It's kind of an unspoken thing.. SB, AB, and Scoots are the challenged kids of the class. Scootaloo cannot fly, Sweetie Belle cannot use magic.. and Apple Bloom is...it implies a couple things.. ADD, undersized for her age.. hyper active.. This makes them relatable to a lot people, especially ones who are challenged.. That said, a lot of people grow out of their developmental disorders.. People know that Scootaloo can't fly.. that is why they want..even need to see her fly..People feel like the underdog..that is why they like it when underdogs win...
Of course they would deny this if questioned about it, especially after the Derpy Hooves reaction.
Maybe I'm over analyzing it. Either way, they could easily strap a hang glider to her back, her wings are clearly powerful enough to provide forward thrust if she can motor on her Scooter..
Of course they would deny this if questioned about it, especially after the Derpy Hooves reaction.
Maybe I'm over analyzing it. Either way, they could easily strap a hang glider to her back, her wings are clearly powerful enough to provide forward thrust if she can motor on her Scooter..
Oops. I almost forgot to include the most salient part of my reply - my friend opined that seeing Scootaloo fly would, to her, feel like losing the character and her connection with her. As it is right now, she feels like Scootaloo is a champion for kids like her, who have a physical disability they have no choice but to live with, and if Scootaloo learned to fly, she wouldn't be that symbol anymore. I don't have a physical disability (of that kind) but I can completely see the reasoning in that. So I tend to take her view.
I see your point, and acknowledge the truth in it.. I would like to share my feelings though if I may. This will be long winded and you probably won't agree, so feel free to skip it..
I suppose I should start with this note. I was raised mostly through the special education system.. And my experiences there slant my perspective of things. I wasn't "slow".. quite the contrary.. but I was..what the school administrators called.. "A distraction"..so.. Heavily medicated, and in the bin with the other "distractions" I went. Most of my friends as a child were challenged in some way or another, a few of my friends had to use chairs, or were unable to speak, this never clicked as something that should bother me because I didn't know any different.
So.. this is my perspective.. I prefer the term "challenged".. This isn't a pc thing.. I think it is better to refer to people with impairments as challenged because it has a motivational force..A challenge, something to push aside, climb over, or force your way through.. a hurdle, an obstacle, a test.. A challenge to rise above your limitations and succeed anyway. Because we all have limitations, just not all of them are sitting right there on the surface. There are no limitations on human potential, only excuses. A person must define, and defy their challenges, not let them selves be defined by them. <And some other Hallmark sentiments. Sorry, had to take a moment to laugh at my self.>
<If we have to talk about PC though.. Disabled or Handicapped are considered acceptable for people with physical challenges..or I believe this to be the case. How ever there is a word that tends to only pop up around people with "mental challenges".. and you hear it a lot around special education environments... and that's the word. "Special"..... It would take me too long to explain it, but this is the single most offensive thing I can imagine calling someone who is mentally challenged. I can elaborate if you like, but this post is way too long as it is>
Anyway, that was to get me here.. The reason why it would be important to see Scootaloo fly is metaphorical. Flight is synonymous with triumph,success, victory, what ever words have you.. Yes, they can illustrate the CMCs getting their cutie marks. But as it applies to Scootaloo, flight would be a symbol of triumph over her limitations. If she doesn't fly, then there needs to be an acknowledgement on her part that she is the way she is, and that she is not going to be ashamed of it, which the show has implied to be the case...that she is ashamed of it, and afraid of others finding out.
In 10 to 15 years time, many physical impairments, disabilities, challenges, or what ever you like, will not exist. Scientists are already growing spinal neuro-tissue in labs, as well as a host of other tissues and are already working on complicated structures like organs.. Mechanical prosthesis, such as functioning neuro-operative eyes, limbs, body frames.. some of these things we have now.. though only the very earliest models..With in this generation, if we can manage to keep from destroying our selves, things like physical disability will be a thing of the past. I truly believe this. I can only hope the day comes where more cruel challenges may be cured so easily..
<In all honesty I don't feel like posting this any more, but it took me so long to write it I feel obligated x.x>
I suppose I should start with this note. I was raised mostly through the special education system.. And my experiences there slant my perspective of things. I wasn't "slow".. quite the contrary.. but I was..what the school administrators called.. "A distraction"..so.. Heavily medicated, and in the bin with the other "distractions" I went. Most of my friends as a child were challenged in some way or another, a few of my friends had to use chairs, or were unable to speak, this never clicked as something that should bother me because I didn't know any different.
So.. this is my perspective.. I prefer the term "challenged".. This isn't a pc thing.. I think it is better to refer to people with impairments as challenged because it has a motivational force..A challenge, something to push aside, climb over, or force your way through.. a hurdle, an obstacle, a test.. A challenge to rise above your limitations and succeed anyway. Because we all have limitations, just not all of them are sitting right there on the surface. There are no limitations on human potential, only excuses. A person must define, and defy their challenges, not let them selves be defined by them. <And some other Hallmark sentiments. Sorry, had to take a moment to laugh at my self.>
<If we have to talk about PC though.. Disabled or Handicapped are considered acceptable for people with physical challenges..or I believe this to be the case. How ever there is a word that tends to only pop up around people with "mental challenges".. and you hear it a lot around special education environments... and that's the word. "Special"..... It would take me too long to explain it, but this is the single most offensive thing I can imagine calling someone who is mentally challenged. I can elaborate if you like, but this post is way too long as it is>
Anyway, that was to get me here.. The reason why it would be important to see Scootaloo fly is metaphorical. Flight is synonymous with triumph,success, victory, what ever words have you.. Yes, they can illustrate the CMCs getting their cutie marks. But as it applies to Scootaloo, flight would be a symbol of triumph over her limitations. If she doesn't fly, then there needs to be an acknowledgement on her part that she is the way she is, and that she is not going to be ashamed of it, which the show has implied to be the case...that she is ashamed of it, and afraid of others finding out.
In 10 to 15 years time, many physical impairments, disabilities, challenges, or what ever you like, will not exist. Scientists are already growing spinal neuro-tissue in labs, as well as a host of other tissues and are already working on complicated structures like organs.. Mechanical prosthesis, such as functioning neuro-operative eyes, limbs, body frames.. some of these things we have now.. though only the very earliest models..With in this generation, if we can manage to keep from destroying our selves, things like physical disability will be a thing of the past. I truly believe this. I can only hope the day comes where more cruel challenges may be cured so easily..
<In all honesty I don't feel like posting this any more, but it took me so long to write it I feel obligated x.x>
Actually, I very much appreciate your insight. And I have to agree with you about the choice of words - 'challenged' is good. I've been a very fortunate person in most of my life, but I've suffered from major depression for over a decade and in the past two years I've undergone the world-shattering process of gender transition, so it's certainly true that everyone has challenges. One of mine is that my brain chemistry acts like a live-in bully who wants me to fail, and another is that my body is entirely of the wrong biological sex for me. They are both challenges that I've risen to face and to overcome.
I take your point about the symbolic value of flight - certainly flight is a rather universal metaphor for freedom. It's semantic, I mean, symbols are only meaningful if their meaning is communicated and shared. So, I can also see why, for my friend, flight would be symbolic of something else and damage her connection with the character.
I take your point about the symbolic value of flight - certainly flight is a rather universal metaphor for freedom. It's semantic, I mean, symbols are only meaningful if their meaning is communicated and shared. So, I can also see why, for my friend, flight would be symbolic of something else and damage her connection with the character.
I know where you are coming from on the first..... in all possible ways..gender transition, or reassignment, is one of those things I seriously hope can be improved in the coming years.. I have had mixed and confused feelings about gender identity ever since I was old enough to know that boys and girls are different.. its been going on something like two years since I have really thought of my self as my birth gender... or really even species..I try not to focus on labels.. male, female, bi, gay, tg, etc, furry, brony, what ever have you.. I just try to be me.
I suppose I accepted many years ago that I will never be the "me" that I want to be on the outside. That is fixed, permanent, and even surgically or chemically altered, I still wouldn't be the me I want.. so I try to focus instead on being the "me" I want to be on the inside.. where I have a little more control.. When things get really bad I try to just step away and imagine the innocent little creature I want to be, happily bouncing on a cloud in another world where things make more sense and happiness is just a cupcake away...sometimes I just let my self get lost there, and let that be the real world, until I have to come back..<
You can't be given happiness, you can't receive it, you can't take it or make it.. It is like air.. it is there, but you have to let it in.. And to continue the metaphor, when your heart is aching, it might be a good time to take a good deep breath..
As far as depression goes.. that is something else that has been with me since I was...oh..about 4 years old.. <yes..> Let me know if this sounds familiar..... "Hey... you know that thing? The thing that happened in the Highschool parking lot, like 15 years ago? -...no.. shut up... - remember how helpless you felt when he said what he was going to do to you - shut up! just shut up.. - pfft...fine.....oh, hey, remember when you were five and at that other kid's birthday party and - OMFG JUST SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!"
...Anyway.. your experience might be different, I've just taken to telling that negative part of my mind to shut up when ever it starts to screw me around.. Not that randomly screaming for your brain to shut up is healthy, but it seems to work most of the time..
Anyway, sorry for rambling on x.x.. I need a cork or something..to..keep my fingers quiet... yeah, that's not going to work...uhmm..right then....*edges off awkwardly*
I suppose I accepted many years ago that I will never be the "me" that I want to be on the outside. That is fixed, permanent, and even surgically or chemically altered, I still wouldn't be the me I want.. so I try to focus instead on being the "me" I want to be on the inside.. where I have a little more control.. When things get really bad I try to just step away and imagine the innocent little creature I want to be, happily bouncing on a cloud in another world where things make more sense and happiness is just a cupcake away...sometimes I just let my self get lost there, and let that be the real world, until I have to come back..<
You can't be given happiness, you can't receive it, you can't take it or make it.. It is like air.. it is there, but you have to let it in.. And to continue the metaphor, when your heart is aching, it might be a good time to take a good deep breath..
As far as depression goes.. that is something else that has been with me since I was...oh..about 4 years old.. <yes..> Let me know if this sounds familiar..... "Hey... you know that thing? The thing that happened in the Highschool parking lot, like 15 years ago? -...no.. shut up... - remember how helpless you felt when he said what he was going to do to you - shut up! just shut up.. - pfft...fine.....oh, hey, remember when you were five and at that other kid's birthday party and - OMFG JUST SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!"
...Anyway.. your experience might be different, I've just taken to telling that negative part of my mind to shut up when ever it starts to screw me around.. Not that randomly screaming for your brain to shut up is healthy, but it seems to work most of the time..
Anyway, sorry for rambling on x.x.. I need a cork or something..to..keep my fingers quiet... yeah, that's not going to work...uhmm..right then....*edges off awkwardly*
No need to apologize for yourself 
I appreciate you sharing your perspective with me.
And telling your brain to shut up may not be the -best- way of phrasing it, but 'Thought Stopping' is one of the more universally useful tools a depressed person can have. If you recognize a negative, depressive, self-effacing thought pattern early enough, you can halt that train of thought and force your focus somewhere else. Often it can help you avoid a bad mood crash.
Best of luck out there. Remember we're all in this together.
I appreciate you sharing your perspective with me.And telling your brain to shut up may not be the -best- way of phrasing it, but 'Thought Stopping' is one of the more universally useful tools a depressed person can have. If you recognize a negative, depressive, self-effacing thought pattern early enough, you can halt that train of thought and force your focus somewhere else. Often it can help you avoid a bad mood crash.
Best of luck out there. Remember we're all in this together.I see it more from the perspective of someone who is disabled. I have a very close friend with a physical disability, whose personality may as well be a carbon copy of (what we've seen so far of) Scootaloo. Her perspective on the matter was that of someone who never has the chance to 'outgrow' her disability; she's stuck with it. She has to learn to "win" as an "underdog" with the "obvious path" closed off to her. To me, that is a more touching story: Scootaloo never is able to fly, and it forms part of who she is, but it doesn't hold her back.