My Little Pony propagates for the Right!?

[Arizaron]

Yesterday, the first two episodes of MLP's fifth season were released. If you were to look it up, you would see the not-so-subtle anti-socialism in a very short time. Essentially, the main the of the show visit a small neighborhood where everyone has an "=" sign on their bodies (subtle).

Everyone is creepily happy and apparently one of the citizens, who introduces the town to our characters, actually has more of a Thought Police role to make sure everyone is "happy". No one is unique, and they are all EQUAL as they loudly emphasize (subtle). There is only one "fashion style" which is essentially a peasant's robe. There is only one food item on the menu and it is stale muffins (but ironically they read off the menu to you anyway).

This is practically the society and political message taken straight out of a novel, from Ayn Rand (notorious anti-leftist and zealot in the cult of Uncle Sam), known as Anthem. A book about the supposed final outcome of socialism. Pulling aside the brony community, this show could alter the perception of equality as totalitarian to younger viewers.

[Arizaron]

Yesterday, the first two episodes of MLP's fifth season were released. If you were to look it up, you would see the not-so-subtle anti-socialism in a very short time. Essentially, the main the of the show visit a small neighborhood where everyone has an "=" sign on their bodies (subtle).

Everyone is creepily happy and apparently one of the citizens, who introduces the town to our characters, actually has more of a Thought Police role to make sure everyone is "happy". No one is unique, and they are all EQUAL as they loudly emphasize (subtle). There is only one "fashion style" which is essentially a peasant's robe. There is only one food item on the menu and it is stale muffins (but ironically they read off the menu to you anyway).

This is practically the society and political message taken straight out of a novel, from Ayn Rand (notorious anti-leftist and zealot in the cult of Uncle Sam), known as Anthem. A book about the supposed final outcome of socialism. Pulling aside the brony community, this show could influence the perception of equalityas totalitarian to younger viewers.

[Arizaron]

Yesterday, the first two episodes of MLP's fifth season were released. If you were to look it up, you would see the not-so-subtle anti-socialism in a very short time. Essentially, the main the of the show visit a small neighborhood where everyone has an "=" sign on their bodies (subtle).

Everyone is creepily happy and apparently one of the citizens, who introduces the town to our characters, actually has more of a Thought Police role to make sure everyone is "happy". No one is unique, and they are all EQUAL as they loudly emphasize (subtle). There is only one "fashion style" which is essentially a peasant's robe. There is only one food item on the menu and it is stale muffins (but ironically they read off the menu to you anyway).

This is practically the society and political message taken straight out of a novel, from Ayn Rand (notorious anti-leftist and zealot in the cult of Uncle Sam), known as Anthem. A book about the supposed final outcome of socialism. Pulling aside the brony community, this show could influence the perception of equalityas totalitarian to younger viewers.

[Q]

Merged three identical threads. Please don't post the same thing in multiple subforums.

Moved from /literature & films and /politics to /non-political, but only because I don't think chit-chat can be viewed by people under the 25 post threshold.

[#FF0000]

I could not even begin to care about this. Not even a little.

[BIXX]

Honestly I don't feel to threatened by bronies.

[rylasasin]

Honestly, MLP: FIM Has been going downhill since season 2 with a few gems here and there.

This one... was not one of them.

And honestly, you have to remember: It's a show financed by a bunch of bourgeoisie that still thinks they're living in the 1980s.

[Palmares]

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/0f/0ff459804e7886d10d3513e98243ea332c239a7877bcbc66ee 97169d8fa3b793.jpg

[Creative Destruction]

http://media.giphy.com/media/PRy2AVwBreYRq/giphy.gif

[Red Commissar]

Eh, it's not really a unique feature to Ayn Rand and her objectivist screeds. Paranoia over loss of individuality, conformity, and imposed happiness is a recurring feature in popular works. Off the top my head, we have

1984 and probably Animal Farm
Harrison Bergeron
The Giver
Invasion of the Plant Snatchers
Brave New World (at least in the sense everyone is made to be 'happy')
Some interpretations of zombie-themed works
Toy Story 3 (we had a similar thread about that movie)

There have also been a number of works recently which feature often egalitarian-focused groups becoming antagonists because they are overly violent and/or manipulating useful idiots. Parodies over political correctness are also a big thing.

This is based on what you've put on your OP and what I guess the episode have. I don't watch that show so maybe I'm making some leaps here. But it's making mountains out of molehills.

Loss of individuality coupled with overbearing control is pretty much a common theme for dystopias. Of course inevitably this tends to result in strawmans of socialism, but in this case I can't say that I'm too worried about a cartoon doing this for the main reason that I'm sure many of us were steeped in this culture and it didn't really affect us all that much in the end, especially those of us who were in the generation of saturday morning cartoons. If anything the only people who're going to be doing a more involved interpretation of a children's cartoon are the adults who watch it for whatever reason.

tl;dr it's a children's show and you are overestimating how much influence it can have

I think the main issue here is why this kind of perception continues to be widespread, since it's obviously by this point a commonly used trope that a lot of people use as the go-to for depictions of dystopias, since it fits well into the anti-totalitarian mindset that is necessary for the genre.

For my part, this is a major reason why I'm not a major fan of dystopian-themed works, not so much that it offends my views if a strawman is used, but that many don't really seem to do much beyond recycling plot elements and become an excuse to see how shitty a society you can make based on beliefs you despise. Too much effort put on worldbuilding and little on those who inhabit it beyond acting as a mouthpiece for the author's views.

[Loony Le Fist]

Children's shows are simply a product of a capitalist society paid for by advertising money. The propaganda must start young to ensure compliance. The same thing is true with the public school system, et al. Companies hire psychologists to influence children to buy crap. It's funny how people on this forum yawn at the idea that the capitalist mindset is imprinted onto our children. Who do you think pays the producers of the shows advertising money? That is how the capitalists win, friends. They have our children. The most innocent and open to influence.

If I ever have children, they will be home schooled if I continue to live in the US. The public school system fails to properly educate our children in a variety of different ways. There is much more to life than reading, writing, and arithmetic. The way history is taught in school avoids very important points about the history of political parties. I want to make sure my children know the things that I only learned later on through my own research. Plus, I'd like them to be exposed to Shakespeare through something other than Romeo and Juliet (ugh!). :laugh:

[The Intransigent Faction]

Eh, it's not really a unique feature to Ayn Rand and her objectivist screeds. Paranoia over loss of individuality, conformity, and imposed happiness is a recurring feature in popular works. Off the top my head, we have

1984 and probably Animal Farm
Harrison Bergeron
The Giver
Invasion of the Plant Snatchers
Brave New World (at least in the sense everyone is made to be 'happy')
Some interpretations of zombie-themed works
Toy Story 3 (we had a similar thread about that movie)

There have also been a number of works recently which feature often egalitarian-focused groups becoming antagonists because they are overly violent and/or manipulating useful idiots. Parodies over political correctness are also a big thing.

This is based on what you've put on your OP and what I guess the episode have. I don't watch that show so maybe I'm making some leaps here. But it's making mountains out of molehills.

Loss of individuality coupled with overbearing control is pretty much a common theme for dystopias. Of course inevitably this tends to result in strawmans of socialism, but in this case I can't say that I'm too worried about a cartoon doing this for the main reason that I'm sure many of us were steeped in this culture and it didn't really affect us all that much in the end, especially those of us who were in the generation of saturday morning cartoons. If anything the only people who're going to be doing a more involved interpretation of a children's cartoon are the adults who watch it for whatever reason.

tl;dr it's a children's show and you are overestimating how much influence it can have

I think the main issue here is why this kind of perception continues to be widespread, since it's obviously by this point a commonly used trope that a lot of people use as the go-to for depictions of dystopias, since it fits well into the anti-totalitarian mindset that is necessary for the genre.

For my part, this is a major reason why I'm not a major fan of dystopian-themed works, not so much that it offends my views if a strawman is used, but that many don't really seem to do much beyond recycling plot elements and become an excuse to see how shitty a society you can make based on beliefs you despise. Too much effort put on worldbuilding and little on those who inhabit it beyond acting as a mouthpiece for the author's views.

...You did not just compare Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World to Anthem. :mad: