One particular episode - described here and here, and an EXTREMELY catchy song from this one embedded above - though, is more than just a clever series of optimistic witticisms & non-sequiters from Pinkie Pie. I see this episode as powerfully reflective of both ends of bi-polar spectrum. Not just a reflection, but at times a side-by-side comparison and even a collision between the poles. It’s fascinating and disturbing in ways I cannot describe.
At one end is Pinkie Pie, who’s bubbly optimism and sincere desire to create infectious joy is as energetic as it is endearing. The character is a combination of the trickster archetype and the perpetual child. Indeed, another episode addresses the character’s wild immaturity and seeming incompetence with “adult” tasks. The specific ritual of “meet new person, sing random song, become instant best friends” is something I’ve specifically done on more occasions than I can count. My singing voice as heard by everyone isn’t nearly as good as the singing voice in my head (owing to the embedding of my auditory sensors within a few inches of the sound producing organ), but I do love to sing when possible, and sometimes when not entirely appropriate. More than anything else it’s to entertain myself, but nearly as often it’s to entertain & brighten the day of those around me. In my current cubicle farming job, it’s quite necessary to do whatever to offset the emotional oppression, and I relish those times when I can elicit a laugh or a smile by my well timed non-sequiturs, witty remarks, or mini-musicals.
I'm also a people pleaser at heart, and Pinkie's mission to have everyone smiling is something I share. It will bother me deeply to know that I've grieved someone. I won't mind offending on purpose for a politicial or intellectual point, but to hurt someone's feelings is the opposite of what I'd ever want to do.
At the other pole is Cranky Doodle Donkey (which is pun as simple as it is funny), who is a broken shell of a former er…. man. Yes, they’re anthropomorphized horse creatures, but personhood is implicit. C’mon, they’re talking magical ponies, ok? Don’t over think this.
He’s lived a long life of optimistically looking for something specific, and has failed. There’s only so much that the episode develops the character, and the implication is that he’s become a bitter hermit, but the emotional trajectory is clear. This guy has spent a long time being ground down by his failure, and his bitterness is a way he defends himself from his sadness. There is a willful defiance of of Pinkie Pie’s cheering efforts. because he believes he cannot be truly happy, and thus wants to avoid feeling the superficial. He’s tired of feeling an optimism that he feels is baseless and pointless. Why be happy when failure is so much more concrete than success?
I am, objectively speaking, a failure in many senses. Eleven semesters of college has resulted in very few marketable skills, and a field of career options that is grossly mismatched to my natural talents. I have had a number of goals that I have set for myself that I have spectacularly failed to meet; a number of work and extra-curricular projects I've undertaken that I somehow came to believe were my ticket to financial/career/etc success, and subsequently failed to lead to anything more and/or failed completely. My writing - something I've come to regard as one of my better skills - has had several opportunities to become even a part time employment, and I've somehow managed to screw them up. There's some aspects of my life that are worth mention in this respect, but aren't quite of a publicly shareable nature; let it just be said that I have made many mistakes in all aspects of my life. I share far more biographical details with Cranky than I care to admit.
Somewhere between those two - the bubbly cloud-cookoolander optimist and the cynical burnout - is me.
