Random/off topic pony thoughts

[Taffeta]

There is at least that one episode where the Griffins (?) have their treasure lost/damaged/broken by Pinkie and Dash who then patronisingly tell them that they now have a better treasure in friendship. Just a touch colonial there. I don't have a good enough knowledge of G4 FIM to know if there are others, but that one sticks with me because it made me feel very uncomfortable.

Racial or not (which admittedly, you did not seem to suggest it was), I will admit that the device was ultimately something I was never really sure of - the idea that an entire species has the same values or whatever, like all Griffins are ultimately the same, barring the exceptions (not just Griffins, but non-ponies in general.)  I do feel, at least at times, that they would have done better to make it "those specific [insert non-pony species here]" who are the ones who are acting the specific non-friendship understanding way, or whatever - it's never really felt right when they make it out like it's the majority of the species.

The issue about whether the Griffons all have one collective perspective on something is another topic completely. My issue with it is this attitude:

 "Hi other race of people whose culture we don't understand. We're coming to preach our preferred ideology at you until you accept it. By the way, while we're at it we're also going to destroy part of your own cultural heritage and then trample over it like it doesn't matter because ours is better. Have a nice day."

The historian hat is coming out a bit here, but I've taught colonialism (from the perspective of East Asia), and that's basically the attitude seen here. "Our culture is better than yours, so change" is also not an uncommon attitude in the world today and I just think it passes on the wrong message.

In all truth it doesn't matter whether the Griffon cultural behaviour resonates with the ponies or whether they understand it. By assuming that their way is better, they're disregarding the traditions of another people and assigning it a negative value because it's 'not friendship'.

It's just that line when they're told they now have 'something better' that really bothers me.

[Zapper]

Also Zecora being othered as an African stand-in and that bufallo ep led to an onslaught of "racist AJ" memes and racist Equestria fanart in the B-fandom. Certainly not the showrunners fault but a good reminder of what impact these badly thought out plots and morals had. I'm sure a lot of kids got to accidentally see all that "AJ as a plantation owner" crap.

I saw that picture last year on twitter if it's what I think it was (and in fairness the general consensus among bronies seemed to be that it shouldn't exist) - this is another example of my unawareness of things, as I didn't even get what  the picture was portraying (litterally only found out tonight) and only knew it was racist because people were saying it was (I'd actually forgotten that the zebras were seen as Africans by that point, so it took time to even register that part of it, and I still didn't get what it was supposed to look like.)

I don't know if you are from the US or not, but I am not and I still immediatly recognize what "slaves working the fields" looks like. Even if I wasn't aware of zebras being African I would have still recognized the time period and conditions. Especially when you see cute cartoon characters for children smiling smugly overlooking or punishing the sadfaced workers. Jebus Christ.
It takes a lot of unawareness to not understand such fanarts. No offense to you.

I know some people say it's ok to create such fanarts as long as they are relegated to websites kids shouldn't be on. But the subject matter is just too messed up and any kind of fanart can just be spread and pop up on image searches even with safety precautions put in place. And the worst thing is about these fanarts: the show gave them an excuse to draw it. Because the show put that portrayal out there, not knowing it would attract racists to a kids cartoon. That's my issue.

Post Merge: March 04, 2021, 05:54:43 AM

Also Zecora being othered as an African stand-in and that bufallo ep led to an onslaught of "racist AJ" memes and racist Equestria fanart in the B-fandom. Certainly not the showrunners fault but a good reminder of what impact these badly thought out plots and morals had. I'm sure a lot of kids got to accidentally see all that "AJ as a plantation owner" crap.

Good lord this also reminded me of that one episode where a Fashion-designer unicorn that Rarity has a crush on comes to town. As soon as he sees Applejack he's in love with her, and he says something like "I've always admired the work-ethic of earthponies."

Maybe I'm too positive on that one but I always took this character as a deliberate snob. But of course it's not like our heroes M6 wouldn't constantly do that, especially Rarity whose snobbishness was often bordering on being a classist or bully My favorite Rarity quote will always be "mules are ugly" and then a few eps later there are talking mule characters on the show. Awkwaaard

[Taffeta]

There are a couple of scenes in the Jem series where the Holograms are weirdly patronising to people they envcounter. There's a guy with a bunch of tires, and there's the gondola driver who they expect to give them a free ride. Funny how main 'good guys' can do that stuff...

[MJNSEIFER]

I don't think it's a reference to a specific race, but I think it's a reference to how some people come up with """positive""" stereotypes of races that are usually completely incorrect and sometimes even fetishize those people. Like how some people put Native Americans on a pedestal as mystical woodland people of grace and mysteriousness, or how some people think all Asians are geniuses. 

At best, it's very creepy, and at worst, it can actually lead to specific people being bashed for not being exactly like the stereotypes.  Plus it often leads to cultural appropriation, such as people using Native American symbols for the 'aesthetic' and completely misusing them in a way that's taboo to the actual natives.

I understand what you mean, thanks for explaining it.

The issue about whether the Griffons all have one collective perspective on something is another topic completely. My issue with it is this attitude:

 "Hi other race of people whose culture we don't understand. We're coming to preach our preferred ideology at you until you accept it. By the way, while we're at it we're also going to destroy part of your own cultural heritage and then trample over it like it doesn't matter because ours is better. Have a nice day."

The historian hat is coming out a bit here, but I've taught colonialism (from the perspective of East Asia), and that's basically the attitude seen here. "Our culture is better than yours, so change" is also not an uncommon attitude in the world today and I just think it passes on the wrong message.

In all truth it doesn't matter whether the Griffon cultural behaviour resonates with the ponies or whether they understand it. By assuming that their way is better, they're disregarding the traditions of another people and assigning it a negative value because it's 'not friendship'.

It's just that line when they're told they now have 'something better' that really bothers me.

Oh I see, thanks for explaining.  Yes I can see why that's not a good message or way of doing things.  Good point.

I don't know if you are from the US or not, but I am not and I still immediatly recognize what "slaves working the fields" looks like. Even if I wasn't aware of zebras being African I would have still recognized the time period and conditions. Especially when you see cute cartoon characters for children smiling smugly overlooking or punishing the sadfaced workers. Jebus Christ.
It takes a lot of unawareness to not understand such fanarts. No offense to you.

I know some people say it's ok to create such fanarts as long as they are relegated to websites kids shouldn't be on. But the subject matter is just too messed up and any kind of fanart can just be spread and pop up on image searches even with safety precautions put in place. And the worst thing is about these fanarts: the show gave them an excuse to draw it. Because the show put that portrayal out there, not knowing it would attract racists to a kids cartoon. That's my issue.

No offense taken, I simply didn't understand what I was looking at.  I didn't realise that zebras were supposed to be working in the field, I just saw that they were in the field (one appeared to be eating a watermelon, from what I remember.) and Applejack was stood by the fence (I think leaning on it) looking smug dressed in what I took to be a Colonel Sanders outfit (sorry if it wasn't.)  If I hadn't seen complaints about racism surrounding it, I would have thought the joke was that Applejack was farming the zebras.

I am not American, but it's more my own lack of knowledge than anything.  Part of it can be blamed on what the image looked like to me, but I will admit that History in general isn't really something I remember what I learned in school, and through no one's fault but my own, I haven't really kept up with keeping myself educated in regards to history.  I remember that we were taught about slavery in school, but I don't remember specifically what we were told they were made to do.  No offense or disrespect meant to anyone.

Either way, I agree that it is wrong to portray such messages in fanart, regardless of how much at fault the show is.

[Queen Sophie]

I’ve seen g4 ponies how tall they would be compared to humans, but I’m wondering with the rest of the generations! I tried looking around but I haven’t seen anything about it.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I’ve seen g4 ponies how tall they would be compared to humans, but I’m wondering with the rest of the generations! I tried looking around but I haven’t seen anything about it.

Good question..
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Powder's head matches up with about Megan's collarbone. The 50th percentile for 13 year old girls is a bit over five feet. I'd say they're roughly a bit under 4 feet??

[LadyAmalthea]

I’ve seen g4 ponies how tall they would be compared to humans, but I’m wondering with the rest of the generations! I tried looking around but I haven’t seen anything about it.

Good question..
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Powder's head matches up with about Megan's collarbone. The 50th percentile for 13 year old girls is a bit over five feet. I'd say they're roughly a bit under 4 feet??

Oh wow, they're tiny then! I always assumed they were just a little smaller than a standard horse. But I don't know much about horses/ponies, either. I guess I never paid attention to their size ratio to Megan's in the show/movie.

[Leave a Whisper]

I look at it like this.
 I'd say G1s are about Section B Welsh Pony size. 13 hh (54 inches/4 ft)
G2s and G3s are about Dartmoor Pony size.12 hh (roughly 44 in/ 3 ft)
And G4s are about Fallabella size (25 in/2 ft)

[Taffeta]

I’ve seen g4 ponies how tall they would be compared to humans, but I’m wondering with the rest of the generations! I tried looking around but I haven’t seen anything about it.

Good question..
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Powder's head matches up with about Megan's collarbone. The 50th percentile for 13 year old girls is a bit over five feet. I'd say they're roughly a bit under 4 feet??

Oh wow, they're tiny then! I always assumed they were just a little smaller than a standard horse. But I don't know much about horses/ponies, either. I guess I never paid attention to their size ratio to Megan's in the show/movie.

Does that mean the dolls are not made to scale vis a vis the ponies??

[dannahbanana]

I have a wooden cabinet where I keep all my ponies until I move to a bigger place and have room for shelves. When I open the cabinet that G1 pony smell just WHOOSH floods my nostrils. It's kind of addicting??? What did they put into this plastic so that they smell so sweet? I know I'm not the only one out there addicted to that smell!

[Zapper]

I don't know if you are from the US or not, but I am not and I still immediatly recognize what "slaves working the fields" looks like. Even if I wasn't aware of zebras being African I would have still recognized the time period and conditions. Especially when you see cute cartoon characters for children smiling smugly overlooking or punishing the sadfaced workers. Jebus Christ.
It takes a lot of unawareness to not understand such fanarts. No offense to you.

I know some people say it's ok to create such fanarts as long as they are relegated to websites kids shouldn't be on. But the subject matter is just too messed up and any kind of fanart can just be spread and pop up on image searches even with safety precautions put in place. And the worst thing is about these fanarts: the show gave them an excuse to draw it. Because the show put that portrayal out there, not knowing it would attract racists to a kids cartoon. That's my issue.

No offense taken, I simply didn't understand what I was looking at.  I didn't realise that zebras were supposed to be working in the field, I just saw that they were in the field (one appeared to be eating a watermelon, from what I remember.) and Applejack was stood by the fence (I think leaning on it) looking smug dressed in what I took to be a Colonel Sanders outfit (sorry if it wasn't.)  If I hadn't seen complaints about racism surrounding it, I would have thought the joke was that Applejack was farming the zebras.

I am not American, but it's more my own lack of knowledge than anything.

Sorry for sounding harsh in my previous answer to you, I was just really baffled. But the way you describe it, it sounds like you came across one of the tamer depictions. I sadly saw a lot of violent material.

And G4s are about Fallabella size (25 in/2 ft)

Have we ever had an official size comparison between an Equestria Girl and a FiMmy? Like, were they ever depicted next to each other in-show? Because I feel the FiMmys would be larger than a Fallabella. Their giant heads alone should give them more height And Celestia would probably be Okapi size, she sure looks like a small giraffe.

[Leave a Whisper]

Maybe? Didn't they sell a few doll/pony packs? Coulda swore I saw one at Kohl's, though I could be mistaken.


Lol at Okapi-Celestia. Well now I need to know how big an okapi is. I've never seen one ip.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Have we ever had an official size comparison between an Equestria Girl and a FiMmy? Like, were they ever depicted next to each other in-show? Because I feel the FiMmys would be larger than a Fallabella. Their giant heads alone should give them more height And Celestia would probably be Okapi size, she sure looks like a small giraffe.

We've never had them stand next to each other! Just the fan comparison of Fluttershies and bunnies.
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[Leave a Whisper]

It says okapis are 6-8 ft. Dang! 

ETA: I took out my Celestia and compared her. She isn't that big. She's the size of my G2 and G3s.

[Leave a Whisper]

Ooh I can't wait. I've got two pretty but baity ponies coming my way to do a cross-gen custom and show only custom with.