I don't see what the problem with the episode is, really. There really never seemed to be any problems in the intended message, and further still I don't feel the falsely interpreted message ended up being bad either...
Before I get going, please note that while I have
most definitely tried hard to stay unbiased and view both sides of the Science/Religion debate equally, the entire concept of being unbiased is an impossible task, and therefore, bias may (or will) occur through my personal context, and ideological beliefs. I'mma get to it, and i'mma also gonna quote some of what Dr. Wolf and CloudCuckooCountry said in that video.
"Having faith in your friends in the face of your own doubt is a good moral". That
is the main and intended moral of the episode, and like he said it
is a good one. It's simple enough, and honestly there's not much wrong with it. Moving on.
Even though it seems so easy to do so, you can't just brush this episode off in the way Cuckoo does -
"... it frames science as something that tears friendships apart and faith as something that brings people together." Saying it like that and perceiving it like that makes it a thing that will without fail cause arguments and flame-wars, because if you make it seem so anti-science like that people are going to start passive-aggressively tearing at each others throats with walls of texts from all perspectives while sitting atop a throne of their own sanctimonious ignorance - Especially in the context of the internet where it seems to be almost impossible for faith and science to coexist.
This is why I agree so strongly with what Dr. Wolf says about the accidentally portrayed 'Science vs. Faith" debate -
Dr. Wolf wrote:"I like the fact that even though Twilight firmly believes that something like the 'Pinkie Sense' doesn't exist, she is at least willing to try and understand it; And even though Pinkie doesn't quite understand Twilights methods, she was willing to allow Twilight to experiment on her. I'd say that perhaps some of their mannerisms went a little too far for the episode, but the willingness of both to consider the others point of view is still there. So even in an unintentional way the writers still managed to put in something worth while, even if it isn't all that much."
I will say the word again -
Coexistence. This seems so unbelievably hard for people to manage these days.
Everybody - both parties - are so ignorant to what other people may think when it comes to the topic of Science and Religion. This is why the episode, when looked at the way Dr. Wolf describes, becomes so much more than what it is. Both parties in the episode are
willing to consider the others perspective, which is a lot more than what can be said for a quite a lot of people - leaving it as a good moral to portray - Even though
you may think or believe one thing, that doesn't mean that
other people aren't allowed to have a different view or belief. (I really don't want to use myself as an example, but it's far too easy. So I will.) Take me and one of my best friends in high school for example. Despite what either one of us thought or believed, we never shunned or ridiculed or discouraged the other's point of view, and we were always able to have discussions about beliefs ideas theories or philosophies that were always interesting. Even if we couldn't entirely understand where the other was coming from we would still make an effort so we could at least see what the other meant. The willingness of both to consider the others point of view is still there. Thus the magic of friendship, and relatable to Twi's attempts at understanding her friend and Pinkies not being indignant and unreasonable right off the bat.
In the end doesn't the show promote
But, Dr. Wolf is also right in that It is rather unfortunate that their mannerisms dragged out as they did, what with Twilight continually hunting for a way to disprove Pinkie Sense but to no avail... Within the original context of the episode it all just makes sense, but our contexts have warped it too much for it to retain that.
Sorry I left to go do something else after writing this part and it is 2:30 am so I forget where I was going with this....
I also forgot a very large part of everything i was going to write after that point. Like everything. So. uh. Yeah...
Is MLP Fundamentally Limited by its Position in Popular Culture? Yes. Of course it is. They do what they can with what they've got. But in the case of "Feeling Pinkie Keen", it's a matter of misinterpretation through context. How could this episode have been more "politically correct" or free of undertones that can be so easily misconstrued? I simply don't think that this particular episode
can be. It is what it is - if you want to keep the original message of
"Having faith in your friends in the face of your own doubt" or even use the alternate message of "Even though
you may think or believe one thing, that doesn't mean that
other people aren't allowed to have a different view or belief/The willingness of both to consider and try to understand the others point of view", reworking the episode to make it have no undertones will be a pretty large task. I don't think it's been done yet either, but in all honesty (and in my opinion), the episode wasn't all that bad and it seemed to still get it's message across while not being intentionally controversial - The show preaches about a world of colourful magic ponies (as well as other races) who all live together in peace and harmony, with the magic of friendship and promotion of harmony with one another as central and core topics of the shows overall moral presentation.
But by all means, go for it :3
and like always im left wondering to myself whether I've written something that makes sense or not at 2:40am.... I should sleep now....