Big Bad Competition

The Big Bad Competition

From participation awards to little leagues that don’t keep score, many people revolt against the idea of “competition” for children. Some argue that forcing children to compete lowers self-esteem, others claim it stimulates hostility. Personally, I believe that competition is a necessary hardship for young people to face because we live in a highly competitive world. People battle for jobs and college opportunities, businesses thrive on being the better company with superior products, and raises and promotions are earned through excellence, or standing out from others. Life is full of obstacles and by having kids face challenges at a young age, you can teach them how to deal with similar situations in adulthood.

When children compete, it’s all in fun. Winning feels good, losing feels bad, and it’s just a game. But there are so many lessons to be learned from the different feelings children experience when they compete. When kids get down about losing, that’s when you teach them to cheer up and keep moving forward; Not always getting what you want is okay and you can’t let “failures” hold you back from your goals. When kids win, you must teach them not to be arrogant or gloat. These are lessons people constantly need to be reminded of, even as adults. It’s good to teach this to kids from a young age. This is an issue I first discovered maybe five or six years ago. It’s not anything new and I’d forgotten about it, but then I watched the newest movie from the “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic” franchise, “Rainbow Rocks.” (Yes, I am a fan of the show) This movie is the second installment of My Little Pony human-counterpart world, Equestria Girls, and takes place in a high school rather than a magical pony kingdom.

The movie begins with Canterlot High School preparing for a musical showcase to raise money for after-school activities. Everybody in the school is teeming with excitement. Our five main characters, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy have formed a band called “Rainboom,” and plan on playing at the showcase. They also have befriended Sunset Shimmer, the villain from the previous Equestria Girls film, who has mended her ways and now wishes to be good. While the rest of the school still has trouble accepting her, she is doing her best to make up for her past behavior. While at band practice, the group discusses how close everyone at school has gotten since the recent events at the school (a.k.a the first movie) and even sings a song about how CHS is “Better Than Ever.” What could possibly tear such a loving and accepting school apart?

Enter the villains: Adagio, Aria and Sonata are three magical beings, later revealed to be Sirens originating from the magical world of Equestria, who were banished to the human world by Starswirl the Bearded, much like Sunset Shimmer. They specialize in creating havoc and feeding off the the negative energy. At the start of the film they were shown feeding off negative energy from a cafe full of arguing citizens, and seeing Equestrian Magic in the distance. This was the same magic that defeated Sunset Shimmer in the first film. Now they’ve come to claim the magic as their own and become even more powerful. They enroll in Canterlot High School and their first act is to stir up some trouble to feed off of. They sing “Battle of the Bands” in the school cafeteria and say that the musical showcase should instead be a “Battle of the Bands.” The students then begin arguing, powering the magic from identical pendants all three are wearing.

As far as “Evil Plans” go, I don’t see anything particularly threatening about this. I would like to believe that by high school, most young adults are mature enough to handle a friendly contest. Besides, not five minutes ago our main characters were singing the praises of their classmates and saying how close and friendly they’ve become to each other. Unfortunately, evil song magic conquers all past bonds that may have been built from traumatic high school events and the school quickly falls under their spell. But what exactly are the sirens saying, anyway? A few of the lyrics read:

“Why pretend we’re all the same

When some of us shine brighter?

Here’s a chance to find your flame

Are you a loser or a fighter?

Me and you, you and me

Why don’t we see who is better?

We don’t have to be one and the same thing

Oh, what’s so wrong with a little competition?

Are you afraid of failing the audition?”

I can understand the valuable lesson of not thinking that you’re more important or more valuable than others. In fact, in the movie they use Rainbow Dash to show this as she is constantly controlling what she and her friends play in their band. I believe they were trying to show the similarities in her problem with the problem with the school. But the reality is, these are two very different problems. Rainbow Dash is being selfish and isn’t considering the thoughts and feeling of others. But the song sung by the sirens isn’t about thinking that you’re better then others in general. In the context of a musical competition the song is suggesting that among different bands formed by the students of a high school, there are some bands that play better than others.

It’s very strange to see MLP putting competition at the center of creating chaos, especially since the show is filled with them. Rarity enters her designs in fashion shows, Applejack saves her cider business from the Flim Flam Brothers by challenging them to a contest, Rainbow Dash is constantly in races and competitions, and Twilight Sparkle must best baddies through her wits and magical abilities. Each time, the characters are excelling in their areas of expertise and being shown as better than others at it. There isn’t anything wrong with admitting that somebody is better than you at something. It’s okay to not be the best.

When I first watched this, I thought that the lesson would have something to do with good sportsmanship. As the story unfolds, the students of CHS continue to be at odds with each other, claiming each will be the victor. When the contest does start, they sabotage the performances and Flash Sentry even accuses Twilight of trying to take away what he deserves. The story focuses on how evil the competition is and how many problems it creates for the school. Never does the movie mention the option of teaching the students how to behave in light of a contest. You should do your best, you should be convinced of your worth, you need to be enthusiastic and believe that you’re going to win when you compete. What you shouldn’t do is be a jerk to your competitors and be unwilling to be happy for others when they succeed.

Because of this, I was very disappointed with this movie. Usually, MLP has a winning formula of hilarious characters, good storyline and even a useful moral. Instead of blaming the chaos on the evils of competition and trying to stop the sirens directly, our main characters could have tried to teach the students of Canterlot High how not to act like selfish brats. At first, I thought that maybe it was the magic of the sirens that made them all act so pathetic, but then I realized that it’s up the sirens to cause trouble, and then feed off that energy. So if the students learned to act like decent human beings, the sirens wouldn’t have any negative energy to feed off of in the first place.

All in all, it doesn’t make sense that such a simple idea as a contest would cause that much trouble for a high school. To blame all the problems created by the characters’ poor behavior on the competition is wrong. It’s the same as having a bratty child throw a temper-tantrum at a birthday party, and then blame the parents for not giving the right presents. Competition is not something to be feared or avoided. It’s apart of life and if you don’t deal with it appropriately, it will seriously cripple your ability to cope with conflict.