Analysis of Pinkie Pie vs Experience
Let's see if I can write coherently while being half awake.
I saw another Brony start doing psychological analysis of the pony characters but I decided to write about Pinkie Pie from my own perspective.
This is entirely coming from my studying clinical psychology and personal experience.
Pinkie Pie and her randomness
What can I say about Pinkie Pie? She's random, extremely hyperactive and the other characters don't take her seriously. Some of the things she does seem to be right out of Looney Tunes cartoons however there is more to it. Let's start from the beginning.
Her Childhood:
Judging by the Cutie Mark Chronicles episode she seemed to have a really boring and drab childhood. We do not see much of how her parents treat her but they themselves seem to lack a sort of luster. If there was "no smiling or laughing" they may have been strict. Even if you're working on a rock farm there could still be some joy in it. The strange thing about this episode is it conflicts with the first. There's no smiling or laughing but Granny Pie told her to laugh when you're afraid. Also notice the rest of her family are dull colours, she's the only pink one. Where does Granny Pie come into this? Is she the one that was pink? If she never laughed or smiled before she must not have known her Grandmother at this point. That is, unless the entire story was made up. It's been known that people with horrible pasts can make up false memories to hide it all.
Being around strict and dull parents and finding joy and smiling can explain why it just all comes out at once. There's plenty of kids whose parents control them too much who end up staying childlike later in life to make up for it.
My parents were quite strict, they had this attitude where everything has to be work work work and no fun. Unfortunately they had a daughter that loved to bounce around and eat buckets of sugar. Trust me, my parents tried everything to calm me down, but what happens when you push down and hold a spring? It WILL eventually spring back up.
Ah the dreaded ADHD diagnosis. Not every kid who is hyperactive HAS ADHD. If you give a kid drugs for it when they DON'T have it you end up with a confused kid who's growth was stunted.
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20050805/ritalin-may-slow-growth-in-some
Thanks Mom and Dad, no wonder I'm the shortest member of our family...and probably why I'm so messed up.
Anyway I digress here, Pinkie Pie is hyper, really really hyper. But ADHD? Nah. My biggest criticism of clinical psychology is it's belief that anything outside of the social norm is considered abnormal and thus (in many cases) can be medicated and fixed. Kids are naturally energetic and I don't know if it's adults forgetting they were once energetic or their desire to have peace and quiet that makes parents resort to tranquillizing their children.
Older Pinkie Pie:
In Griffon Brush Off we see Pinkie Pie being harassed by Rainbow Dash's not so nice friend. At first she passes it off as nothing, but the more times Gilda does it the more irked about her she becomes. But she is still willing to give Gilda the benefit of the doubt. It's when she sees her friend crying that she steps up..and throws a party. It's really debatable if she actually pulled those pranks or not. In my opinion it does look like it was her. Rainbow Dash is loyal and she very well could have owned up to the pranks as a way of getting Gilda off Pinkie's back. Just like when Fluttershy took Philomena and Twilight tried to take the blame, it's not hard to believe Dash wouldn't do the same. Plus that face Pinkie makes between "Pinkie Pie style" and the party just makes it seem more like she planned it. She seems to be a lot more protective of her friends than herself.
In Swarm of the Century she's the only one that knows about the parasprites. This shows she knows a lot more than she normally lets on. However due to her comical nature no pony takes her seriously. That and her inability to explain things fully just makes it harder to get the point across. She starts to get gradually more and more irritated as she gets ignored.
That's my life in a nutshell, never being taken seriously. It's a problem when you're book knowledgeable like Twilight but have the demeanor and energy of Pinkie Pie. You could start talking seriously about String Theory and the dimension of time but those that known you will turn around and say "calm down" and laugh it off. It's absolutely infuriating.
Feeling Pinkie Keen is one of my favourite episodes for many reasons. You see Pinkie just being herself and Twilight over analyzing everything. I swear it's like seeing me argue with myself. Pinkie Pie would be the younger me, believing in ghosts and psychic abilities and time travel. While Twilight would represent how I am now, somepony who questions everything. While I am usually at odds with a lot of atheists even now, I still doubt any claims unless I see some proof. For example, I believe in reincarnation. I was always (and still am a bit) on the fence as to its validity until I found the work of Ian Stevenson. He was a psychologist working at the University of Virginia. He documented over 2,000 cases of children recalling things they never could have possibly known and all done by the scientific method. He didn't believe in reincarnation himself and always doubted his findings. That being said, I'm at odds with the type of atheist who swears nothing could possibly exist. I think it's impossible to know and understand everything, but dang it I'm going to try! Even Twilight believed in something supernatural, she believed that Nightmare Moon existed.
Now for the new episode, Party of One.
Oh boy, I know that feeling first hand. I was once voted most outgoing in my class. However I was intentionally left out of parties, usually the only one in my class not invited. People forgot my birthday and my own parents said no one would come if I had a party. She reacted how I still do, when I detect a lie I become extremely suspicious. I automatically assume people are sick of me and don't want me around anymore. At that point I get extremely depressed. And yes, at one point I used to talk to my goldfish, who sadly were my only friends. It's tough being an extremely outgoing social person when everyone finds you really annoying and overwhelming. Anyway back to Pinkie's behavior. From a psychological perspective, her automatic assumption of them hating her could have two origins of belief. Number one, she believes that there is something wrong with herself and fears losing everyone. Or number two, she craves the love and affection and has a desperate need to be accepted so much it would throw her off balance if she did not get it. Her hair deflating seems to represent just how much it hurt her to be left alone.
Conclusion:
I think Pinkie Pie is a pony who had a dull childhood and after building up all that childlike joy over the years it ended up coming out like one huge party. She lacked the affection and attention she innately desired and it still has a significant importance to her today. Having abandonment issues is really not a fun thing to have.
Take in everything around you that you love, your friends, family, that $200 limited edition figure of Darth Vadar, take it all in at once. Take that immense joy you feel inside thinking of everything you love and let it all out. That is Pinkie Pie. The joy of throwing a party, dancing and saying at the top of your lungs "I AM SO HAPPY". There's a lot of energy in that kind of emotion, and there's nothing wrong in that.
Take it from a girl who used to bound down the school halls saying YIPPEE. My class hated me for being so energetic, and I ended up hating myself over the teasing I got for it (among other things they hated me for). Seeing somepony like Pinkie Pie made me realize that I wasn't being horrible or awful or monstrous, I was expressing the sheer joy of being happy...just in my own energetic way. Though I'm still horribly paranoid and think everyones lying to me, which does get in the way. Course back in the day I WAS right to expect the worst, because they DID ditch me. Ah well can't please everypony!
And that's my thoughts on Pinkie Pie and comparison.
I think everyone would be happier if they just took some time out to just bounce around and be happy.
I saw another Brony start doing psychological analysis of the pony characters but I decided to write about Pinkie Pie from my own perspective.
This is entirely coming from my studying clinical psychology and personal experience.
Pinkie Pie and her randomness
What can I say about Pinkie Pie? She's random, extremely hyperactive and the other characters don't take her seriously. Some of the things she does seem to be right out of Looney Tunes cartoons however there is more to it. Let's start from the beginning.
Her Childhood:
Judging by the Cutie Mark Chronicles episode she seemed to have a really boring and drab childhood. We do not see much of how her parents treat her but they themselves seem to lack a sort of luster. If there was "no smiling or laughing" they may have been strict. Even if you're working on a rock farm there could still be some joy in it. The strange thing about this episode is it conflicts with the first. There's no smiling or laughing but Granny Pie told her to laugh when you're afraid. Also notice the rest of her family are dull colours, she's the only pink one. Where does Granny Pie come into this? Is she the one that was pink? If she never laughed or smiled before she must not have known her Grandmother at this point. That is, unless the entire story was made up. It's been known that people with horrible pasts can make up false memories to hide it all.
Being around strict and dull parents and finding joy and smiling can explain why it just all comes out at once. There's plenty of kids whose parents control them too much who end up staying childlike later in life to make up for it.
My parents were quite strict, they had this attitude where everything has to be work work work and no fun. Unfortunately they had a daughter that loved to bounce around and eat buckets of sugar. Trust me, my parents tried everything to calm me down, but what happens when you push down and hold a spring? It WILL eventually spring back up.
Ah the dreaded ADHD diagnosis. Not every kid who is hyperactive HAS ADHD. If you give a kid drugs for it when they DON'T have it you end up with a confused kid who's growth was stunted.
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20050805/ritalin-may-slow-growth-in-some
Thanks Mom and Dad, no wonder I'm the shortest member of our family...and probably why I'm so messed up.
Anyway I digress here, Pinkie Pie is hyper, really really hyper. But ADHD? Nah. My biggest criticism of clinical psychology is it's belief that anything outside of the social norm is considered abnormal and thus (in many cases) can be medicated and fixed. Kids are naturally energetic and I don't know if it's adults forgetting they were once energetic or their desire to have peace and quiet that makes parents resort to tranquillizing their children.
Older Pinkie Pie:
In Griffon Brush Off we see Pinkie Pie being harassed by Rainbow Dash's not so nice friend. At first she passes it off as nothing, but the more times Gilda does it the more irked about her she becomes. But she is still willing to give Gilda the benefit of the doubt. It's when she sees her friend crying that she steps up..and throws a party. It's really debatable if she actually pulled those pranks or not. In my opinion it does look like it was her. Rainbow Dash is loyal and she very well could have owned up to the pranks as a way of getting Gilda off Pinkie's back. Just like when Fluttershy took Philomena and Twilight tried to take the blame, it's not hard to believe Dash wouldn't do the same. Plus that face Pinkie makes between "Pinkie Pie style" and the party just makes it seem more like she planned it. She seems to be a lot more protective of her friends than herself.
In Swarm of the Century she's the only one that knows about the parasprites. This shows she knows a lot more than she normally lets on. However due to her comical nature no pony takes her seriously. That and her inability to explain things fully just makes it harder to get the point across. She starts to get gradually more and more irritated as she gets ignored.
That's my life in a nutshell, never being taken seriously. It's a problem when you're book knowledgeable like Twilight but have the demeanor and energy of Pinkie Pie. You could start talking seriously about String Theory and the dimension of time but those that known you will turn around and say "calm down" and laugh it off. It's absolutely infuriating.
Feeling Pinkie Keen is one of my favourite episodes for many reasons. You see Pinkie just being herself and Twilight over analyzing everything. I swear it's like seeing me argue with myself. Pinkie Pie would be the younger me, believing in ghosts and psychic abilities and time travel. While Twilight would represent how I am now, somepony who questions everything. While I am usually at odds with a lot of atheists even now, I still doubt any claims unless I see some proof. For example, I believe in reincarnation. I was always (and still am a bit) on the fence as to its validity until I found the work of Ian Stevenson. He was a psychologist working at the University of Virginia. He documented over 2,000 cases of children recalling things they never could have possibly known and all done by the scientific method. He didn't believe in reincarnation himself and always doubted his findings. That being said, I'm at odds with the type of atheist who swears nothing could possibly exist. I think it's impossible to know and understand everything, but dang it I'm going to try! Even Twilight believed in something supernatural, she believed that Nightmare Moon existed.
Now for the new episode, Party of One.
Oh boy, I know that feeling first hand. I was once voted most outgoing in my class. However I was intentionally left out of parties, usually the only one in my class not invited. People forgot my birthday and my own parents said no one would come if I had a party. She reacted how I still do, when I detect a lie I become extremely suspicious. I automatically assume people are sick of me and don't want me around anymore. At that point I get extremely depressed. And yes, at one point I used to talk to my goldfish, who sadly were my only friends. It's tough being an extremely outgoing social person when everyone finds you really annoying and overwhelming. Anyway back to Pinkie's behavior. From a psychological perspective, her automatic assumption of them hating her could have two origins of belief. Number one, she believes that there is something wrong with herself and fears losing everyone. Or number two, she craves the love and affection and has a desperate need to be accepted so much it would throw her off balance if she did not get it. Her hair deflating seems to represent just how much it hurt her to be left alone.
Conclusion:
I think Pinkie Pie is a pony who had a dull childhood and after building up all that childlike joy over the years it ended up coming out like one huge party. She lacked the affection and attention she innately desired and it still has a significant importance to her today. Having abandonment issues is really not a fun thing to have.
Take in everything around you that you love, your friends, family, that $200 limited edition figure of Darth Vadar, take it all in at once. Take that immense joy you feel inside thinking of everything you love and let it all out. That is Pinkie Pie. The joy of throwing a party, dancing and saying at the top of your lungs "I AM SO HAPPY". There's a lot of energy in that kind of emotion, and there's nothing wrong in that.
Take it from a girl who used to bound down the school halls saying YIPPEE. My class hated me for being so energetic, and I ended up hating myself over the teasing I got for it (among other things they hated me for). Seeing somepony like Pinkie Pie made me realize that I wasn't being horrible or awful or monstrous, I was expressing the sheer joy of being happy...just in my own energetic way. Though I'm still horribly paranoid and think everyones lying to me, which does get in the way. Course back in the day I WAS right to expect the worst, because they DID ditch me. Ah well can't please everypony!
And that's my thoughts on Pinkie Pie and comparison.
I think everyone would be happier if they just took some time out to just bounce around and be happy.