Honest Apple · 8:23pm Mar 31st, 2023
Honest Apple is an interesting episode. In it, Rarity uses her sway in the fashion industry to give up and coming designers a spotlight. The story centers around preparation for a fashion show hosted out of the Carousel Boutique, with Rarity, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish, and Applejack as judges.
It's a good old fashioned clash-of-personality episode, and as you could probably guess (even if you hadn't seen the episode), Applejack is the source of the clash.
A lot of bronies have rightfully criticized some of the late season episodes as regressing character development - forcing characters into petty squabbles that they should have outgrown. It's a paradox inherent in any series that simultaneously focuses on lessons in conflict resolution, and on individual growth.
This episode manages to capture some of that Season One simplicity without forcing the characters backwards. It's completely understandable that Applejack would take her "honest opinion," and express it too thoughtlessly - especially in the realm of fashion - an artform she has little to no appreciation for. After all, the entire reason she was called upon to judge the contest in the first place was her eye for practicality.
The scenario was doomed from the get go, regardless of how much both Rarity and Applejack have grown over the years. The only flaw was that Rarity imagined it to be a good idea to bring AJ on as a judge in the first place, (but that too is understandable given the blind spots we sometimes develop where our friends are concerned).
In the end, Rarity helps AJ see the error of her ways by introducing her to a pony who hates apples, and watching her go ballistic. The lesson here is that we should appreciate the hard work others put into their passions, even if we don't have a nuanced appreciation of those passions ourselves.
It's a good one.
But there's a subtler message rolled up in all of that. Letting go of our own prejudices, and learning to look at the actual hard work that goes into creating just about anything - that, in and of itself, is an eye-opening way to create appreciation for new art forms in the first place. Applejack does this, and in the process, not only recognizes that she had been harsh in her criticisms, she walks away with at least a laymen's appreciation for fashion as an art form
Discuss
Sprocket
I always liked this episode, as much for the lesson that Rarity teaches Applejack, but also for the point you made in your post. One doesn't have to always enjoy something that others like to do, but trying to understand it can give some some insight to their interests and help you appriciate them and their efforts.
My family has never understood my love for the show and the community that is a part of our fandom. It's gone from open hostility, to veiled insults and is now settled at annoyance, if they say much at all. But years ago, a great friend and co-worker would listen paitently to me relate convention experiences, story ideas and thoughts on the show. When I discouraged about how others treated me or hurt me, he gave me a great piece of advice: Don't let anyone steal your joy. He definately wasn't a fan of the show but he understood how I felt and encouraged me regardless. He could eaily be the Element of Kindness or Generosity. Which just goes to show how much the show influences others.
This is why it was such a good idea to move things over to new locations and new characters. Along with the world building and visual & cultural variety.
5720653
The secondary lesson I took from this episode was “You don’t have to get your friends involved in everything.” Which is a daring idea for a show called “Friendship is Magic.”
Every creature told Rarity that Applejack probably wasn’t suited to the role as a fashion judge. Even Applejack thought it was a bad idea. But Rarity was determined to see it through, and eventually AJ got convinced by her family. Rarity’s forced to eat crow then remainder of the run time, and we’re meant to to delight in her stubborn angst. Rarity made her bed, so we don’t feel bad about her misfortune. It’s the artists getting torn down that made viewers feel bad. At least, that’s what I suspect.
Huh, surprised to see someone call this one a good episode, genuinely thought that everyone hated it.
5720881
It definitely has its flaws, but watching it in retrospect, I do think it was quite enjoyable, and has plenty of redeeming qualities.
I make a point of not only reviewing the five star top tier episodes.
5721000
Fair
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)
Rarity's art and career are something I've also had to... hm... actively work to process feelings on, I suppose?
On the one hand, she works very hard at it, cares a lot about it, and produces many good results. On the other, well, especially in a culture with no nudity taboo, it is the most frivolous occupation of any of the Bearers, it's a domain where consideration needs to be made for both aesthetics and practicality and it's easy to let the latter slip, and it's part of an industry which even in Equestria is depicted as having significant problems, with its IRL counterpart being substantially worse.
Thus, I've had reason to be glad it is Rarity's passion and career -- because it forced me to think about it and not let the bad points occult the good, as Applejack does in this episode. The show also explicitly grapples with problems in the fashion industry, rather than simply giving the impression that there's no need to think about Rarity in relation to them because they don't exist in Equestria.
...I'm kind of unsure how to finish this post and am also low on time, but, yeah, Rarity: cool pony, dedicated and good-hearted artist working in a difficult field.