Quick question:
What do DC Super Hero Girls….
…And My Little Pony…
…Have in common?
Well, they’re both toy franchises aimed mainly at young girls, though they’re not exclusive to them…
Both take place in beautiful, picturesque, exotic locales,
Metropolis
and Dream Castle/Paradise Estates/Ponyville/Equestria, respectively…
And both shows can teach us a thing or 2 about tolerance.
“Great. This is gonna be one of THOSE articles!”
Hear me out. First, let’s look at My Little Pony. Its’ citizenry consists of 3 main Pony tribes:
High-flying Pegasi…
Mystical, magical Unicorns…
And humble, proud, strong, good-hearted, yada yada yada Earth Ponies.
Each of these tribes has specialties, abilities, traits and attributes that the others don’t, but unlike, say, the Sneetches, where one group avowedly looked down on and snubbed the other…
“One side, peasant. The unwashed aren’t permitted to mix with the golden!”
…the Pony Tribes all live together and co-exist peacefully. Every one does what they specialize in, and no one’s job is more important than another’s.
Whether you can proactively cast spells, levitate objects with telekinesis and do magic, fly through the air like a supersonic jet, control the weather and stand and walk on clouds, or possess more Earth-based abilities such as farming, baking, great strength and a near psychic connection with nature and animals and/or innate skills or talent that’s so intangible that some folks mistake it for not being powered at all, all 3 of the Pony tribes are equals and equally special in their own way.
And that’s a GOOD thing.
Now, let’s look at DC Super Hero Girls. In Superhero High…
Come in and get schooled.
Some of the alumni have amazing super powers out the wazoo…
And that’s AWESOME!
While other Hero students aren’t ‘Super’ at all.
“And that’s OK.”
Some of SHH’s students are from outer space, some rely on super-science or magic rings, some hail from the land of myth and legend and some rely solely on their own mad skills and training.
Some have super-intellect and an amazing array of high-tech gadgets and hardcore computer wizardry…
Some characters are actually villains in the comic book canon…
And some are just clowns whose only ‘powers’ are acrobatic flipping and being wacky and nutty.
But unlike, say, the 2005 Disney superhero flick Sky High, where the powered alumni are placed in the revered Hero classes while the non-powered pupils are automatically given the lowly label of
“SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDEKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!!!!”
(NOTE: You had to have seen the movie in order to get this reference.)
In Superhero High, all of the students are equals and are taught, trained and treated equally, regardless of their genetic makeup, power/skill set or planet or origin.
“No big whoop.”
(Also, for some reason I really like that Amanda Waller is the Principal and Gorilla Grodd is Vice-Principal. That just makes me smile for some reason.)
-To Sky High‘s credit, they did have Medula, Professor of Mad Science…
Medula was played by Kevin McDonald of the Kids in the Hall, which alone is Epic Win. That man would be funny reading off the value menu at Wendy’s.
They also had Gwen Grayson, a genius student who was also a technopath–able to psionically control and upgrade technology with her mind.
Of course she turned out to be the infamous super-villainess Royal Pain, who tried to destroy the school, but Gwen was still kind of cool.
-Where was I? Oh yeah, the tolerance thing. Both of these shows can teach kids (and adults too, for that matter) a thing about tolerance.
Truly good mixed casting is something we could stand to see more of in TV, books and movies. It’s more honest, more interesting and a positive example for impressionable young kiddos. If you really want to show your kids the importance and value of tolerance and diversity, forget doing a bunch of preachy PSAs or Very Special Episodes. Just show your cast being diverse, respectful and tolerant as if that’s just the way to live.
It’s one thing to talk about getting along and respecting people different from you, and another to simply SHOW lead characters living that way as though that were the most natural thing in the world. Example can teach just as well as any platitude, or perhaps even better.
“FEH! That’s hippie talk!”
Perhaps so, but if it is, then pass me the bong while I put up my love beads!
On that note, kick it!
Twin Images 