Was Starlight Glimmer a Good Character? MLP: ‘All Bottled Up’ Review (EAM)
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- Опубліковано 26 тра 2020
- Took me 4 years, but I finally have an opinion on Starlight. And I think the Season 7 episode “All Bottled Up” is a good showcase of all her draws and drawbacks.
Twitter- o_bennjamin - Фільми й анімація
I actually really like her. Her personality isn't as one dimentional as the mane six and is more complex. But I get why some people dislike her
The Mane Six still has arcs of their own and also has personality
Did you saw season 5 of mlp?
The reason Starlight Glimmer is important to the series is because she doesn't only provides a complex developing character, but is also important to the development of Twilight. The next step in Twilight's character development was for her to become a mentor and Starlight was someone who really needed one.
Just my opinion, Starlight is better as the villain than the hero. I don't mind her being on the good side but she just acts a little mean from time to time.
Did you saw season 5 of mlp?
I’m one of the people that like starlight glimmer
That makes us two
Make it three
make it four
Make it five (Starlight is best pony)
Make it six
I really liked her. She's the most flawed of the main 7 and works on becoming a better pony. She also plays more important role in Friendship school then Twilight in my opinion.
So does starlight have a character in season 6 it not
@@robbycooper6787 She does, yet she's not as important as she is in later seasons.
@@risaswonderland ok, so how is she more important in later seasons
@@robbycooper6787 She's kinda voice of reason for Twilight, she cares a lot about the students,😄 I would go as far as saying Starlight is like less stressed Twilight + more fun than her.
the big problem with Starlight is that she is a mix and match of A LOT of things that needs to be handled very, very delicately, because it's generally very, very easy to screw up any one of them.... and unfortunately the show not only didnt handle most of them gracefully, but the fact that they were all gathered into one character just made it all worse.
1. Former villain.
Now it's a common joke that MLP villains all got redeemed, and it's not unfounded, given how many were, but there are a lot of reasons that Starlight is singled out as the worst example. and that is that not only was her actual heel turn abysmally handled, but the fact that it was undercut by the sorriest excuse for a "sad" backstory i've ever seen, undercut the entire thing from start to the end of the show.
then there is the fact that the actual characters she needed to make ammends to(the town she brainwashed) just forgave her in an incredibly handwavy scene, when it could, and should have been an overarching story about her relationship with this town that could have taken an entire season, or at least a few episodes. it just came off as incredibly lazy.
Then there is the fact that as a Villain, Starlight was not only much more memorable in my opinion(at least up until the backstory was revealed), but far, far worse, she didnt change after making her heel turn, as much as the character she used to be completely vanished and was replaced by Starlight 2.0.... Which is the absolutely worst thing you can ever do when redeeming a character, and completely mirrored in reception and quality by Discord, that showcases how to do a redeemed villain well, and how a characters traits should never, ever just dissapear out of nowhere.
2. New Main character that is twilight's student.
Now, im gonna be blunt... this was not the best idea. though it could have worked, if it had been handled differently.... unfortunately, Starlight is a prime example of why introducing an entierly new character to the cast of a long running tv series can often be met with massive hate.
For one thing, introducing a new character to an already established dynamic cast is always a gamble, but the reason why it is so often hated in tv shows, is because the new character ends up being a spotline stealing character that is given way too much screentime, has way too much plot devoted to them, and is shilled constantly at the expense of the other characters.
Now the first is a big problem in this show, as by her very nature, Starlight was inserted into the dynamic as Twilight's direct pupil and defacto newest member of the cast, which by her very nature made her as important as the rest of the mane 6. that would have been hard to do with a character that didnt have her lackluster heel turn as baggage. add that, and you have a character that had an incredibly uphill battle to fight from the start, and in my opinion, she just wasnt interesting enough, or had enough focus on what her actual heel turn should have been devoted to in order for it to work.
Not helping the matter was that i just find her villain period to be far, far more interesting and entertaining(at least pre backstory time).
The unfortunate fact is that a new main character both needs a lot of time devoted to them to establish who they are, and how they tick with the rest of the cast. but if you overdo it, fans just become infuriated with the character they didn't like the begin with, being given more and more screentime, which you arent invested with, which just makes you hate the character even more. that is very much a feeling that A LOT of fans had with her.
However, then there is the character shilling, which in this case can all be be boiled down to ONE problem.
3. WHY is she so DAMN STRONG?
This is probably THE biggest problem i have with her character both from a world building perspective, internal logic, and frankly the missed opportunilty that could have been utilized as one of her greatest strenghts as a characters, that instead ended up being the most infuriating thing about her.
Her LUDICROUS power level.
Starlight is the strongest unicorn in this series hands down. no contest. And that is a problem in so many ways.
for one, that it's mixed with the Alicorns gradually being downgraded in power and might as the season went on, and it just leaves a bile taste in many viewers mouths from the start(mine included) as rather having Starlight being portrayed as strong because she's powerfull, it instead comes down to the other characters being gimped so that she can look good, when a better way to do it is to have both sides look awesome.
but my biggest problem with how strong, skilled and powerfull she was, is that 1. it's not given an explanation, and far, far worse, It's not a fact the show want's to adress as an actual in universe plot point. oh sure, her strenght is important for the plot, but allow me to craft another scenario.
rather than having a character that is just incredibly powerfull and skilled for no in universe explained reason, why not instead have Twilight's student be a unicorn who for whatever reason has an incredible amount of natural power, and that has large problems controlling that power, and that she's afraid of letting go because bad things happens when she does, and she is afraid of what she can do.
Im not saying that this scenario would be its very nature be better than what we got, but i just want to illustrate the fact that in this hypotetical scenario, the fact that the new character is ludicrously powerfull is intentionally drawn attention to, the plot focuses around it, and the character is built around this very premise.
compare that to Starlight. we are given NO explanation for why she's both this strong and skilled. NONE. and it's not like this is an integral part of her very identity the way that Twilight's obsession with studying and the like was in explaining why she was so skilled with magic.
twillight's entier backstory was all about how she had vast potential and how Celestia trained her to harness that potential.
The logical story idea is that Twilight's own student would have something similar, at least if its an important part of the plot that she's ludicrously powerfull.
The show wants to portray her as both incredibly powerfull, but not actually make a story out of it in order to make the viewers swallow it easier.
I could defend this from a writing perspective... but the simple fact is that the writers just dropped the ball on this aspect. and many, many viewers just wasnt willing, or even interested in looking past this glaring hole in the internal logic and rules of the world for the sake of the newly introduced character.
I agree that Starlight's heel face turn was incredibly rushed, but honestly I don't really have a problem with her being Twilight's student afterwards. I thought it would be a nice way to tie into Twilight having a prized pupil in Starlight the way Celestia once had a prized pupil in Twilight. I do think Starlight gaining the fandom's approval was an uphill battle though- even among people who weren't calling her a Mary Sue, she got backlash for being a Sunset 2.0.
I personally think Sunset's redemption was handled a lot better- one of the best redemption arcs I've ever seen tbh, aside from her heel face turn in the first movie also being rushed. But still, I don't think it's too fair to compare Starlight and Sunset's journeys because what they did was way different. Everyone at CHS had ample reason to hate Sunset because she was a rampant bully for years, and that was before she destroyed their school and tried to turn them into slaves. On the other hand, nobody outside of "Our Town" knows who Starlight is. She technically almost ended the world, but nobody remembers any of those events, and even if they did, they had no way of knowing it was Starlight's fault. The only people in Ponyville who witnessed Starlight's villain days were all willing to forgive and move on, so it wouldn't make sense for Starlight to be ostracized and have to win back their trust. Though I will concede that they probably could've had an episode dedicated to Starlight returning to her village to make amends, instead of throwing that part in a montage. I can only guess they did that because Cutie Re-mark was designed as a potential series finale.
Starlight being able to rival alicorn Twilight in magical ability is something I've never had a problem with, though. I never thought it contradicted any existing lore. If anything, such a thing being possible was supported by earlier lore. Starswirl was one of the best magic users in history, implied to be at least on Celestia's level, despite only being a unicorn. Without any info on his past, I can only assume there was nothing special about his lineage or family that would boost his power, either. The show has implied a couple of times that Starlight had been studying magic relentlessly for years, ever since she was a filly like Twilight, so it's not exactly far off that they'd be similar in skill. EQG implied Sunset would've been on Twilight's level too, if she didn't quit studying magic.
@@Commenter839 THIS RIGHT HERE
I can just mostly tell you what Starlight Glimmer had an impact with the fans and community of Bronies I used to hang out with.
When Starlight was introduced, and later redeemed, it actually created a _unique_ floodgate for the destructive fans, AND also split the community.
While this may not affect _you_ in particular as a person, the "lessons" and such that brought about Starlight actually had a damage of giving sociopaths and psychopaths a field to flourish and grow.
Some of the normal fans were trying to be nice, and good intentions, that "forgiveness" of any level, meant a higher form of being a bigger person.
However, when mentioning the sociopaths and psychopaths from earlier, I saw time and time again, friends "forgive" people who were just out to take advantage of them, using the "well they forgive like in the show" as an excuse.
Not only that, but also troublemakers in communities found it to be an acceptable notion that if 1 person hurt a community of 10, that's okay if forgiven, only to do it again in a week _in the exact same way_ because "that's normal now"
A lot would shield this damage because they'd hide it under "the character is flawed, therefore she's a good written character" as if they uncovered the holy grail of storywriting by "I relate, because they're flawed just like me!"
Though the most damaging piggybacks off of that, she Ok'd stamp-of-approval sociopathic tendencies that are similar to what some would do in real life, do it online, and be okay because there were little consequences and everyone forgave to do it again and again. People that weren't sociopathic and/or have narcissistic tendencies developed habits similar to them because of so much enabling, some you'd see this explode right away when they thought of Starlight as their rolemodel.
There's a saying of "don't invite a vampire to your home" and then be shocked when your whole family is drained and dead. It's a red flag and a danger signal of survival to keep your family safe until you verify it's not a threat. Extreme takes are bad, and instantly forgiving people is just as bad as never forgiving anyone, and the show damaged people in learning from that in Season 5; it's not a straightforward lesson, just like a lot of what you learn in life.
So her reception is 50/50
More like 70/30. The 30% or so haters just have a stronger presence in the fandom because they are in the minority. They are in an uphill battle, so they need to put extra effort for their opinions to be heard.
For me: Her reception is
40% Hate
40% Like
20% In between
Yes
I used to like her but now I just tolerate her and like her
Wait, how do you only have 3 upvotes?
MLP videos aren’t among my most popular, and maybe most viewers who’ve watched the video haven’t agreed with me on everything I said. Likes don’t bother me a whole lot, but thank you for your enthusiasm.
@@EmployeeAMillion Thanks MLPG, you've got a friend on /mlp/ on 4chan who likes your stuff.
Ok look listed I get it straight glimmer was not that great in the show well I kinda don't like her like sometimes she annoying and like I Rader replace her with different characters I do enjoy such as tempest shadow or capper or captain celaeno or sky star or sia or trixie or sunset shimmer or I magnet potion nova from pony life be in the show like I don't know
Like watch character you rather replace starlight glimmer or not so let me know down in the comments
Yes she was and she’s not annoying, your comment is annoying
I used to like starlight but im sorry i hate her i just do here are my reasons
i will say when we first saw her in season five i thought she could be a interesting villain
1-She is too overpowerd, she might have faws but still.
2-She was forgiven way to easy, im not huge on sunset as much but she was not that forgiven that easy.
3-i always hated the idea of her being apart of the mane six bc they are enough.
i like paring her and sunburst but thats it but her as a character no
very reasonable my friend!
I'd argue where you said Sunset was "not as forgiven as easily" because its just not true... Their was no clear conversation or anything between Sunsets defeat and reformation.
Starlight on the other hand was convinced to stop her fight and then waited while the Mane 6 discussed her fate.
While she was Redeemed far to quickly and easily Its nothing compared to the likes of Sunset.
what i hate of startlight is she too powerful for a unicorn in her age, she have the power level of star swirl the bearded, only him is suppose be THE most powerful unicorn of all equestria and the unicorn who train Celestia and luna, see startlight blast Discord and make him gone, well not a 100% but still crazy powerful, is like if Hasbro a give her the true power level of Celestia , Celestia a over 1000 years of ruling, combat , magic and other stuff, when i see Celestia lose to chrysalis is start to believe Celestia is weak to the eyes of many fan but fail to see she holding back for not hurt the pony in the room, plus Chrysaslis a be very shock to see how she won but jump to believe the love of shining armor for cadence is so great is a make her more powerful then Celestia but she fail to see Celestia hold back but is not stop to be hurt right to her horn, to me, the invasion should be stop by Celestia to show she can protect her subject but no, is Cadence and shining armor safe the day, to me the chance to see the two sister protect their people a be take away to the fan and see power level of as powerful star swirl on a young mare, sure the battle of her against Twilight, she need to be powerful and the reason why Twilight don't win is the fact she not ,master the alicorn magic a 100% but 60% ,if Twilight do master alicorn power is will be she master unicorn magic, earth pony magic and Pegasus magic, but no, she not mastered , is the reason she a not win against startlight
What i hate of your comment is, that it is not a good one
@@samuelkriz2761 Well you fail see it what is wrong with her!
"Was Starlight Glimmer a Good Character?"
No. Here's why:
-Her excessive power changes the bases of the show, especially the cutie marks, rendering them meaningless.
-Her attitude, way of thinking and the things she says in the last 4 seasons conflict with her redemption arc.
-The show isn't consequent to Starlight's actions. She's the most privileged and most forgiven character in the show regardless of her actions.
-She's so inconsiderate and so manipulative that she's kinda like a sociopath.
-And, considering these points, I don't think she's a good role model for the kids.
Considering that, after Cutie Re-mark, we see her manipulating her new "friends" (including Big Macintosh), the one who's supposed to be her best friend, sold Trixie's wagon even after knowing it's her only home, attracting a monster to a hive and manipulating Twilight, Celestia and Luna, then no, I don't think she deserved that much spotlight in a show where the main characters were the Mane 6, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and no one else.
One last thing: If explaining why Starlight doesn't work as a character is enough to set you off, then check your priorities. It's as easy as making sure the writers write a good character. If she was a good character, nobody would discuss that much about her.
I like redemption themes. That's why I love Sunset Shimmer and Tempest Shadow. But not at any cost. Redemption means nothing when her actions are consistenly bad. Just because she was flaws doesn't mean she has to do deliberate bad things out of spite. Just because she said sorry over and over again doesn't stop her from doing that again. After all, "The path to hell is paved with good intentions"
The only change I'd make to your list of main characters is that I'd add Spike.
He was a main-stay character from the start and had dedicated stories.
Not as many as the CMC, granted. But, as early as S1
(Owl's Well, Secret of my Excess, Just for Sidekicks, Inspiration Manifestation, etc...)
And even in episodes where he's not the center, he often has some role beyond comic-relief
(Dog & Pony, Lesson Zero, Crystal Empire etc..)
Very well put
Wrong she is good character, and you will not tell me what to do here, and no i will not check my priorities, because they are fine stupid hater
Isn't
Wrong yes she is!
Short answer: no she wasn’t. She ruined the show.
I agree with you. When Starlight was reformed at the end of season 5 I already hated her. I mean, after everything she has done all the ponies in the city threw some kind of parade for her. But let s let this slide since it might only teach the kids a lesson about forgiving. The real problem was season 6 who i personally find the worst in the entire series. Suddenly, starlight became soo important and her worries suddenly hurt everyone. It’s not the fact that she was that bad. She kinda became a second twilight sparkle (kinda) The thing I hated about her was the fact that she was suddenly a part of mane 6. She appeared in almost every episode as if she is their bestie or something. Another thing I hated about season 6 was that the mane 6 weren’t the main focus anymore. They were always apart and never proved a true friendship. I missed the moments when it was only them. Over the next 3 season things became better again. I loved season 7 and 9 and season 8 was also good. But the reason mlp became good again. Was the fact that starlight lost her importance again. Or at least some of it. Because from season 6 to 9 she remained one of the mane 6 which i always hated.
@@twilightolga8958 i agree!
I disagree. The show needed the change and Starlight fit that role. The motive was terrible for sure but I would never let a motive ruin my experience for a show or a character that I like mostly because I really don't care and It was equally exciting coming up with new backstory ideas for her or adding on to her backstory to make it more interesting. It was even more exciting watching everyone go INSANE by saying "Starlight was a good character."
I also wouldn't call S5 or S6 the worst season because IMO it was honestly S3 due to various reasons followed by season 8 again for many reasons.
Short answer: wrong
Yes she was. No she didn’t you did ruied youtube you stupid hater