Applejack

MyLittleVisuals

While watching a show with “Friendship is Magic” in the title, it’s almost inevitable that you would try to figure out which character is the best friend. Well, perhaps not inevitable, but I’m sure that people who are not feminist bloggers who overidentify with cartoon unicorns also, on occasion, have these thoughts. In my case, these thoughts have led me to proclaim Applejack the quintessential friend.

An argument could be made that Twilight Sparkle actually holds this title, but I think that her storyline almost precludes her from it. As I see it, Twilight’s quest to embrace friendship is part of her larger arc of becoming a princess. She has to learn the ins and outs of social interaction because doing so will allow her to become a better leader, someone who can combine historical knowledge, a critical mind, and a compassionate heart. Becoming a princess and an Alicorn also necessarily distances her from her friends -- even if the show, by nature of being for children, never actually explores this. As a princess, Twilight is now in a position of authority, a teacher instead of a fellow student; as an Alicorn, she is a sort of superbeing whose lifespan will likely greatly exceed those of her friends. Even her friendship, while sometimes demonstrated in normal situations, receives greater focus when it helps her to save her friends or, on several occasions, whole cities. She does friendship on an epic scale.

Applejack, by contrast, is a stellar everyday friend. In “Applebuck Season,” she describes herself as the “loyallest of friends and most dependable of ponies,” and her companions in the “Mane Six” clearly agree. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all sing her praises as she devotes her time to helping them with flying tricks, baking, and a bunny census. What makes this more impressive is her willingness to help out even when she has worked herself to exhaustion on her farm.

Applejack’s humility makes even the most extraordinary deeds just a matter of course. When, in “Applebuck Season,” she receives an award for saving the town from a cattle stampede, she brushes it off by stating that she likes helping the pony folks. Later, in “Spike at Your Service,” she saves Spike from a pack of timberwolves and informs that “that’s what friends do.” She seems almost incapable of seeing her actions for the feats that they are, because, according to her standard of friendship, that’s simply what you do.

Applejack’s high personal standards differ in some key ways from those of Twilight Sparkle. Twilight works to impress her powerful mentor, but her harshest critic is herself. She is driven to meet impossible standards that she has set for herself, and she is usually the one who imagines the terrible punishments that she will receive for failing to meet them. More often than not, in Twilight’s mind, “Princess Celestia” is not the actual Alicorn, but the name that Twilight gives to her self-implemented standards. Even when ostensibly trying to meet others’ expectations, Twilight is striving to meet her own.

While she is similarly driven to succeed, Applejack is motivated by other people. “Applebuck Season” begins with her assuring her injured brother, Big Macintosh, that she can harvest the entire apple crop herself. Making a nearly impossible task more difficult, she decides to fulfill her promises of helping her friends, leaving herself no time to sleep. Twilight, intimately familiar with the signs of a pony who’s working herself too hard, eventually makes Applejack see that she should put aside her pride and allow her friends to help her. Her obsessive need to be the most dependable of ponies causes her to be a hindrance rather than a help. It also makes it seem as though Applejack is resigned to being the one who works harder in her relationships; she is proud of being dependable, and part of this is not depending on others.

Another example of Applejack’s need for approval occurs in “The Last Roundup.” The ten-time rodeo champion of Ponyville, Applejack sets out for the Canterlot rodeo to win some blue ribbons and prize money she’s already promised to the town to fix the town hall roof. When, at the end of the competition, she doesn’t come home, her friends set out to find her. She is hiding out at a cherry orchard, unable to face the townsfolk after failing to secure the promised money and winning only second, third, and fourth place ribbons. She tells her friends that she “couldn’t come home a failure,” disappointing all the people that she had hoped to make proud. Again, the other ponies remind her that she can rely on them to support her, and that she is allowed to be less than perfect.

Of course, this doesn’t prevent her from struggling with the same problem in the third season, when she volunteers to organize the Apple Family Reunion. However, these are special circumstances, because there is nothing more important to Applejack than her family. This is made abundantly clear throughout the series, but most obviously when she calls her friends her family when they help her to keep Sweet Apple Acres from the clutches of the Flim Flam brothers. Applejack is devoted to her family and to the family business, shown on many occasions to be a fantastic sister and granddaughter.

It should come as no surprise, then, that when she gets the opportunity to put together a family reunion, she sets out to make it the most memorable reunion of all time. Unfortunately, she gets too caught up in proving herself and focuses the event on productivity instead of personal connections. When it becomes clear that the event is on track to be a complete failure, she manages to salvage the day after she is reminded that a family reunion should be intimate, not epic.

Because it is intended for young girls, one of my favourite aspects of the show comes from the way it uses its lesson-based format. When one of the ponies learns a lesson, they write to Princess Celestia not to tell her how they messed up, but to share with her the story of their personal growth. The overall message is not “making this mistake makes you a bad person, so don’t do it”; instead, it’s “you’re pretty awesome, but here’s how to be even more awesome in the future.” It’s inherently positive, and it builds girls up without breaking them down first.

Therefore, because Applejack is such a great friend, her character can withstand a few lessons about the don’ts of friendship. The best example occurs in “Look Before You Sleep,” in which Applejack and Rarity end up at an impromptu slumber party at Twilight’s house. Over the course of the episode, they engage in a long argument that basically boils down to function versus form, as the practical Applejack tries to get things done and the finicky Rarity tries to keep everything, including herself, beautiful. When Applejack accidentally fells a tree into Twilight’s treehouse, she has to swallow her pride and ask for Rarity’s help to fix it. Forced to work together, they realize that they were both being foolish, and they become less critical of what they viewed as the other’s failings.

It’s a testament to the show’s unexpected depth that Applejack’s hostility toward Rarity has its origins in Applejack’s own backstory. When she was younger, Applejack decided to leave Sweet Apple Acres and become a city pony in Manehattan. There, she was groomed to look and sound like she belonged, even as she found that she didn’t. Upon returning home, she received her Cutie Mark, and learned that running the orchard was her destiny. Although her issues with Rarity stem, on first glance, from their very different personalities, it is also possible that the problems on Applejack’s side come from the memory of trying to be something she isn’t. For a pony whose identity is based on honesty, the reminder of her false self would be tough to face and even tougher to befriend.

Still, Applejack manages, because she knew, long before Twilight Sparkle arrived in Ponyville, the importance of interpersonal relationships and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) the magic of friendship.

Verdict: Actual strong female character

Miscellaneous Mondays: I Am a Princess

Bask in the glory of what the Disney Princess brand could be if the diversity of their heroines matched the diversity of their audience. Then weep because it may be decades before we see queer princesses, princesses with disabilities, princesses with a wide range of body types, or, at this rate, more princesses of colour. Finally, watch the video again to lift your spirits. Repeat as necessary.

Twilight Sparkle

MyLittleVisuals

 

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Canada, there were two regal sisters who watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic together. One day, while watching the antics of one Twilight Sparkle, who was having panic attacks over the prospect of not getting her weekly assignment in on time, the younger sister turned to the older and said, “Wow, she’s you.”

It’s not easy to admit that you over-identify with a purple cartoon unicorn, but when the character in question is Twilight Sparkle, it does get a little easier. Twilight is the main character of Lauren Faust’s somewhat new, very much improved remake of the classic My Little Pony television show. In this version, Twilight is introduced as the student of Princess Celestia, a sort of living god who nevertheless takes time to train young unicorns in the art of magic. The first time we meet her, Twilight is reading about the history of Equestria; the next time we see her, she is literally running away from the idea of socializing with her fellow students in order to do research on her break. Certain that her research indicates an impending danger to all of Equestria, she alerts Princess Celestia, who basically tells her to lay off the studying and go outside.

In this case, “outside” means the town of Ponyville, where Twilight will be ensuring that the Summer Sun Celebration goes off without a hitch. During preparations, she encounters five ponies who want to become her friend; for the most part, she seems to consider friendship as desirable as the flu. Still, when it comes time to defeat Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony, Twilight finds that their friendship is literally magical. Working together, they save Equestria from eternal night and restore Nightmare Moon to her former self, Princess Luna. By the end of the episode, Twilight has come to treasure her new friends and gladly accepts Celestia’s mission to stay on in Ponyville and learn the lessons of friendship.

I will readily admit that any description of the show’s general premise is unlikely to entice adults to watch it. (Also less than appealing are the antics of the infamous Bronies, but I digress...) You would think that there would be a limited audience for a show that basically boils down to “talking horses solve problems using the magic of friendship and Sondheim-inspired musical numbers.” What makes the show, for me, is its focus on positive relationships between female characters with diverse personalities. While shows that only feature one or two female characters often end up painting all girls and women with the same broad strokes, MLP:FiM can address issues both universal and specific to one of a wide range of personality types.

One of these is the antisocial bookworm, represented by Twilight Sparkle. Some critics have claimed that Twilight’s arc is anti-intellectual, placing higher value on social skills than knowledge. In fact, the show handles this issue quite deftly, as evidenced by its emphasis on the “lessons” that Twilight and her friends must learn; Twilight must increase her knowledge, becoming “people-smart” in addition to “book-smart”. The two kinds of intelligence are complementary, and both are necessary to obtain. Twilight also maintains her studious nature, regularly reading and working into the night. On many occasions, research plays a major part in solving problems and the other ponies quite regularly look to Twilight for guidance simply because she knows so much.

It’s an empowering message, especially when considered in combination with a lesson that Twilight learns in the first season. When the arrogant Trixie rolls into Ponyville, proclaiming herself the greatest magician in the world, the other ponies bristle at her boasting. Twilight hesitates to challenge this assertion, fearing that the townspeople will find her similarly grating. After she manages to save the town using her powers, however, her friends assure her that she should be proud of her abilities. Being proud isn’t a problem, but being a braggadocio is. Women and girls are often encouraged to be overly modest, so it’s nice to see a show telling girls that it’s okay to let people know you’re awesome.

The flip side of knowing you’re awesome is living up to that awesomeness, and this is a problem with which Twilight struggles on numerous occasions. The two most interesting examples occur in “It’s About Time” and “Lesson Zero”, which deal with Twilight’s attempts to meet the impossible standards she sets for herself.

“It’s About Time” begins with Twilight having a meltdown over a problem of planning, namely that she forgot to allot time for making next month’s schedule in the current one. Already convinced that her oversight will mess up her entire year, she is completely thrown by the appearance of her future self, rocking a dystopian style complete with eyepatch. Twilight’s insatiable curiosity drives her to ask her future self all about how she got there, leaving no time for the why. Twilight is left to try to prevent some unknown disaster, and she spends days working on the problem. Eventually, she comes to the conclusion that “doing things didn’t work, not doing things didn’t work, and [she] couldn’t predict the future either. So [she] only had one other choice: monitor everything.” When no disaster occurs, Twilight realizes that her future (now present) self was trying to tell her not to worry.

“Lesson Zero” tells a similar story, as Twilight, who adds tasks to checklists like “triple check the checklist to make sure we didn’t miss anything when we double-checked the checklist,” realizes that she has failed to learn her weekly lesson of friendship. Frantic to report back to Celestia in time, she eventually creates a problem for herself to fix. She quickly loses control of the situation, and Celestia arrives in all her deus ex machina glory to set things right. The lesson for this episode is a two-for-one: Twilight needs to learn not to sweat the small stuff, and her friends have to understand that what they see as small stuff is actually of major concern to Twilight. Her worst fear is failure, and the high expectations she has for herself mean that failure of any kind can be crushing.

What I find interesting about Twilight Sparkle is that the only person who can successfully defeat her is herself. A lunar goddess wants to shroud the world in eternal night? No problem. The living incarnation of chaos terrorizes Equestria and distorts her friends almost beyond recognition? She can handle that. An ancient evil that imprisoned an empire for centuries seeks to spread hatred and fear across the land? Let’s do this thing. But the moment she’s faced with the prospect of a missed assignment, she becomes the only villain she can’t vanquish.

It is only when Twilight learns to accept failure that we begin to see where her character arc is going. Celestia gives her the task of saving the Crystal Empire, with the condition that she must do it on her own. With time running out, a trapped Twilight entrusts Spike with the task, knowing that, by doing so, she will fail the test. Luckily, the lesson of the week turns out to be self-sacrifice for the greater good, so she actually passes by failing. In this episode, we get our first indication that there is more behind Twilight’s journey than the education of a single unicorn; here, we get the first whisperings of destiny.

In the final episode of the third season, this destiny is fulfilled. The journey that began with a teacher’s insistence that her student should go outside and smell the roses becomes the story of Twilight Sparkle’s apotheosis. In using the power of friendship to finish a spell that eluded the great Starswirl the Bearded, Twilight proves herself worthy of becoming an Alicorn, a creature that combines the traits of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. She also, notably, gains the title of “princess”.

We’ve talked a lot about princesses on this blog, and I have to say that I prefer the My Little Pony conceptualization of princesses to most other versions. Disney princesses are usually pretty excellent people, but they don’t become royalty because of their positive qualities. Instead, they gain their crowns either through birth or marriage, though I suppose an argument could be made that Mulan earned her “Disney princess” title through sheer badassery. By contrast, My Little Pony makes its princesses earn their crowns. Celestia explicitly states that Twilight has demonstrated the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and leadership of a true princess. Her immense magical ability, in combination with the power of the friendships she’s formed, allows her to create new magic, and this seems to be a prerequisite for achieving princess status. Even after securing the title, Twilight must live up to it. The citizens of Equestria are now Twilight’s students, and she will serve as an inspiration to them, and to all of the geeky, introverted, anxiety-ridden perfectionists in the audience.

Verdict: Actual strong female character

No Power in Equestria Can Stop Me

Rest assured, today’s post is on its way. In the meantime, please enjoy this segue, brought to you by BronyVids.