A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
All of the usual forum rules
apply. In addition, please remember that the thread is discussing a kids' show, and it's primarily focused on the work itself, not the fanfic — in particular, we don't want to see lewdness creeping in.
Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM
It sort of was. The idea was that that Granny just needed a confidence boost to feel better, and when she believed she would feel better, she did.
Reaction Image RepositoryYeah, I felt the song was pretty underwhelming. It didn't help that it felt like it went on forever.
Reaction Image RepositoryFaith plays a big part in the episode, but it's not about faith any more than Star Wars is about R2-D2 and C-3PO. The episode is about little white lies. AJ was conflicted about telling the truth because the lie seemed to be making ponies happier, but she finally drew the line when the lie put them in danger because they were making dangerous decisions based on false information.
Faith by definition irrational and hinges on lies more often than most. That's the point of faith, you don't know if it works, but you believe it does.
Before, Granny Smith believed she couldn't swim anymore(which is based on an assumption about effects of her age). Then that belief is changed by the opposite - that her age doesn't matter at all.
Both instances of faith(yes, faith in bad things is also faith) are irraional and make her assume wrong things about her body(incapable of swimming at all/better than every athlete ever). Faith is presented as sometimes being too limiting or too liberating, and that's what it examines. It's not the lie that challenges Applejack's views, it's the faith that it brings. It gave Granny Smith confidence, and is taking away the faith(thus, confidence) worth it?
And it ends with an argument against both overly limiting faith(mentioning that granny could do all those things just fine, she just believed she couldn't) and overly liberating faith(some things are still impossible, no matter how much confidence you have).
Yes, that's all true, but it's not what the episode is about; it's just the way the episode demonstrates its point about white lies, which is the actual lesson. As you said yourself, faith isn't always based on lies. Sometimes it's based on the unknown. This episode, however, is firmly focused on Applejack dealing with a lie that's making ponies feel good. That contradiction is what the episode is about; faith is just the vehicle it uses to deliver it.
Okay, this isn't strictly related to the episode, but this is just something that irks me: way too many people assume that "Faith = dogmatic belief in the absence of evidence" when that isn't actually the case. It can mean that, but it can also be used to refer to trust or having faith in a person, which can indeed be based on previous knowledge of them. It isn't empirical knowledge, but it does come from previous experiences with other people. Granted, that's probably not the kind of faith that the show is about, but I feel compelled to point out that "absence of evidence" is not necessarily an aspect of faith.
edited 29th Mar '14 8:24:47 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryIt's rooted in what has been proven to be fact to the best of our ability. Not out of 'faith' but because of observable fact that that is how things work. And if something comes along later that sheds new light, that alters those, then it's accounted for and a new model based on that new fact is developed. Nothing need to be taken on 'faith'. It is either true, or false.
I think part of the problem is that faith tends to suffer from Personal Dictionary.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play@ Seraphem: Ah. I think I see what's going on. You're using an extremely narrow definition of "faith." What's more, it's become a buzzword for you, and just like all buzzwords, it comes with a pre-conditioned idea and automatic response that has nothing to do with the content and context in which the word was used in the first place. Because what you just said is addressed and embraced by the content of that video. For the most part.
edited 29th Mar '14 8:41:59 PM by CDRW
I'm just too lazy and busy to have the time to watch that right now.
But yeah, it's mostly that most people have different ideas of what "faith" means. It's a very broad concept. If you want to discuss it, you have to spend a bunch of time defining exactly what you mean, or you'll be talking at cross-purposes.
But it's late, and I'm tired, so back to our regularly scheduled ponies.
edited 29th Mar '14 8:47:38 PM by JapaneseTeeth
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I'm not sure where to rate this one in terms of key episodes. On one hand, I think on a technical level it's probably on par with the others if not better. On the other hand, I've never really liked Flim and Flam, both in-universe and in a meta-sense.
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