S05E05: Tanks For The Memories

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Re: S05E05: Tanks For The Memories

Postby Durandal (?) » Thu May 07, 2015 12:26 am

I hate to feel like I'm just emptyquoting, but here's a great comment I read on Fimfic and I agree with just about everything it says

Strange Reasoning wrote:
Ah, dude. You're missing the point in a huge way, with Tanks for the Memories.

Why did Rainbow Dash pick Tank as a pet?

Answer: because he showed unsolicited loyalty to her. That thing she aspires to have as a core value, but all too often doesn't succeed at.

Look at the first line of the song "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, well life gave me Tank..." Stop and think for a second. She's saying her whole life's been an exercise in finding silver linings, in not letting bad stuff get her down. But she counts Tank as the biggest blessing she's gotten.

Now, instead of acting incredulous and reacting "What about Fluttershy?" why not take the writers at their word with what they're telling us between the lines?

Dash feels like she's not important to anypony. Not important enough for anypony to make her a priority in their lives. (And look at Fluttershy. Yah, Dash acts like a jerk to her a lot, but Fluttershy prefers animals to ponies...including Dash, the pony who'd take bruises for her honour if it came to that. Now, maybe that's not what Fluttershy needs. Isn't that the tragedy of so many friendships, what what folks can offer doesn't line up with what they need).

So Tank isn't just a pet. He's the flashing neon sign that the reason Rainbow Dash is so fixated on being a Wonderbolt isn't just pure ego. It's ego she's had to develop to smother the doubts about her worth to everypony. This is the sort of thing we saw hints of all the way back to S1. They aren't just pulling this struggle out of nowhere.

So this is why when I watch "I'll fly" I bawl inconsolably. Because I know what it's like to have a socially deformed life and have the one piece of it that's giving me what I want most taken away. Even if it's just for a season.

Rainbow Dash's issues and her reaction to them is totally plausible. I can only hope against hope they'll somehow take the logical next step and slowly _explore_ her issues. Contrasting them, perhaps, with Twilight. Who has the same sense of worthlessness, but copes by acting like she's only as worthwhile as she is useful.
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Thu May 07, 2015 1:43 am

I'm not sure I agree that Dash is that desperate to escape an all-consuming feeling of inadequacy. She certainly defines herself by her accomplishments, like many kids who grow up good at a sport or academics. But she has good reason to be proud of her achievements, and she seems too confident most of the time to be miserable about a perceived lack of success.

There are times when she breaks down, like "Sonic Rainboom," when she was seriously worried she'd fail to impress everyone, and Tank does represent a constant in her life. She can't always show off for other ponies, and even her friends have their own lives. Tank is there for her in those quiet moments, and she may not even have realized she needed someone like that.

I guess I'm saying that Tank helped Dash realize that she is also a social creature, like other ponies and people. That realization is why she's willing to play backstop for Ponyville's worst team or stand up for other ponies' safety when she's trying out for the Wonderbolts. I see it as shortsightedness on Young Dash's part, not a gaping insecurity.
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Postby Wylie (?) » Thu May 07, 2015 2:42 am

I've said before, at length, that 99% of Dash's bravado and bluster is primarily for her own benefit. She drives herself to frequent injury (and property damage) learning and practicing new tricks not because they make everyone else think she's awesome, but because they make her think she's awesome, and she needs to remind herself of that frequently.
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Thu May 07, 2015 3:37 am

Wouldn't be the first time we see Dash trying to fill a void. Look at "Sleepless in Ponyville". Even well before the episode's conclusion, Dash really is trying to get to know Scootaloo. She engages her in conversation, tries to get to know her. She knows Scootaloo really looks up to her, and that doesn't seem to feed her ego here. It seemed to make her want to really earn that respect from Scootaloo.

:allears: Deep down, I think that she wanted a little sister in her life as much as Scootaloo wanted a big sister.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Thu May 07, 2015 12:55 pm

I don't think Rainbow Dash is motivated by a fear of inadequacy so much as she has a severe desire for companionship. To me she always felt like an extrovert of the highest order, one of those sorts who needs the attention of other people in order to be happy. After all, back in Sonic Rainboom she wasn't afraid of messing up quite so much as she was afraid of messing up in front of a crowd, and thus was worried that she'd ruin her image and that no one would like her. We can see that side of her again in MMDW, where she started engaging in heroics not just because it was the right thing to do, but also because it got lots of attention focused on her. When the Mare-do-Well showed up, the threat of someone stealing that attention led to Rainbow getting aggressive, just as she responded here by deciding to destroy the weather factory.

Like I said earlier, for her Tank became a friend who was always there, someone who would always provide affection and would never judge her. Having to lose that, even for just a few months, hurt Rainbow incredibly hard.
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Postby Dulset Tarn (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 4:06 pm

I know I'm in the minority here, but I really don't think this episode is a metaphor for coping with death or loss. The best evidence toward that interpretation is the presence of the five stages of grief, which I think we can agree felt quite unnatural given the circumstances, as well as the "burial" scene, which is... just what tortoises do when they hibernate.

But aside from that it doesn't make sense, given the scenario, that the episode is pointing toward death or loss. In an episode about that, the focus character needs to learn to move on and cope with something that either has already happened, or will inevitably happen soon. There's no stopping it, and the reason they need to get over it is purely internal. Now, the episode does feature Dash learning to cope with her own loneliness without Tank, but there are other factors that make the "death" analogy impossible. See, Tank's hibernation is not inevitable. The episode shows multiple times that Dash can keep him awake. If she chose it, she could have prevented him from hibernating indefinitely. Her letting him hibernate shows that she's ready to accept it, but we must remember the reason she must accept it is purely for Tank. Hibernation is healthy for him, and it's not good for him for Dash to keep him awake. In what story of death could the metaphorical "death" be a direct choice to make out of concern for the health of the "dead"?

But I'm not saying the symbolism isn't there, I believe we're just misinterpreting it. When I saw the episode, I thought in fact that it was a great allegory not for death, but for coping with a friend who has just suffered a disability. Imagine that you're like Dash, and you have a friend you love to do extreme activities with. Sports, hiking, doesn't really matter what. But one day your friend is injured and has to stay in a wheelchair for a couple months. At first, you might be determined not to let it get in the way of the relationship you shared doing all these fun things, try to keep going like nothing's changed. When that doesn't work, you might try to blame the world around you and try to change the rules so that your wheelchair-bound friend can still play sports. But in the end, it's not healthy for the injured to be too active. They need to rest and recuperate, for their own sake. Tank was sad alongside Dash that he had to hibernate, he didn't want to leave her alone, but that's how it was.

You're still friends, even if you can't do everything together. And that I think is my final point to make for my interpretation. A lesson about coping with death would not be a bad moral, but it is certainly not a "friendship lesson" which this show is about. Accepting your friends' limits and knowing when you need to let them recover is a very good lesson to learn, and definitely about friendship.

Does anyone agree?
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 6:53 pm

Hmm, well, if you want to really dig at what kind of metaphor it best fits, I'd say it's closest to dealing with a terminally ill loved one. Do you keep them alive as long as possible, even if it's to nobody's benefit (and agony for them)?

I'll leave that alone; I don't think I want to peer too closely at that interpretation. :nngh:
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 7:38 pm

Dulset Tarn wrote:And that I think is my final point to make for my interpretation. A lesson about coping with death would not be a bad moral, but it is certainly not a "friendship lesson" which this show is about. Accepting your friends' limits and knowing when you need to let them recover is a very good lesson to learn, and definitely about friendship.

Does anyone agree?

I don't know if the exact type of loss is strictly important. Maybe it's a death in the family, maybe it's a friend you can't see for a long time. We can probably think up all sorts of scenarios that fit the bill.

We left the need for every episode to fit the "friendship lesson" model behind in season 2, and episodes like "Hurricane Fluttershy" are more about personal growth than friendship lessons. The important points are: How does Dash cope with loss, and how do her friends help her through it?

The latter is the "friendship lesson," although it's brief and not the main focus of the episode. How do you help a friend who's dealing with real changes in their life that a few kind words won't wash away? What's in their best interest when handling the dark times in their life?
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Postby Big Boss (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 12:25 am

It's not so much as death, but dealing with the five stages of grief, which can be applied to multiple phases of life.
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Postby Dulset Tarn (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 1:13 am

I would retort that it's not about dealing with the five stages, rather than simply demonstrating them. The resolution was literally just telling dash to get over it until she does.
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Postby Wylie (?) » Fri May 15, 2015 6:39 am

Well, that has value as well. Simply having Dash move through those stages could give a youngster enough clues to say "hey, my friend just snapped my head off for no reason, and now they're crying. Perhaps this has nothing to do with anything I've done to them and more to do with the fact that (they just lost a pet/had a grandparent pass away/their parents are splitting up)." That simple realization can get them to stop thinking about themselves ("My friend just yelled at me!") and start thinking about others ("why did they do that? Can I help?"), which is no small thing.
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Postby Just Scuds (?) » Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:21 pm

http://i.imgur.com/t7uD9L9.gifv


One of these days ... :3: :flutterunsmith:
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Postby Zimbie (?) » Mon Mar 21, 2016 5:40 pm

Yes. Rainbow Dash's first solo song. I was waiting for that for ages, even if Dash is not my favorite pone :awesomedash:
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