Starlight Glimmer- What is the opinion of her still?

@Spinny  

 
So I guess I need to renable season 8 spoilers for this thread now?
 
Also, you say that like Twilight isn’t terribly unqualified too.

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Is that supposed to help her case?

@PonyPon  
No, but it was stupid drama bait that didn’t deserve much thought.  
Since you insist though:
 
Starlight Glimmer is already well suited to teaching because of her personality and demeanor.  
She is a natural leader, whether she or you like it or not, and which was already mulled over extensively in the season 6 finale.
 
She is capable of encouraging others to think outside the box and find solutions to the problems they have,  
especially in terms of friendships and relationships. This has been her focus during season 7, and she’s succeeded for the most part.
 
So yeah, she’d make a good teacher.

She’d also be a good teacher if only for her insights into the learning process. Most of her story arc has been coming to realize that she lacked empathy by putting her own emotional needs over others. The result is that she’s more aware of the need for it now than pretty much anyone else on the show.
 
She could also teach them about overcoming their fears of opening themselves up to emotionally vulnerable situations. That, more than anything else, has been her biggest character flaw.

@A Non Man  
Starlight Glimmer has turned out to be a ‘Wounded Healer’ archetype.  
Although she has it more rough than most,  
because her character arc started out not as sympathetic at all whatsoever.  
She had already abused her innate gifts in terrible ways.
 
@PonyPon  
Sorry if I was rude in my last post.  
I was still feeling irritated about the sudden spoiler.  
Now I won’t be as excited about the moment an s8 episode reveals this.  
S8 specific spoilers properly filtered now though.

I feel that Starlight and Twilight are both of that archetype, although in different ways. Twilight began her character arc guilty of the sin of being uncaring. She was so concerned with living up to the honor of being Celestia’s protege that she didn’t actually learn the important lessons she was being taught. After her epiphany in the show’s pilot, wherein she realized the importance of your relationships to others, she’s pretty much dedicated her life to caring about everyone.
 
Starlight might be seen as having had the opposite problem: she cared too much about the relationships she couldn’t form. Her whole thing with her town and the equality cult was an attempt to create harmony, a place where everyone would be safe from the differences that she saw drive her apart from her friend. Her problem there was that philosophy flies in the face of the show’s basic ethos that true harmony comes from differences learning to coexist and reinforce each other. What Starlight saw as harmony was actually monotony, which was why no one in her town was really happy. So, much of Starlight’s development has been her coming to learn empathy and to appreciate differences.

@A Non Man  
I like the idea that it explains one reason why Sunset and Starlight became fast friends.

@Amethyst_Crystal
 
I don’t really care about Starlight being a teacher. After all, we already knew that she was good enough to graduate.
 
Still though, it’s just more irritating that she’s become so damn expert so damn fast, particularly when all the work she put in to friendship studies occurred conveniently off-screen. Twilight was given two and a half seasons to learn about friendship before she was ready to graduate. You could count on your fingers how many episodes Starlight got that focused on her learning something friendship-related, yet everyone is still more than happy to sing her praises to high heaven about all the amazing things she’s done that we never got to see. All that’s missing is her own alicorn ascension, and she definitely would have achieved it faster and with far less effort than Twilight did.
 
Also, sorry about the spoiler, but I’ll say again, it’s from an official video uploaded by Hasbro and unfiltered images from it popped up all over the site yesterday.

@Spinny
 
As I said, as a person who knows spoilers, there is SOME reasoning for that screenshot.

@Spinny  
Its different your teacher spends all day about duties, protocols and audiences and another you sleep at the same place with your pupil, besides only travel Ponyville outside when a crazy map or your mentor will suggest you. Maybe with a better discipline, Starlight could have been Twilight student another season, but staff preferred a very flexible teacher.

@A Non Man  
Watching the season one premiere can be jarring: Twilight is so blatantly selfish and rude and dismissive, even towards Spike. She’s not as bad in the rest of the early seasons, but she certainly seems to have matured over time.
 
@Josh103  
Empathy and Forgiveness go well together.

@Amethyst_Crystal  
I prefer Starlight to be Sympathy.

@Josh103  
So Sunset Empathy and Starlight Sympathy?

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Basically.

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Admittedly, I kinda miss this side of Twilight. A little sass never hurt anyone.

@Josh103  
maybe they should have their own show. it should be sort of a cross between Adventure Time and Baman Piderman! :D

@Amethyst_Crystal  
 
Never Really could stand sympathy much, either giving it or receiving it.  
Always felt Hollow or shallow. Blech. Feels to much like pity.

By that definition, Starlight is definitely all about empathy.

@Azyrite  
That pic describes pity more than it does sympathy methinks.

@A Non Man  
Is she? even post redemption, Her biggest flaw is her habit of thinking she knows best for everyone and imposing her will on others, Or taking drastic action without considering how they may adversely effect others. Many of her fans like her for this very reason because it somehow makes her “relatable”.
 
Meanwhile, Twilight offered Starlight a second chance because she felt sympathy for her. Sympathy, not empathy. Twilight clearly thought Starlight’s backstory and excuses were as silly as we did. She outright said they made no sense. Starlight owes everything she has to Twilight’s sympathy.
 
@Josh103  
I have trouble telling the two apart. They’re exactly the same thing in most circumstances.

If I had to name a virtue that glimmer most represents I’d say it’s humility. It’s Kind of why her Friendship with Trixie works so well, because they contrast each other. Starlight knows she owes everything to the kindness of others who had every reason to hate her. she knows she is flawed and has a lot to learn while Trixie is, well, Trixie.

@Azyrite  
Starlight is very proud with her skills magic, she wouldn’t be a great humilty element, forgiveness is a better option, if Sunset doesn’t take dat role yet.

@Azyrite
 
That’s why one of my favourite starlight moments is this tiny little background bit in The Times They are a Changeling. Where Starlight, in shadow during Spike’s song, realizes how hypocritical she’s being and looks away in shame during the final chorus.

@hakirayleigh  
Humility is not constantly doubting your own self evident abilities but being willing to see yourself as you are and accepting your flaws. It is acknowledging that you make mistakes and will probably make more in the future but being willing to accept the advice and help of others.
 
Sounds like starlight to me. Also Humility has a much better ring to it as it is one of the classic virtues.