User blog:MrNoname2/Just a little conversation I had a year back...

I'm posting this in response to the negativity that our star show gets from viewers like myself. A while back at fimfiction.net, I spoke with another member over there about FiM's problems, which reminded me of everything wrong with Dexter's Lab (including the early episodes). Here's the bulk of our conversation:



''Me: Hello, it's me again. So, I've been going through your old blog posts. The ones that really caught my attention this time were for One Bad Apple, Magical Mystery Cure, Equestria Girls, and the Season 4 opener. Well, if you think THOSE were bad, I have two words for you:''

Dexter’s Laboratory

''Think about it. Lauren Faust is (or was) married to Craig McCracken, who – along with Rob Renzetti – can trace their careers all the way back to the show about the boy genius and his insufferable sister. Now, I know neither Lauren nor Rob is a guiding presence on FiM anymore, but it sounds to me like the influence of Dexter’s Lab is still there. Many of the things you and many others hate about FiM are just what I hate about Dexter’s Lab.*''

But what say you?

''Him:  You're probably on to something. ''

''I remember back when Cartoon Network was first advertising their "Cartoon Cartoons" (Dexter being probably the first one) and every one of them struck me as vapid, unfunny, childish, petty and mean-spirited. And yet a lot of them became insanely popular and still seem to influence the way cartoons are written even today.**''

''Although granted, they themselves were inspired by the likes of Beavis and Butt-head and Ren & Stimpy, which were every bit as deplorable. At least Ren & Stimpy had a sense of warmth about it though.''

(This is where I skip something unimportant.)

'' Me: Given what I've heard and read over the years, you'd think animators were looking for a domain to express themselves without merchandising companies and overprotective parents getting in their way. Instead, all I sense is little more than an excuse to throw a big hissy and just take everything wrong in their lives out on everyone including supportive fans. What losers. ''

'' Him: Yes yes, a million times that's absolutely spot-on. ''

''I dunno what it is about cartoons and comics (where this situation seems even worse), but you hear a lot of ballyhooing about creative freedom and yet it never seems to be exercised to create anything good. By contrast, a lot of the "merchandise-driven" shows these people despise--He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats etc--are shows that show real heart and imagination poured into them.... at least in their original incarnations. The various remakes, on the other hand, feel like fanfics that somehow got animated.''

''Basically the way I usually parse this situation is they're basically rebellious kids wanting to throw a tantrum but having to play by society's rules, while the people who are willing to play ball are the ones who often have genuine hearts. It even seems that way in the internet world--on one hand you have people...who are awesome in their positive contributions and yet are often derided for their content, while many respected reviewers...come off as petty.''

Maybe I should look more into that.

*Same goes for Chris Savino, too, even BEFORE he took over as director.

<p class="double" style="font-weight:normal;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:14.4px;font-family:"OpenSans",Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(85,85,85);">**Heh. I later told the guy he forgot 'nihilistic'.