Did My Little Pony just go Galt?

Fan art courtesy of gimpcowking on Deviantart.

So I admitted during a previous post that I was something of a soft brony, not obsessed with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic but it was and is a show I watch and enjoy regularly. And though it's taken a slight decline in quality over the last few seasons, Friendship is Magic is comfortable among its contemporaries as excellent children's programming that treats kids maturely and is willing to address some more serious topics than usual for fare of its kind. It's not afraid to show that maintaining relationships between friends can be difficult and sometimes answers to problems aren't obvious and pat. That's something I've always appreciated about Friendship is Magic, that it could tell stories about adult responsibilities and problems but in a way that younger audiences could understand and they didn't sacrifice whimsy or humor to do so. It's one of the things that helped attract it's now massive fanbase.

But while watching the latest episode, Canterlot Boutique, I was struck by the thematic subtext of the plot. Yes, I know how silly I sound talking about the thematic subtext of an episode of My Little Pony but just go with me here. In particular, what stood out to me were the similarities between the conflict of the episode's main character Rarity and that of Howard Roark, the protagonist of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. It wasn't an explicit homage by any means but I noticed enough parallels between the narratives of the episode and the novel to wonder, did My Little Pony just craft a piece of Objectivist Propaganda?

31 (or so) Days of Terror: Wes Craven's New Nightmare

It was sad news this week when it was announced that Wes Craven, one of the most famous horror directors of our time, passed away at the age of 79. Craven is just another in a long list of genre icons we've lost this year and while his oeuvre includes more than a few clunkers, there is no denying the impact he's made on the horror genre with films like The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, and the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. To honor his passing, I'm going to take a look at one of Craven's best-regarded films and the one that at least in my opinion, best expresses his philosophy toward horror. It's also the film where he made his last statement on probably his most famous creation Freddy Krueger, Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

New Nightmare is actually something a strange movie because of its self-aware nature, but it is that very meta approach that informs its theme and makes it such a unique film. To wit, New Nightmare stars original Nightmare star Heather Langenkamp as... original Nightmare star Heather Langenkamp who has moved on from her scream queen days with her young son and FX artist husband. Her Hollywood life is being disrupted by some sinister phone calls from what she thinks is a Freddy-obsessed stalker, a string of earthquakes wrecking her house, and horrible nightmares. Heather would like nothing more than to forget Freddy Krueger and all the weird things happening to her until she learns that Wes Craven is working on the script for a new Nightmare movie that oddly resembles her own recent troubles. As things get increasingly worse, it becomes clearer that whatever is happening to her is far more supernatural and Freddy-looking than she thought but given her connection to the razor-fingered boogieman, everyone around her thinks she's just having a nervous breakdown. With her son and sanity in danger, Heather is forced to ask herself whether Freddy could be more than a character in a movie.