Whatever...

MDW is my least fave episode thanks to everyone talking about it. i can't really fully like it without being reminded of the complaints brought up. i can watch/like Feeling Pinkie Keen fine but somehow MDW bugs me.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:12:45 AM by RobbieRotten

I hold the idea that Dashie has self image issues and partially brags for her own benefit.

I learned to balance that a long time ago. Acknowledge flaws, enjoy good points.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:14:38 AM by MrAHR

I'm willing to forgive the Mane Six their flaws because I am guilty of similar sins.

@AHR Your exact words were: "I just don't like people who consider themselves awesome." I'm not putting any words into your mouth.

Now, the problem we are having is that we have different definitions of "awesome", with yours being much more extreme than mine. To you, it seems that saying you are "awesome" means that you are "the best", while to me it means "really good". If that is the case, then I agree, thinking that you are the best at something is usually wrong.

Unless you are the best at something then it is okay.

I'm always hesitant to buy into that theory since it is rather inconsistently portrayed throughout the series. Then again I feel the same way about other character traits like Twilight's OCD so yeah. . .

@Applelight: Are we even certain AJ went to high school?

edited 28th Feb '12 10:17:31 AM by Mio

Everypony annoyed me in MMDW.

Dash's rampant ego just reminded me of why I dislike her so much, and she her putting others in danger irked me.

And the rest of the name six? What the hell was that all about? If I was Dash atm, the Eo H would be sort one member after that.

Everything is inconsistent in this series. Until it's addressed outright, any interpretation can be seen as valid/invalid.

I'd say considering yourself unironically awesome is pretty high up their in the charts.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:17:42 AM by MrAHR

@AHR

Words to live by. If you can enjoy something that many consider incredibly or notably flawed (like Metroid II for example), then, well, you can enjoy something the majority cannot. Of course, it can't work for everything, but that's inevitable. If you look for the best things in a work, liking it isn't a problem at all

@ Mio

You think she didn't?

Maybe she didn't...

I wouldn't say any interpretation is valid but you are correct about things being inconsistent. One the rasons television annoys me.

I wouldn't suprise me if she didn't.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:20:46 AM by Mio

Now, I find that consistency in character portrayal is something that this show does right, MMDW aside of course. What sort of inconsistencies are we talking about here.?

@ Mio

Actually, if she plans to work at the farm...then why bother?

Yeah I think you've got something there.

I think what AHR meant, Lurker, is less "Yeah, I'm pretty good" and more "Fuck yeah, fuck you, I'm amazing, suck it!" sort of attitudes. Case in point I know I'm a good writer, but I don't go flaunting it. The difference between confidence and arrogance.

The way I'd always thought of Dash is that she genuinely believes she's the best, partly because she thinks she has to be to be in the wonderbolts, and so when something proves to her that she isn't it shakes her up. She has consistently demonstrated that she doesn't like being alone or ignored, though, so I have to wonder if her showboating isn't a grab for attention and her insecurities are due to a fear that if she isn't amazing, no one will like her.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:25:34 AM by kegisak

For the record, I personally don't think Dash was that bad in MTBPW; I was just using it as an example of how a lot people got a negative impression of Dash from it.

As for MMDW, I think the basic idea (Dash's ego goes out of control, and the rest of the cast tries to show her how annoying it is) is good, but it wasn't executed well. Dash's popularity goes to her head way too fast, and the rest of the cast is too quick to go with the extreme plan. If they had made some other effort at talking her down first ("Dash, you're going to hurt somepony if you keep showboating like this"), the whole "superhero" plan would have been more justified. As is, they just jumped right to the most extreme method.

And that's all I'm going to say about that, because discussions about this never end well.

I think the self-aggrandizement is also part of it. There's a difference between "I'm good at this" and "Don't you think I'm good at this?" RD's issue isn't that she's claiming to be awesome, she's letting her attempts to get other ponies to tell her that she's awesome get in the way of her ability to actually be awesome.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:30:02 AM by JapaneseTeeth

I loved Dashie in Friendship Is Magic, Griffon the Brush Off, Call of the Cutie, Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Party of One, Return of Harmony, May the Best Pet Win, SSCS6K, and Read it and Weep.

Hmm... that took a while. I guess I don't really dislike Dashie as much as I thought. I mean, she may not be my favorite, but she's still a great character when she's written right.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:28:01 AM by SuperiorSerperior

I had similar feelings, but for the opposite episodes. I can buy Rainbow Dash getting drunk on fame, and I think she learned the right lesson, even if through questionable means. But "Feeling Pinkie Keen" was one that made me uneasy in the first place, and after reading discussion of all the anti-intellectual sentiments in it, whether intended or not, I feel like I can't ever view it again casually anymore. Why should I want to watch Twilight Sparkle learn the wrong lesson while Pinkie Pie is insufferably vindicated for her stupid beliefs once again?

Dash wants to be a Wonderbolt, but she's never outright stated that she should be, or that she is better than they are. In fact, I think she refers to them as "the best" more than she refers to herself that way.

Truly arrogant people don't look up to anybody but themselves.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:32:20 AM by PerpetualLurker

Only they're not stupid beliefs because they have been proven to happen.

That is all I'll say. I do not want to get into another fucking debate about this episode.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:32:48 AM by SuperiorSerperior

What "stupid beliefs?" Her Pinkie Sense was shown to be a legitimate ability that consistently worked. How could it be stupid to believe in it? How did Twilight learn the "wrong lesson?" She learned that she shouldn't just arbitrarily decide something didn't make sense because it went against her personal worldview. I will never understand the hatred for that episode.

Ninja'd.

edited 28th Feb '12 10:33:33 AM by Bluespade

Yes, but in the real world, they would be stupid beliefs.

But Equestria is not the real world.

Then I guess we didn't learn anything!