My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (TV Series) Fame and Misfortune (2017) User Reviews

Far from an unfortunate episode

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 1 July 2021]

"Fame and Misfortune" is something of an oddity and one of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's' most controversial episodes. Maybe the most polarising episode of Season 7 and one that was hated by a lot of fans at the time and still is. Some absolutely loved its concept and found it very clever in addressing in an one on the nose way the toxic behaviour of the fandom. Others disliked the portrayal of the characters, how it conveyed its message, the contradictory continuity and that it didn't seem to address popular criticisms amongst other things.

While actually understanding both sides in this case, count me in as somebody who is in the category of those that liked "Fame and Misfortune" very much on rewatches of it. Which was not expected after seeing and hearing the hate it got and considering on first watch its tone was a shock to me. To me it is a very cleverly written and fascinating episode that has a concept that has been misunderstood by many people that misunderstood what the episode was trying to do. It is a step down from the sublime "The Perfect Pear", one of my favourites of the later seasons and overall, but while understanding why it polarises in no way is it one of the worst of Season 7 or the show. It also did make me think about how to convey my own criticisms of individual episodes in the future, having occasionally been guilty in the past of picking up on criticisms poked fun at here.

Maybe the reasoning for the publishing of the books may be seen as questionable. While completely understanding what the episode trying to do (venting frustration at the behaviour of the fandom and that they are representing what the critics of this aspect are sometimes like, Season 6's "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" also did this extremely well), personally do think that the jerkish-ness of the crowd was a bit over the top even for the concept, with not every fan of the show being guilty of this (though that is addressed in the moral).

However, the many good things outweigh those and those good things are great. Personally really liked the writing in "Fame and Misfortune". Yes it is very on the nose, but to me it wasn't a bad thing that people felt uncomfortable watching because that was the approach that "Fame and Misfortune" was going for. The dialogue has sharp wit, very amusing and very clever in the never gratuitous shock value in its surprising frankness and honesty, without being heavy handed or condescending. What is misunderstood about the episode is that it was actually poking fun and venting frustrations at the nit-picks and common criticisms that are raised constantly by fans and how toxic the fandom can sometimes be.

While coming across many articulate, passionate and well-reasoned fans, the manic aggression and sometimes irresponsibly toxic nature of the way some others express their opinions on criticisms of episodes and characters as well as detractors of the show are reasons as to why bronies don't always have a good reputation (mostly an undeserved overall reputation but it depends on the person in question and shouldn't apply to the whole fandom). That all of that was addressed in the writing in such a frank way, in a way that was in need of addressing, clearly made people feel uneasy.

Personally also really liked the storytelling, which was a lot of fun, energetically paced and well meaning. Didn't think it mean spirited at all. The continuity error regarding the cutie mark summer camp didn't bother me all that much. Also liked the moral, which was to the point but also sincere in delivery. It's a more complex one than usual without being muddled (other episodes before and since have far more muddled and preachy morals) and for the show up to this point it's quite unique. It is also very relatable to all of those that are not controlling and have real appreciation for many aspects of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's' strengths and flaws.

Others did not like the portrayal of the characters, finding them out of character or their flaws exaggerated. All without realising that this was purposeful in representing the criticisms that regularly pop up regarding particularly toxic behaviour and regular criticisms. The animation is beautifully crafted and shows the big advance in quality from the already great visual style to the even greater one it increasingly became, ethereal and vibrant with some lovely atmosphere and attention to detail in the backgrounds. The music has quirkiness but also beauty and atmosphere, while never jarring with the action. The voice acting is excellent.

All in all, very clever and misunderstood episode in my view. 8/10.

Pleasing Episode to the older audience

[hajimekurosaki · 9/10 · 19 August 2017]

This episode is about a shout out to the older audience/fandom, but still being pleasing to the younger fans. this episode in my opinion was really well made. At times this episode can be lot of comedy which what i like this about this episode. Only problem is episode had for me the writers didn't add in "Spike" But other than that, it was a great episode me and my daughter both enjoyed this one, we give this a 9/10

The True Messages

[shinysandrat · 10/10 · 16 September 2017]

This episode was wonderful for numerous reasons, but many seem to be overlooked or, hilariously and ironically, misinterpreted. I find this both disappointing and deeply amusing given the premise of the episode was built around the characters' experiences and intentions being misinterpreted.

The ability to provide such direct meta commentary without breaking the fourth wall at all and while keeping the story appropriate and meaningful to younger audiences is truly impressive.

The message is not by any means, "Sorry you don't like it, but it's for kids," but-- as Twilight pretty directly said-- that even if some people feel they should have done things differently, or don't understand why their friendship works, they still know in their hearts that their bond can get them through anything; and if sharing their stories helps even just a small number of people, that makes any backlash received well worth the trouble. The creators, too, choose to focus on the good being done and hope for the best re: negativity.

On the more in-character side, and what kids can take away from this episode, I feel it's wonderful and important for audiences to see that how they react to a work can impact others, and the different sections of fans and detractors showed different ways we can be conscious about our own behavior.

A list of valuable lessons includes:

-- Don't treat real people like characters, be invasive toward people you admire, or reduce people to stereotypes. It's important to remember that people are complex, and celebrities/creators are people, too.

-- No one is perfect, AND THAT'S OKAY. Everyone, even the most admirable people, is constantly still learning and growing. Everyone messes up despite their best efforts, but what is important is how they react and the efforts they make moving forward.

-- Most importantly, and I'll talk more on this one: Be kind. Judgmental words can hurt not only the person you're talking about (as with Rarity), but people who care about the thing you don't like. At one point, a pony claims that "Fluttershy is so painfully shy, it's hard to relate!" And yes, that's echoing fan criticism, but the most important part of that scene is the Fluttershy fan nearby who grows very sad and shies away upon hearing the sentiment.

To continue with this example, cute shy characters are common enough, but Fluttershy's level of actual anxiety, her not being 'cured' of it in one episode, and the number of affirming messages that it's okay to tackle things at your own pace and to not always be up for everything are much much rarer. As an adult fan, seeing a show for kids avoid the "just be brave, you can do anything" route in favor of messages like "it's important not to let fear keep you from trying things, you might like them (but taking baby steps is a very valid method)" but ALSO "it's important to not let fear control you, but if you do push yourself to try something new, it's also okay to decide you don't like it and don't want to continue it" gives me hope.

Similar things can happen with any character to whom fans might relate, but it gets perhaps more interesting with Pinkie and Rainbow, who use their over-the-top traits as coping mechanisms as has been explored numerous times.

"Party of One" and "Pinkie Pride" most clearly demonstrates how quickly Pinkie breaks when she feels unable to fulfill what she views as her sole purpose in life. (From the Smile Song in "A Friend In Deed": "There's ONE thing that makes me happy, and makes my whole life worthwhile! And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile!" This is very upbeat, but with full context, it's also clearly very literal.) Rainbow says within this same episode that her (over)confidence "gives me the courage to fail", which is all the more meaningful for having seen how many times she's broken over fear of failure.

These traits have been criticized often as bad or annoying things, but who are the characters when you take them away? Pinkie has learned to be more serious when it matters most, and Rainbow has learned to be more humble, but both have gone at their own pace and still heavily rely on these attitudes on a regular basis. It's important to realize sometimes traits we find abrasive are more vital to someone's health than we would imagine.

I'm rambling, but these sentiments can apply to most anything, and becomes all the more important to remember when dealing with character traits you don't see very often. Characters that represent minority groups, characters in atypical roles (ex: men with feminine attributes who aren't made fun of for them or meant for the audience to laugh at), non-straight couples written sincerely, characters in polyamorous relationships that aren't treated as taboo or explicit (especially while prominent sites like Google and IMDb still think 'polyamorous' is a typo...), characters who break gender norms, etc.

Like that Fluttershy fan in this episode who was hurt by others saying it was hard to relate to her, when fans or detractors of a series talk down characters or plot lines that deal with things you don't see often, they're taking away representation from people who already get very little. They're detracting from something that might otherwise be uplifting and validating to someone who really needs it.

To me this small thing was so incredibly important to see. There are right ways to offer negative feedback about something, and not everyone has to like everything. But tact is always so important, and being conscious of how we talk about things we didn't care for can spare the feelings of so many people who did enjoy it.

I, for one, am thrilled for kids and adults alike to be getting that kind of message.

Is Rainbow Dash a lesbian?

[ericstevenson · 10/10 · 23 August 2017]

This is a great episode because it's mostly a satire of bronies. Here we have the Mane 6 release journals of themselves talking about all the friendship lessons they've learned and how everybody reacts to it. It's just great to see these people act so much like, well fans. We previously had sort of a character like this with Quibble Pants (voiced by none other than Patton Oswalt) but this is done on a much wider scale. There's this one scene where they complain about how Fluttershy isn't assertive enough. I thought they'd just not show her being assertive.

Instead they do, but the ponies still aren't satisfied! This vaguely reminds me of the real life Journal 3 from "Gravity Falls". If only one of them said, "Will they have a crossover with some other great modern cartoon?". The Mane 6 sing a song to calm everybody down, but it doesn't work. In fact, as the episode ends, the crowd is still around there ranting which is probably what would happen in real life. When dealing with bronies, it probably already has happened. I did used to not like Rarity too, but got used to her. ****

Mixed feelings.

[cruzwindt-46534 · 3/10 · 5 September 2017]

I've got mixed feelings on this episode, I like the dynamic of it, it's well executed, not the best, but well executed, it could have been a good episode, if not because all of it is a big attempt of the writers to say '' Obviously not everyone would like our show but it's for kids !''. As far as I know, it was supposed to be a show for all the family, that includes big people. In season 5 I could hardy find good episodes, but in season 6 and specially with season 7 they've doing a better job and having more quality writing.

While I disagree that this episode is a total ruin and the series is dead ( tho I thought so with season 5 ), I must say that this episode is a very big disappointment, because with some more initiative and minor changes the show could be SO much better, I mean, A Royal Problem is an splendid episode, from time to time the writers have proved that they can make a memorable episode, of course, they've been failing in a lot of episodes too, incapable of capturing the show's first season's magic, they COULD learn from their mistakes, but instead of doing so, they would rather keep committing them, and this episode is that, the writers telling us that no matter how much we complain or obvious their bad writing becomes, they don't care and ain't gonna fix it, because now the show is being done only for little kids instead when Lauren was in it, and kids only like void morals delivered to them in pretty colors, so why make the effort ?. You guys can tell me that a series is ''4 kidz'' all you want, and that MLP doesn't need to be serious ( never said it should ), but don't come to tell me that the show is good when it contradicts itself out of pure laziness from the writers and it's episodes start looking like the simpsons where the characters never really grow or act out of character for plot's sake it's as good as when everyone loved it, because that's just a plain lie.

Oh and yes, Twilight was better before she have her wings and specially before the map, both things that show ultimately that the writers are getting lazy and unimaginative, so they found easier ways to do their jobs, instead working better.

This episode was ''good'', it was well made, but the moral of the episode is terrible, dropping the 8 it could have to a 3 to me.

And for the one who ''indirectly'' quoted my message about the ''true message of the authors''. You completely overlook the part where my critic is completely constructive here. Saying that the show shouldn't be made different despite CLEAR contradictions out of pure laziness it's not something positive. Just a thought for food. What I'm criticizing here is flanderization, lack of continuity, out of character, and other writing mistakes. If you think that a show is better when not actually trying to have quality on it's writing then that's another history, but don't tell me that a show with those mistakes is better than one without it.

A Telling Episode that the Show is Dead

[bluekittycat-23419 · 1/10 · 15 August 2017]

This episode is very immature and, as always, inappropriate for a TV y cartoon for toddlers. The creators can't seem to learn from their mistakes and only simply becomes hypocrites within this episode, making the characters misrepresentations of real critics or parents that voice their concerns and critics of the show especially for the sake of the young viewers. And Hasbro and DHX claiming to be in it for the children is one of the most insulting lies hinted at in the episode, when all they display every episode is constant bad behavior from the ponies, making bad examples for children, including this episode, that has all of the creators mistakes in one, only more worse than that implies. To think this would ever even be a thing on a TV y cartoon is simply terrible. An episode like this is unheard of in a TV y cartoon. I can only imagine who confused many of the children and their were from watching this episode. If no one could see that this show has died, this episode should show it clearly. Because I'd never want my children watching this. I don't want to watch it myself as well.