Should we really dig so deep into this show?

I enjoy discussing the show, and making speculations about future elements or theories about unexplained things that the show probably will never touch. However, the S4 discussion thread made me aware that we too often unearth “darker” things from the show, and it makes some feel uncomfortable.
 
So, should we really continue doing this? To continue finding evidence of Celestia making Twilight her puppet, or whatever dark secrets that you will surely find when searching every nooks and crannies of any show? It’s still a friendship cartoon featuring colorful little horses.

Personally, I think it’s okay to dig deeper but not like how we did in the previous thread. I hardly blame them though. The show has such a fascinating and barely explored world and such interesting characters that it’s hard not to get carried away.

Only if the things are evidenced by the narrative and have a substantive impact.  
The Twilight Puppet thing does.  
Tyrant Celestia does not.
 
To quote Sherlock Holmes like a complete self important douche: blah blah don’t twist facts to suit theories.

As long as the show avoids these topics, we will discuss them. We’d discuss them anyway so why not?
 
The search for the truth never ends. Unfortunately we are trying to squeeze it out of a cartoon.

It’s not like we have anything better to do between episodes.
 
Plus, nobody sane takes any of the more “out there” stuff seriously, anyways.

At the end of the day, it is, indeed, a cartoon.
 
But I quite like the fact we can talk endlessly about the deeper implications, both real and imagined, that can be discussed and scrutinized.
 
I think good media can do that.

We discuss those things because the show won’t, and in some cases, goes out of its way to avoid discussing.

@ClownDicks  
Same here. If the show doesn’t want to do anything with the awesome characters and setting, someone should. It’s bad form to just let all those ideas go to waste.

There’s a limit, I think. And there’s a difference between hypotheticals and stuff that’s just not going to happen in all likelihood.

It’s all fun and games until you wake up a balrog.

@Hakar  
Man, you beat me to it!

Because people like to nitpick, apparently.

It’s fun. What other justification do you need?

@And Brother I Hurt People  
What I’m saying is that at one point, it’s not fun anymore. When we go to the darker aspects, it just makes people upset.

@Grieffon  
If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong.
 
This thread feels to me like someone whose cat got ran over asking if we actually need cars.

@Vree
 
…yeah, pretty much.

After the whole TexasUberAlles incident, not for a long while.

@NotYourAverageLurker  
What incident?

@ClownDicks  
Go here, and also read a few posts down. I don’t want to drag drama to here.

Should we really dig so deep into this show?
 
 
Yes.

Should we really dig so deep into this show?
 
Probably not. (will we do so anyway? of course)
 
I’ve noticed, based on what I’ve seen in the S4 Discussion Thread and from folks like Tommy Oliver, that all of this “analysis” is starting to make people really jaded. I fear that if we’re not careful, we run the risk of being unable to enjoy a show that is, at its heart, still better than 90% of cartoons out there.
 
Then, as part of a subconscious or overt desire to be part of the smart crowd - the “in kids” - we will lash out at those who refuse to become jaded for one reason or another. We’ll become like Chad Rocco, bitter and cynical and hateful. Is it really worth turning into someone like him? I think not.

@The Twelfth Doctor Whoof  

 
I’m afraid some of us are already there, which is why I made this thread.

I feel a lot of the nitpicking and digging comes from a frustration with the show’s overall structure. We are compelled to dig and examine and theorize about the characters, the show and the world because we know it won’t happen. We write sprawling, lengthy fanfics about the characters having long adventures because we know the show will never have anything like it. We draw porn because we’re a bunch of sick bastards =).
 
We do these things because we know the show will never do them, even though the show has all the right pieces. The characters, world, and themes of this show are phenomenal, but the structure of its production is borderline incompatible with the central thesis of the entire work. We see all that’s being wasted by limiting this material to self contained slice of life, with a rushed, similarly self contained adventure thrown in twice a season. So we pick up the pieces, and we try to let this material reach it’s fullest potential.
 
tl;dr We dig because we know the show won’t, and it would just be wasteful to leave it all buried. Our fandom is the fandom that will pierce Hasbro’s crappy marketing influenced show format!

@Grieffon  
People still underestimate the show’s quality. It still is better than most cartoons on.

@Itsthinking  
Off-topic, but what cartoons currently airing you think is better than MLP?