Equestria Girls: A Shocking Transformation and its Impact on Students
After immersing myself in everything related to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Equestria Girls, from research to writing, I finally watched the movie. My goal was to form my own opinion, especially considering my upcoming presentation on the fractured fandom surrounding its marketing and release. The film presents a unique take on the familiar characters, and this article delves into the plot, themes, and overall reception of Equestria Girls. Be warned: spoilers abound.
A Princess, a Crown, and a Mirror
The movie begins after Twilight Sparkle's ascension to princess, following her success in deciphering a spell and proving her worth. During a royal summit at the Crystal Empire, Twilight expresses her anxieties about her new role to Spike. While she sleeps, a new character, Sunset Shimmer, steals Twilight's crown, which is also her Element of Harmony. A chase ensues, leading to a room with a mirror that connects to an alternate universe, accessible only every 30 moons.
Sunset Shimmer, a former student of Princess Celestia who became jealous of Twilight, had disappeared into this mirror long ago. Now, she returns to steal the crown, intending to gain power in the alternate world. This sets the stage for Twilight's journey into a new reality.
A World of Human Analogs
Equestria Girls represents Hasbro's attempt to broaden the appeal of My Little Pony to an older demographic, specifically tweens and teenagers. The alternate world Twilight enters feels like a carefully constructed blend of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Cinderella, allowing Twilight to navigate similar coming-of-age themes.
Upon entering the mirror, Twilight finds herself in a human body, while Spike transforms into a dog. As Twilight explores Canterlot High, she encounters human counterparts of her pony friends. The movie encourages viewers to play a "spot the pony" game, matching human characters to their pony counterparts. These human analogs mirror the diverse colors of the ponies, seemingly sidestepping complex issues of racial and ethnic diversity.
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High School Stereotypes and Friendship Lessons
The film uses the high school environment, with its associated stereotypes, to convey the series' core messages of friendship, equality, and self-acceptance to an older audience. The idea is that teenagers can relate to the high school experience, while tweens can anticipate it, making them both receptive to the film's themes.
Twilight learns that to reclaim her crown, she must win the Fall Formal, where she could be crowned Princess. However, Sunset Shimmer has dominated the high school scene for three years and will do anything to prevent Twilight from winning. Sunset employs tactics similar to modern cyberbullying to undermine Twilight's campaign.
This storyline allows the writers to incorporate references to contemporary life and pop culture, including YouTube, smartphones, and coffee shops. To thwart Sunset's plans, Twilight must reunite her pony friends' human counterparts, whose friendships have been fractured by Sunset's manipulations. She also needs to bridge the divides between the school's various cliques - jocks, musicians, science nerds, and eco-heads - to gain their support. Sunset's taunt, "You don't know the first thing about fitting in," highlights Twilight's challenge in navigating these social groups and making friends.
Winning Back the Crown and the Power of Friendship
Twilight and her friends successfully repair the decorations for the Fall Formal, giving Twilight a chance to be crowned before the portal back to Equestria closes. Twilight wins the popular vote and reclaims her crown. However, Sunset Shimmer steals the crown back and uses the Element of Harmony to transform into a demon, seeking ultimate power.
Twilight and her friends draw upon the Element of Harmony, awakening latent powers within themselves and recreating the magic of their combined powers. This overpowers Sunset, teaching her that the magic of friendship is the only true force that can unite people.
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Pony Attributes and Marketing
The animation quality is consistent with the series. The transformation sequence when Sunset gains power is particularly impressive. The movie clearly incorporates pony elements into the human characters. In one scene, Rarity suggests promoting Twilight by wearing headbands with ears and attachable tails, representing the school's mascot. During the final battle, the girls gain some of their pony attributes when empowered by Twilight's Element of Harmony, with wings, horse ears, and mane-like hair appearing.
This seems to suggest that the magic of friendship is not limited to Equestria. However, it also serves as a way to market new toys. Each version of Sunset - pony, human, demon - can be found sexualized online, which is a concern for the younger target audience.
Simplistic Morality and Plot Holes
While the movie aligns with the series' message, it feels more simplistic. The story contains several plot holes: If all the other ponies have analogs, why doesn't Twilight? Why does no one question if Twilight is actually a student? Why would it be Canterlot High when the mirror was in the Crystal Empire? Why does only Twilight seem to experience a romantic crush? Why does Sunset have to fix the damage she causes? Why does the Element of Harmony do what it does?
The answer to these questions seems to be simply "because," simplifying the story to emphasize the morality. This may be suitable for a younger audience, but older viewers may find the story too simplistic and the morality too heavy-handed.
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tags: #equestria #girls #shocked #students #reactions
