Rating:
Alright, take three.
I detest completely rewriting anything (twice, no less), but
Brotherhooves Social left me little choice.
Essentially, I got the episode correctly at first but second-guessed
myself out of fear I was seeing what I wanted rather than what actually
existed. Perusing various Twitter feeds
showed that this wasn’t the case. While
cleaning up a loose thread from Made In Manehattan, Brotherhooves Social
provides Big Mac’s biggest character development in definitively showing he’s
trans. This may seem unlikely, but it
makes sense given his earlier princess dream and quiet loner demeanor. Since Applejack and Rarity are busy, Apple
Bloom and Sweetie Belle have no escorts for the Sisterhooves Social. Big Mac decides to step up and help his
younger sister out, but he goes as “cousin Orchard Blossom”, a flamboyant and
loquacious Southern belle. They are
accepted into the event because “sister” is loosely defined, but every activity
unfortunately goes poorly. Dave Polsky
hits many aspects of being trans, including unwanted awkwardness in appearance,
dealing with people who quickly dismiss you, those who know but don’t care, and
some who inexplicably find you attractive, and a large apparent disconnect
between “personas”. This insight grounds
what appears to be another drag comedy at first, but most definitely isn’t on
subsequent viewings. The episode remains
polarizing since it treads a thin line here, but certain scenes’ effectiveness
cannot be denied (especially Big Mac and Apple Bloom’s concluding
dialogue). While probably not the best
way, Brotherhooves Social feels like a landmark in how it presents trans issues
to kids without overtly doing so. And it
improves dramatically on season two’s Sisterhooves by better reflecting the
sibling dynamic. Polsky’s script is too
tropey for its subject, but Brotherhooves represents an unexpectedly bold
statement from a season with very few of them.
