are worth it and become s a box office success when it premieres
In Defense of Those who Don’t Want Lesbian Couples in MLP
By: Pegapnea
If you’re in the opinion that homosexuality is an ok thing, I have no problems with that as long as it doesn’t affect me. I’m not here to rant at you that being gay is evil. We all have the right to believe in whatever we want.
With that being said, I still don’t want a lesbian couple in MLP. (This is different than shouldn’t, which I’ll explain.) I’m not sure if I can say that mindset is of the popular opinion anymore, but it is a much more widely held opinion than most people realize. A lesbian couple should not be added to MLP IF the intent is to advocate for homosexuality or to assure little girls that being gay is ok; the latter I’ve seen many people in favor for. This would be using the show as a platform to spread the writers’ beliefs, which would be inappropriate and the definition of the term “gaygenda” that you see people use. Including such a thing in a TV show isn’t the same as, for example, teaching your child that thing. It only alienates those against it, reaffirms those for it, and flies over the heads of those too young to understand it.
Now, if a lesbian couple were to be added to the show and it added to or made sense in relation to the story, I can’t complain—that’s simply caring about the story and not beliefs. Whatever personal beliefs I have, that’s the bottom line I draw.
On a point different from all that, though, we’ve seen what’s happened from a lesbian couple in just a book. No matter what, there’s going to be a shitstorm if the same happens in the show. I don’t want to see that happen, and I hope whoever’s in charge of such a decision doesn’t think the inclusion is worth all that.
The Hypocrisy of Fandoms
By: Ashley
I am a fan of the show My Little Pony, and am ecstatic that they have decided to include LGBTQ+ characters in the show. Most of the fandom, unfortunately, is not. In fact, from what I have seen, the fandom is largely an anathema to the show’s message about love and tolerance.
To put it shortly, there are Neo-Nazis in the fandom. And I am concerned because the show’s counters their ideology. Not to mention that they hypocritically ship two mares together for clopfic.
The fans that are angry about this are using the argument “But the children”, when in reality, they’re not thinking about the LGBTQ+ children who like the show. They’re using the argument as a means to shelter children away from differences.
I love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic because it represents a society humanity should be working towards, an equality-driven society where everyone thrives.
A concerned pegasister.
Rainbow Dash Isn't Dumb
By: Dashy
In response to Sethisto's article on the My Little Pony Movie where he calls Rainbow Dash dumb, I greatly disagree. This sentiment is something that has been pervading the fandom for far too long, and it's about time someone takes a stand in Rainbow's honor.
Rainbow Dash is a savant. She learns in a way that would make a Harvard undergrad jealous. Her world view is on a level we cannot even begin to fathom. If we could spend five minutes in her horseshoes, we would find enlightenment and the true meaning of life.
Is she spontaneous? Sure. So are most of the geniuses of the last 5000 or so years. They were dreamers and social outcasts. They pushed for things no one else was, despite obvious criticism. Rainbow Dash might knock your library over, but maybe it needed a remodeling anyway. Maybe her Sonic Rainboom was just a way to keep Twilight Sparkle on her horse...toes. Whatever those are.
I say we learn to respect Rainbow Dash. To see the pony behind the natural disaster. She deserves at least that much respect. She's not dumb. She's just spontaneous.
