I was brainstorming ideas for today’s post and drawing a complete blank. So I decided to sit down and watch some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic while I ate dinner (I’ve been catching up slowly on Netflix).
Call it fate, call it kismet, call it coincidence, call it…whatever, but the episode I watched got my brain going and here we are!
In the episode, Twilight Sparkle is late sending Princess Celestia a letter about what she has learned, which is essentially her homework. She runs around like a crazy pony trying to find something to write about…and when she can’t, she creates a problem for herself to fix and report to the princess.
For anyone who doesn’t watch MLP, the characters are very archetypal, which makes them super easy to relate to. I personally always picture myself as Rainbow Dash, the epitome of laid back and cool:
But when I’m sitting down to write my papers or progress notes (or even this blog!), I find myself identifying a little bit more with Twilight Sparkle…
The fact that I can find myself represented (almost perfectly) in a show designed for kids (even though we adults love it too!), is brilliant. Throughout the episode I found myself laughing about the fact that I would be doing some of the same ridiculous things Twilight was doing. Drive my friends crazy by blowing an assignment out of proportion? Yep, I’ve done that. Have intense conversations with myself about how horrible a student I am at the possibility of not getting something done on time? I’m pretty sure I’ve done that once a week since the start of grad school.
The writing is brilliant and makes the characters super accessible to anybody. Usually I can find myself in most of the ponies’ characters, not just one. I think that makes it even easier to relate to the show, and maybe that’s why there’s such a huge fan culture (bronies and pegasisters, unite!).
I also wonder what Carl Jung would make of the show. I mentioned archetypes earlier, and I meant it. Each character has a part to play, and their responses are pretty predictable. I would love to pick Jung’s brain about the citizens of Equestria. Would he see Pinkie Pie as the playful Jester? Or Fluttershy as the nurturing Caregiver? How about Princess Celestia as the wise Sage?
For now I can only hypothesize, enjoy the show, and continue to relate to the characters. (Oh, and lean on my friends to help me pull through my anxiety ridden Twilight moments with Rainbow Dash grace)
I mean, everypony needs someone to look up to, right?