Review: "My Little Pony - The Movie"

“I am so over the whole cute pony thing!” exclaims the Storm King, the antagonist of the story.

Some parents in the audience might feel the same way. But if there is one thing that sets Lauren Faust’s version of the My Little Pony franchise apart, it is self-awareness. This movie knows exactly how cheesy it is, and goes ahead anyway.

What the more cynical viewers might see as cheesiness is, actually, a deliberate moral message. The full title of the popular TV series, now in its seventh season, is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This means that the heroine, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her five best friends can always find a peaceful solution to their problems, whether it’s a squabble between co-workers or an unleashed god of chaos.

In this movie, the characters’ values of trust, empathy and teamwork are put to the test like never before.

It begins when a flying warship crashes the ponies’ national holiday, and its commander, Tempest, demands their unconditional surrender.

“I’m sure we can talk this out,” says Twilight.

Tempest responds by setting an army loose on the city.

Having barely escaped, Twilight and her friends embark on a dangerous mission to find the Hippogriffs, a distantly related tribe they believe might help them. They quickly discover just how dangerous the world is outside their happy homeland of Equestria. Asking for help earns contempt, trusting a stranger leads them into a trap, and showing off their skills to impress a potential ally only draws the enemy soldiers’ attention. If doing the right thing doesn’t work, doing the wrong thing might be the only option.

“This isn’t Equestria,” an anxious Twilight snaps. “You can’t expect everything to work out!”

The question this movie asks is, do the ends justify the means? Is it all right to compromise your principles in order to survive a national crisis? Or should you hold on to them more than ever?

The Mane Six are not the only ones with ethical challenges to deal with. The Storm King, self-proclaimed “super-powerful bad guy”, may be a disappointingly flat character, but the effect he has on his subjects is surprisingly realistic for a children’s movie.

The various groups of characters the heroines run into represent the ways people cope with living in a dictatorship. Commander Tempest follows the Storm King to gain power and to channel a private anger. A flock of pirate parrots turned cargo haulers obey in order to survive. Still others, such as a charming feline con artist, are driven to crime by the harshness of their lives. 

Can a group of naïve young mares win the allegiance of creatures who gave up hope a long time ago?

In a time where each remake of a popular movie seems to be darker than the last, My Little Pony’s unashamed idealism makes for a refreshing change. 

Review: Oh Yeah, Audrey!

Oh Yeah, Audrey! by Tucker Shaw has wild nightclubs, fabulous haute couture, sex, satire and betrayal. It’s also a classic morality tale. Not many 21^st-century writers can get away with that, but Shaw does – maybe because he knows exactly how strong the temptations are that he’s warning you to avoid.

Gemma Beasley, the narrator, is unhappy. Her mother has died, her father is overprotective, she has no friends at school, and like many teenage girls, she hates the way she looks. Her Audrey Hepburn blog is her only escape. That’s why she and her four fellow bloggers have planned a Breakfast at Tiffany’s-themed tour of New York, starting with a literal breakfast in front of the iconic jewelry store. And when five misfit teenagers from very different backgrounds run around the city unsupervised, there’s bound to be trouble.

The moral of the story, obviously, is that Gemma needs to stop pretending to be Hepburn and be herself instead. That being said, if you were a 16-year-old girl and a charming millionaire’s son bought you a gown from Hepburn’s private collection, could you say no? Honestly?

For a male author, Shaw is brilliant at describing the way a teenage girl feels about a glamorous female role model: despair that you’ll never live up to her, wistful hope that someday you might. If you only had the right dress, the right boyfriend, the right mannerisms – as if that had anything to do with real self-confidence.

As for the often repeated Tiffany’s quote about rich men giving Holly Golightly 50 dollars to go the powder room, it gathers unexpected force as the story goes on. No spoilers, but Gemma experiences the lowest points of Holly’s lifestyle as well as the highest.

By the way, if you don’t appreciate Hepburn, the amount of trivia will probably put you off. But if you understand what it’s like to be passionate about something, no matter how strange, you might forgive Gemma for squealing at the sight of a vintage gown.

It may not be realistic to have two gorgeous rich boys joining Gemma’s tour, even if one of them is gay. But realism isn’t the point. The point is to test Gemma’s integrity as far as it can go. The fact that all these party and restaurant scenes are dazzling to read about is just a bonus.

Special mention goes to Telly, the only Internet troll I’ve ever heard of who is also a well-rounded, likeable character. From the moment she interrupts Gemma’s and her friends’ raptures about Givenchy to talk about Hepburn’s work with UNICEF, I knew this book wasn’t going to be as shallow as it sounded.

Review: Circle of Cranes

Cover Summary:

A lyrical fantasy blending fairy tale elements with contemporary issues 

Thirteen-year-old Suyin is a poor orphan who has a strange gift with languages and a mysterious connection to the cranes in her small Chinese village. When a shady human trafficker arrives promising luxury and riches beyond belief in America, the villagers elect Suyin - whom they consider lucky - to go as their benefactress. But instead of luxury, Suyin is forced to work in a sweatshop in New York City's Chinatown. Suyin's future seems hopeless, until her beloved cranes arrive and reveal that she is no ordinary girl - instead, she is the daughter of the Crane Queen. Now her mother's life is in danger, and Suyin must prove herself worthy of her position as the Crane Princess, in order to save her mother and the entire clan of cranes. 

For fans of Grace Lin and Laurence Yep, this is a beautiful story of the meaning of family and finding one's true path in life.

An ancient Chinese myth. Labour politics in 21^st-century New York. You wouldn’t expect these things to fit together, but Annette LeBox combines them with enviable grace.

It’s the details that sell it. The writing is as lovely and precise as her heroine’s embroidery. When Suyin transforms into a crane, LeBox names her bones as they transform. When she remembers her beloved mother, it’s with the exact clothes and jewelry that represent the traditions of her culture.

Besides that, LeBox never hesitates to challenge her heroine. Being the princess of a flock of magical bird-women in no way excuses Suyin from having to learn things the hard way. As an undocumented immigrant, eating rats to survive the boat ride and working in a sweatshop to pay off her travel fees, her challenges are the sort most white North American readers like me can barely imagine. She doesn’t always respond heroically, either; she snaps under pressure, stays quiet when her co-workers are bullied, and generally acts like a 13-year-old human being.

This only makes it all the more satisfying when she does evolve into someone who can control her impulses and protect her friends. Every success, financial and emotional, feels earned.

This may be a fantasy novel, but the most beautiful things in it are true, and so are the most frightening.

Chinese women really did develop a secret form of writing centuries ago after being forbidden to learn men’s writing. 

The villagers near Cao Hai Lake really do protect endangered birds.

Factory owners really do exploit immigrants in North America to this day. 

Shape-shifting and parallel universes are just the icing on the cake.

Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I don’t recommend this book – or script, to be exact – to anyone who hasn’t read the original series. But, since that’s a pretty small group by now, I think it’s safe to say that for anyone else, Platform Nine and Three Quarters can be relied upon to open once again. I warn you though, this is not going to be objective.

Speaking as a fangirl, this story was everything I hoped for and more. It tackled all the important questions we on the Internet have been asking for years: What was Dumbledore thinking, leaving the would-be savior of the world to be raised by the Dursleys? What is it like for Albus Severus Potter, growing up with a name like that – especially if he does end up in Slytherin? Will Draco Malfoy and the Golden Trio ever bury the hatchet? What was really going on between Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange? Did Cedric Diggory really have to die? And, last but not least – for me, anyway – can Ron and Hermione’s marriage really work?

Rowling and her co-playwrights, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, serve up their answers with equal parts passion and precision. If you don’t believe it’s possible to return home to familiar ground and still be surprised, think again. The villain of this story is someone you’ll never see coming. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione themselves have changed and matured. It’s ironic – and satisfying - to see Harry as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, calling someone out for reckless decision-making. Karma has come full circle there.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, for fear of spoilers. It does, however, involve Time-Turners. There must be thousands of Time-Turner fanfics already published, but Rowling, Tiffany and Thorne approach the subject with the intelligence and subtlety it deserves. Every person’s choice affects another; changing even one thing can lead to unpredictable – and in this case, terrifying – consequences. As Albus and his friends hop from one parallel future to the next, wreaking havoc on the timeline with the best intentions in the world, they run into old friends and enemies, see them through fresh eyes, and find answers to questions they never had the opportunity to ask.

Ironically for a story about time travel, however, this story is about making peace with the past. Harry may be forty, a family man and a national hero, but he still has demons left to fight. For someone who’s been fighting all his life, sometimes the hardest thing is knowing when to stop – and when to let the next generation take up the battle.

Review: The Dean's Watch

When Dean Adam Ayscough, a high-ranking clergyman in an English cathedral town in the 1870’s, stays home from work because of a cold, the last thing he expects is to make a new friend. But when Isaac Peabody, the clockmaker who repairs the Dean’s pocket watch, stumbles into his employer’s office and speaks his mind – “It’s a beautiful watch, sir, and you overwind it. You should take better care of it, sir” (e-book, ch. 5, p. 38) – a friendship forms between the two lonely, eccentric men that is exactly what they need.

Adam’s fierce campaigns for social and ecclesiastical reforms have given him a terrifying reputation, but that same reputation, combined with his lifelong shyness, has made it difficult for him to actually talk to the people he is fighting for. Meeting Isaac becomes a catalyst for a series of encounters that shock Adam out of his comfort zone and teach him to translate his Christian beliefs into action, even as they teach Isaac that his own father’s abusive fanaticism is not the only way to practice religion.

Their kindness to each other spreads in circles until it includes the entire city. Adam’s search for an apprentice for the frail, overworked clockmaker leads to Job, who is secretly dating Polly, Isaac’s maid. Job, a talented and temperamental workhouse orphan, is under a contract to the bullying fishmonger Albert Lee. Adam determines to save them both, victim and abuser, from their unhealthy association. Meanwhile Emma, Isaac’s unmarried older sister, struggles with jealousy of Polly and Job’s romance, and with Isaac’s friendship with one of the most powerful men in the city. Adam has to battle his own dislike of the bitter, narrow-minded woman in order to bring some peace to his friend’s unhappy household. Even Elaine, Adam’s vain and superficial wife, slowly begins to learn the value of her husband, just as she is in danger of losing him for good.

This is one of the few novels I have ever read about, for lack of a better word, professional pride. Isaac’s clocks, Adam’s religious texts, Job’s woodcarvings, Polly’s cooking, the work of Adam’s lawyer, doctor and butler, the long-ago construction of the cathedral, and even Elaine’s fashion choices, are all labors of love. “Genius creates from the heart,” Adam observes. “And when men put love into their work there is power in it, there is a soul in the body” (ch. 7 p. 90). This novel highlights the joys of craftsmanship, but also its challenges, such as Adam’s writer’s block - “Who was he, that he should dare to take a pen in his hand? And how puerile was the result when he had done it” (ch. 14 p. 33) – or Isaac feeling overshadowed by Job’s talent – “He must increase, but I must decrease” (ch. 14, p. 10). This theme of creativity ties in to the story’s sense of faith; whether they acknowledge it or not, the characters’ gifts can all be traced back to the divine. During one of his debates with Isaac, Adam even compares God to a clockmaker:

  “I don’t believe in God,” said Isaac obstinately. 

“I wish I could believe you,” said the Dean. “I should be thankful to believe that you had parted company with the God of your boyhood. But I believe he is with you still in a darkness that shadows your mind at times. Disbelieve in him, Mr. Peabody. Believe instead in love. It is my faith that love shaped the universe as you shape your clocks, delighting in creation. I believe that just as you wish to give me your clock in love, refusing payment, so God loves me and gave Himself for me. That is my faith. I cannot force it upon you, I can only ask you in friendship to consider it.”

-       ch. 15 p. 41-42

 This is also a novel about power, its uses and abuses. Adam does his best to use his wealth, intelligence, and authority as Dean for good, but even he makes mistakes. As a former schoolteacher in an age when corporal punishment was the norm, he knows how difficult it is to draw the line. His attempt to bribe Albert Lee to cancel his contract with Job backfires badly; his classist assumption that money will fix everything collides against Albert’s pride. Albert, on the other hand, is a classic abuser; he gets drunk and beats Job regularly. Emma Peabody is a more subtle example: she resents her brother Isaac for lowering their status by going into trade. She takes it out on him with small things, such as making wool mats that make him slip on the floor, forbidding him to smoke or to chat with Polly, and passive-aggressively reading the Bible to make him feel guilty.

The author, however, instead of reducing these characters to simple villains, shows them to us fully rounded and real. We learn how their harsh actions are, in their own minds, simply defenses from an equally harsh world; it doesn’t excuse them, but it makes them easy to understand. For example, Albert beats his apprentice because he knows Job is smarter than he is, and it makes Albert feel powerless. As for Emma, when Adam reluctantly pays her a visit, a simple gesture – the way she brings out her best tea service for the rare occasion – unlocks a wealth of empathy inside her guest because it shows how lonely she is. Abuse is not a straight line; it is a cycle, and it takes a strong effort to break it. 

Most of all, however, this is a story about love. Sexual love is part of it – Polly and Job share a passionate romance in spite of Emma’s best efforts to stop them – but it is far from being the only part. There is love of place – the city and the cathedral are almost characters in their own right – and love of work – for example, the clocks. The most important love in this story, however, is between people: the friendship between Isaac and Adam, the mentor-student bond between Isaac and Job, Adam’s fatherly love for his lawyer’s granddaughter Bella, the strained sibling relationship of Isaac and Emma, and the complicated marriage of Adam and Elaine.

Of course, none of these relationships are perfect. They all include the potential for hurt and misunderstanding. As Miss Montague, a friend and advisor of almost everyone in the city, says to Adam: “If you turn for your joy to the intractable and explosive stuff of human nature, it’s in for a penny, in for a pound.” (ch. 13 p. 57). Besides, the author understands perfectly how challenging it can be for an introvert to talk to people at all. Then again, the reward is more than worth the effort, especially when shared interests form a bridge over the awkwardness: “Love of the work strengthened the love of each other. Love of each other enriched the work” (ch. 14 p. 12). 

Even Isaac, the atheist, feels that “the dark would not entirely get him” while his clocks keep time and his friends remember him (ch. 1 p. 33). Adam, the Christian, holds the same belief with even greater certainty: “Love. The only indestructible thing. The only wealth and the only reality. The only survival. At the end of it all there was nothing else” (ch. 94).