Starlight Glimmer's Grand Cultural Revolution: The Hidden Politics of "My Little Pony"
Category: Oral Presentation
Author(s): Corrina Switzer
Presenter(s): Corrina Switzer
Mentors(s): John Moore
For decades, the children's media franchise "My Little Pony" has proved to be a major cultural touchstone for niche and mainstream communities alike. While existing literature extensively covers topics such as the gendered fandom of "My Little Pony," no research has explored the political messaging of the show that undergirds its unique cultural impact. "My Little Pony," through interactions between its various groups of creatures, demonstrates remarkably nuanced political commentary on issues like racism, classism. Shockingly, the show even draws explicit ties to historical events such as the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Uniquely, the show's characters work together under a feminist care ethic to resolve these scarily real issues using friendship, deliberation, and radical empathy. All the while, this complex commentary takes place in a brightly colored children's cartoon with magical ponies and unicorns. Through a textual and narrative analysis of various episodes of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", I first analyze the presentation of the show's political issues, then discuss how these are resolved within the show's plot. I then examine key implications, where I argue from a post-modern frame that "My Little Pony"'s unique textual form enables the show to become a politically emancipatory fantasy world for an unexpectedly wide range of audiences. Further, I offer the show as an exemplar of political engagement in a post-truth media ecosystem.