By KATELYN SCHROEDER
My Little Pony, the cutest show about magic, friendship, and racism?? You are probably wondering how we got here, and frankly I have no idea. My Little Pony is a very cutesy kids show that has very predictable endings. While watching this show (because yes I am 19 and am still watching MLP, get off my back), this one episode has always stuck out to me.
In this specific episode (season 1, episode 9 if you guys want to see the chaos for yourselves) all the ponies in Ponyville (very original) hide in their houses whenever this mysterious pony comes to their town. They are all terrified of her and the main character, Twilight, does not know why, she thinks it is ridiculous. She tells all her friends (while they are spying on the poor girl from inside a store) that the “pony” they are all scared of is actually a zebra. The stripes she has on her body are simply what she was born with. Of course this is a kids show so at the end of the episode they actually meet her and find out she is a cool zebra and they all become friends; that’s the magic of friendship I guess.
I think it is great that a show like this is indirectly touching on racism and how you should never make assumptions or judge someone for how they look. For the show’s regular audience, young children, that is a lesson that will make them better human beings. If they truly take away anything from the episode and not just look at how pretty the ponies are, this message could really stick with them throughout their lives.
There are some major problems with this episode though. While discussing this topic the writers actually make the Zebra, Zecora, pretty scary. If I was a kid, I would probably be a little freaked out by her character. There is one part in the episode where she speaks to the ponies and it sounds like she is for real putting a curse on them. It is almost like her character is speaking in riddles or poems (chants basically) at all times. You also come to find out that she lives in the middle of nowhere in the Everfree forest and makes potions; like, Zecora is lowkey a witch. To a little kid I feel like this could come off as a bit spooky.
For me it’s super problematic that the only African character (Zecora has a very strong African accent, and wears traditional gold necklaces) is a potion making witch. She does prove herself to be very helpful to her new pony friends when she gives them different potions throughout the show, but it still does not sit right with me. Why does the only representation of an African character have to be a witch? I feel like in this instance their message is really backwards.
I continue watching this show because I love all of the new and niche characters that come up throughout, and even the small details when it comes to lore. However, even when I was younger I always remembered this episode because it is truly a lot to take in. There are many problems with the execution (this episode has always been controversial), but I think it is pretty cool that they decided to put this message in a kids show. I would have never thought that My Little Pony would discuss racism to any extent, but they really did that (whether we like it or not).
Leave a Reply