She's ready for her closeup, darling!
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1.HISTORY
I caught the tail end of the episode, "Boast Busters" when I first saw this character. She was only on the screen for a few minutes but instantly I liked her posh and warm mannerisms. Very much reminiscent of Old Hollywood starlets! I was a fan of hers, yes, but my friend One Lucky Unicorn was the one who really inspired me to look more closely at her generous character. Thank you, my friend!
I caught the tail end of the episode, "Boast Busters" when I first saw this character. She was only on the screen for a few minutes but instantly I liked her posh and warm mannerisms. Very much reminiscent of Old Hollywood starlets! I was a fan of hers, yes, but my friend One Lucky Unicorn was the one who really inspired me to look more closely at her generous character. Thank you, my friend!
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2. THE ELEMENT OF THE HOUR
Like with Jean Grey, I'm not sure if anything I have to say will be groundbreaking, as Rarity and the rest of her friends have been analyzed to death over the past decade. But here goes.
First off, I love her Golden Age of Hollywood mannerisms. I have heard that she was based off of Audrey Hepburn, and seeing this type of archetype - the female who has a star power quality but has a generous heart and wears her elegance gracefully - make its way into a show in today's time is something I admire. Some call it old-fashioned, I call it welcoming.
They went with a most notable characteristic of womanhood: the connection with clothing. But rather than show her shopping for clothing as a pastime, she goes shopping for it to make clothing and other accessories. I like that they went with this route, while also showing the business side of her occupation.
Because of that, we can see just how much effort can go into designing clothing: seeking inspiration, drawing the ideas out, building the plans and listing the pieces needed to create the outfit/item, the need to fine-tune details without going overboard, self-promoting, finding clients, dealing with criticism, I could go on. But more than that, Rarity not only wants to look and feel good for herself, but helping also help her clients/friends look and feel good. Her personal quest of finding what makes others feel beautiful on the inside and out is a sign that she's not shallow at her core. She's trying to make the world a little bit better and lovely in her own special way.
She also puts in her best effort to cheer others on. It's refreshing to see a character who is feminine, but is not antagonistic as other forms of media might try to do (which I don't know why they do this but it needs to stop). Even in her worst moments, she only gets testy when she feels compelled to call someone out for their 'uncouth' behavior or when someone's being a jerk to her or those she cares about. Other than, she's not one to look down on anyone for who they are. She might not like some of their traits, but she is capable of seeing past them and coming to see the beautiful person.
First off, I love her Golden Age of Hollywood mannerisms. I have heard that she was based off of Audrey Hepburn, and seeing this type of archetype - the female who has a star power quality but has a generous heart and wears her elegance gracefully - make its way into a show in today's time is something I admire. Some call it old-fashioned, I call it welcoming.
They went with a most notable characteristic of womanhood: the connection with clothing. But rather than show her shopping for clothing as a pastime, she goes shopping for it to make clothing and other accessories. I like that they went with this route, while also showing the business side of her occupation.
Because of that, we can see just how much effort can go into designing clothing: seeking inspiration, drawing the ideas out, building the plans and listing the pieces needed to create the outfit/item, the need to fine-tune details without going overboard, self-promoting, finding clients, dealing with criticism, I could go on. But more than that, Rarity not only wants to look and feel good for herself, but helping also help her clients/friends look and feel good. Her personal quest of finding what makes others feel beautiful on the inside and out is a sign that she's not shallow at her core. She's trying to make the world a little bit better and lovely in her own special way.
She also puts in her best effort to cheer others on. It's refreshing to see a character who is feminine, but is not antagonistic as other forms of media might try to do (which I don't know why they do this but it needs to stop). Even in her worst moments, she only gets testy when she feels compelled to call someone out for their 'uncouth' behavior or when someone's being a jerk to her or those she cares about. Other than, she's not one to look down on anyone for who they are. She might not like some of their traits, but she is capable of seeing past them and coming to see the beautiful person.
Her relationship with Applejack is a good example of that: she wasn't always a fan of some of AJ's traits, but overtime, she accepts them and she even grows out of her comfort zone when it comes to getting dirty if she has to get the job done. By then, you can see how the friendship between Rarity and Applejack becomes one of the stronger relationships on the show. I like how even though they do have moments where they butt heads, overall they have learned to work together despite their differences and even respect each other's professions and core characteristics.
That said, yes, Rarity does have her moments where she does act vain and overdramatic, but sometimes they're played for laughs at the situation, whatever it is, and its ridiculousness. She even brings a fainting couch for the occasion because it's handy to have lol. Heck, she even learns to poke fun at herself for it as time in the show went by.
That said, yes, Rarity does have her moments where she does act vain and overdramatic, but sometimes they're played for laughs at the situation, whatever it is, and its ridiculousness. She even brings a fainting couch for the occasion because it's handy to have lol. Heck, she even learns to poke fun at herself for it as time in the show went by.
When they're not making fun of her reactions, she does have a good head and she will acknowledge when she massively messes up. In "Sisterhooves Social", for instance, she tries to make up for how she mistreated Sweetie Belle by partaking in the obstacle course together (albeit under a muddy guise). From there, she becomes more involved in her sister's life, even being patient with her when she or her friends get themselves into a fine mess. This angle is a sweet one and further enhances her generosity as well as build up the dynamic between herself and Sweetie Belle.
It's a cool part of her character development. It is subtle, but compared to some other characters, hers sticks out like the tallest sunflower in a field if you look closely enough. Besides the one about her relationship with Sweetie Belle, another indicator she does go through change involves her concern with her outward appearance, keeping her mane and tail as bouncy and beautiful as they can be. In the beginning, she was overly concerned with keeping them kept, but since then, she learned to really value the inside appearance. She didn't give up her craft or stop making herself look beautiful, but the lesson about her inner beauty being the most important thing has stuck with her. The episode, "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" portrays this magnificently. She even took the situation with her mane and tail when they were ruined and made lemonade out of lemons, making herself look like a rad rocker with a righteously upbeat attitude. I kind of have a soft spot for that design too - whomever came up with that, you deserve kudos!
It's a cool part of her character development. It is subtle, but compared to some other characters, hers sticks out like the tallest sunflower in a field if you look closely enough. Besides the one about her relationship with Sweetie Belle, another indicator she does go through change involves her concern with her outward appearance, keeping her mane and tail as bouncy and beautiful as they can be. In the beginning, she was overly concerned with keeping them kept, but since then, she learned to really value the inside appearance. She didn't give up her craft or stop making herself look beautiful, but the lesson about her inner beauty being the most important thing has stuck with her. The episode, "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" portrays this magnificently. She even took the situation with her mane and tail when they were ruined and made lemonade out of lemons, making herself look like a rad rocker with a righteously upbeat attitude. I kind of have a soft spot for that design too - whomever came up with that, you deserve kudos!
In various episodes, we've seen her use her wits to outsmart opponents or to get her point across when others aren't in listening moods. "A Dog and Pony Show" is a prime example. To drive the Diamond Dogs crazy and make her escape more evident, she whines, complains, and asserts herself so much that the DDs can't take her attitude anymore and want her thrown out lol. As Twilight puts it, and this is important for others to take note: "Just because somepony is ladylike doesn't make her weak. In fact, by using her wits, a seemingly defenseless pony can be the one who outsmarts and outshines them all."
One of the show's great strengths is the ability to give the characters more than just one talent or quality to make them interesting. Besides her wits and fashion design, she's quite talented in other areas: digging for gems and gold, shadow puppetry (which I don't understand how one accomplishes this with hooves, but I won't question this too much), charming others to do her bidding, possessing a surprising amount of sheer strength in her hooves (at least she's strong enough to move a boulder), and loves performing in film noirs.
She's also musically inclined: she performs in the cappella quartet that is the Ponytones and can strum a mean heavy rock bit on an acoustic guitar. Not bad, Rarity! She can still be her elegant self and yet she's not afraid to try new things if she sees the benefits they bring forth. I like that they added all of this to her character, but at the same time, I do wonder what prompted the writers to do it?
Was it due to the show gaining more than one demographic and they wanted her to appeal her to those audiences? Well, yes, but it was far from the only reason. I think part of it was that they didn't want to box her into a corner from her occupation. They had to come up with other ways to show that as much of a fashionista as she can be, she does have other interests that she picked up somewhere along the way, which can be useful in getting the upper hand over others should they underestimate her.
She's also one of the most empathetic creatures in the show, but this can backfire on her. In "Suited for Success", she works herself to the bone until she gives her friends exactly what they want, while forsaking her own visions. She's a people/pony pleaser, but she does it out of her heart and from a business standpoint, creators can sometimes fall into this trap and give up their own visions for their products and stories in order to give clients what they think is best.
Was it due to the show gaining more than one demographic and they wanted her to appeal her to those audiences? Well, yes, but it was far from the only reason. I think part of it was that they didn't want to box her into a corner from her occupation. They had to come up with other ways to show that as much of a fashionista as she can be, she does have other interests that she picked up somewhere along the way, which can be useful in getting the upper hand over others should they underestimate her.
She's also one of the most empathetic creatures in the show, but this can backfire on her. In "Suited for Success", she works herself to the bone until she gives her friends exactly what they want, while forsaking her own visions. She's a people/pony pleaser, but she does it out of her heart and from a business standpoint, creators can sometimes fall into this trap and give up their own visions for their products and stories in order to give clients what they think is best.
Even in "Inspiration Manifestation", she was upset that the puppeteer, Claude, didn't like her initial design for his puppet theater, and she was upset because not only did he reject her design, but I think she also sensed he was right about some of the flaws in the design. It was after Spike picked up the book that contains the 'Inspiration Manifestation' spell that she took Claude's criticisms into consideration and rebuilt it into something aesthetically pleasing and practically functional. But she does learn to stick to her visions and keep a balance between her wants and needs vs. others, and also learns to keep criticisms in check without taking them to the extreme in her case.
Also, at her empathy's best, she's the one to easily spot when someone else is going through something rough. In "Sonic Rainboom", she was the one to notice Rainbow Dash's anxiety over the upcoming Best Young Flyer competition. She's also the one to encourage Fluttershy when the latter was feeling overwhelmed by Pinkie Pie's.... unnecessary commentary.
That's as nice as I'll put it when it comes to Pinkie in that episode.
But back to Rarity, yes, she took Fluttershy under her wing and reminded her of the fun she had and the success she brought onto herself for singing so well with the Ponytones. She was reassuring and didn't push it when Fluttershy said she wanted to take baby steps into being more comfortable in front of larger audiences to sing. It's a really heartwarming scene of her character and shows her devotion to the well-being of her friends.
The only thing I wish we could have gotten more of when it comes to Rarity is her background. Out of all the ponies in the Mane Six, her familial backstory is largely unexplored. They focused on the other ponies' upbringings and their roles within their own immediate families, so why was Rarity's upbringing barely looked at? We have met her parents, yes, but we hardly know anything about them - or any of Rarity's family if she has any other relatives - besides the fact they sound like they came from the Midwest and Sweetie Belle lives with them. Is it because the writers felt Rarity simply didn't need to have her past laid out for all to see? If so, then I say that's not fair. Fans of Rarity would love learning more about their favorite Element of Generosity, even more if they found out what life was like for her at her old home before she moved into her current one. The rest of the Mane Six got their exploratory episodes, so Rarity - as a member of the group - should get hers too.
With that, I segway into...
Also, at her empathy's best, she's the one to easily spot when someone else is going through something rough. In "Sonic Rainboom", she was the one to notice Rainbow Dash's anxiety over the upcoming Best Young Flyer competition. She's also the one to encourage Fluttershy when the latter was feeling overwhelmed by Pinkie Pie's.... unnecessary commentary.
That's as nice as I'll put it when it comes to Pinkie in that episode.
But back to Rarity, yes, she took Fluttershy under her wing and reminded her of the fun she had and the success she brought onto herself for singing so well with the Ponytones. She was reassuring and didn't push it when Fluttershy said she wanted to take baby steps into being more comfortable in front of larger audiences to sing. It's a really heartwarming scene of her character and shows her devotion to the well-being of her friends.
The only thing I wish we could have gotten more of when it comes to Rarity is her background. Out of all the ponies in the Mane Six, her familial backstory is largely unexplored. They focused on the other ponies' upbringings and their roles within their own immediate families, so why was Rarity's upbringing barely looked at? We have met her parents, yes, but we hardly know anything about them - or any of Rarity's family if she has any other relatives - besides the fact they sound like they came from the Midwest and Sweetie Belle lives with them. Is it because the writers felt Rarity simply didn't need to have her past laid out for all to see? If so, then I say that's not fair. Fans of Rarity would love learning more about their favorite Element of Generosity, even more if they found out what life was like for her at her old home before she moved into her current one. The rest of the Mane Six got their exploratory episodes, so Rarity - as a member of the group - should get hers too.
With that, I segway into...
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3. DEPICTIONS/QUESTIONS
Rarity's a gem, even if others don't see her that way.
Rarity's a gem, even if others don't see her that way.
*"Rarity x Insert Ship Here Forever!": Okay? I do have my own fan pairings, but I'm not totally into the shipping aspect of FIM. That side is...um... overly enthusiastic.
*"She's a slut!": No. No, she's NOT. Rarity flirts with guys, but she does not date any of them. Shoot, we don't even see her hook up with anyone by the end of the show's run. I think it's because by then, she learned to move on from this desire and be content whether she has a stallion by her side or not. Doesn't mean she's not open to meeting stallions, but compared to the early seasons, she's calmer about it.
*"She's a girly-girl!" See my above analysis. I don't understand why is it bad she's elegant and full of class? If it's out of jealousy, that's not right and you can learn to tame it. It is possible to learn how to achieve these things. I, for one, am grateful that she can be considered a role model for those who want to achieve grace and refinement, all the while keeping a kind and good heart. Isn't that what we want to be aspire to be - kind and good?
*"She's a snob, especially to Spike!": She was not mean to him. She's not mean in general. She learned to appreciate him overtime, just like the rest of the Mane 6 when they - even Twilight - were just as guilty for taking him for granted too. Shoot, all of them have acted like jerks sometimes. What are you talking about?
*"She's not great as the Element of Generosity": Tell that to her loved ones - she spends time with them when she could be holed up in her shop, she creates outfits for free, gave away a scarf she had on hand to another pony who was delighted at receiving such a gift and chopped off her OWN tail to help a sea serpent who lost part of his mustache because she didn't like how sad he was at his loss and wanted to cheer him up. See "Friendship is Magic, Part 2", "Sisterhooves Special" and "Rarity Takes Manhattan" for more significant details.
*"She was at fault for choosing Applejack as the judge in 'Honest Apple'!: They were both at fault. Rarity underestimated Applejack's honesty, yes, but how was she to know AJ would take it as she did? She assumed Applejack would be balanced in her judgment, but when she wasn't, Rarity was put off by how AJ acted more like a critic that hated everything (kind of like the Internet at its worst actually).
*"She's a slut!": No. No, she's NOT. Rarity flirts with guys, but she does not date any of them. Shoot, we don't even see her hook up with anyone by the end of the show's run. I think it's because by then, she learned to move on from this desire and be content whether she has a stallion by her side or not. Doesn't mean she's not open to meeting stallions, but compared to the early seasons, she's calmer about it.
*"She's a girly-girl!" See my above analysis. I don't understand why is it bad she's elegant and full of class? If it's out of jealousy, that's not right and you can learn to tame it. It is possible to learn how to achieve these things. I, for one, am grateful that she can be considered a role model for those who want to achieve grace and refinement, all the while keeping a kind and good heart. Isn't that what we want to be aspire to be - kind and good?
*"She's a snob, especially to Spike!": She was not mean to him. She's not mean in general. She learned to appreciate him overtime, just like the rest of the Mane 6 when they - even Twilight - were just as guilty for taking him for granted too. Shoot, all of them have acted like jerks sometimes. What are you talking about?
*"She's not great as the Element of Generosity": Tell that to her loved ones - she spends time with them when she could be holed up in her shop, she creates outfits for free, gave away a scarf she had on hand to another pony who was delighted at receiving such a gift and chopped off her OWN tail to help a sea serpent who lost part of his mustache because she didn't like how sad he was at his loss and wanted to cheer him up. See "Friendship is Magic, Part 2", "Sisterhooves Special" and "Rarity Takes Manhattan" for more significant details.
*"She was at fault for choosing Applejack as the judge in 'Honest Apple'!: They were both at fault. Rarity underestimated Applejack's honesty, yes, but how was she to know AJ would take it as she did? She assumed Applejack would be balanced in her judgment, but when she wasn't, Rarity was put off by how AJ acted more like a critic that hated everything (kind of like the Internet at its worst actually).
She had to get AJ, the stubborn mare she can be, to see the bigger picture of the harm her actions have caused on the up-and-coming fashion designers by having someone overly criticize the work she does for the family farm. Harsh, but as the saying goes, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. In this case, it was putting AJ in the horseshoes of those she criticized to realize she took it too far. Rarity may be generous to her friends, but she knows when they need medicine to set them straight.
More to come in the next post.
Wanderer out!
More to come in the next post.
Wanderer out!
