Does anyone else still hate Diamond Tiara?

I feel DT's mother is toxic and tries to project a persona and system of beliefs on DT, and berates her when she does not fit as the perfect little doll her mother wants to dress and style as she wishes.

As a child you trust your parents and assume they care about you. Diamond Tiara actively took on the entitled, bigoted, elitist persona her mother wanted to project onto her, likely to please her at first because "mother knows best." But in Crusaders of the Lost Mark she shows she doesn't really believe that the CMC are really all that bad as she calls them "really lucky," reminiscent of Call of the Cutie when she is told how they have potential and get to find out who they really are. She also makes thinly veiled comments about feeling lost about what she should do with her talent and who she is really supposed to be.

I think over time she has seen the happiness and success of the CMC living differently than what she was told is correct, but does not recognize, in the beginning of the episode, that she really has a choice or perhaps doesn't trust herself if she does doubt her mother's programming. She may even envy the CMC and this could have fed into how she picked on them specifically. She is clearly unhappy and wishes she could "be somepony else." She feels this status quo is wrong but isn't sure if it or what to do.

She separates herself from her mother and her toxicity in the end with the support of her new friends, and at DT's age that isn't exactly something to sneeze at. That takes real courage to stand up against someone doing something you know is wrong, especially when that person is in a position of power over you and has been known to rip you apart for failing them. She still has to face her family behind closed doors because she is isn't of age and supposedly can't just move out. I'll give her this, DT has guts.

This doesn't exactly justify her previous behavior, nor would she have been justified if she continued that behavior. Once you are old enough to think for yourself, to question your surroundings and the viewpoints of others around you, you are accountable for your choices. But the path is understandable, from being too young to know better to the realization that not everything is as you were led to believe and then gaining the strength to make the change. That's usually the time abuse from toxic people starts up, when you start to question things, because suddenly you aren't the blank slate they can project onto and they do not want to lose that control over you. You are not a person to them, you are a possession.

In that way it was somewhat jarring to see DT's mother suddenly back down but DT's talent is supposedly getting others to do what she wants. That small portion of the episode did feel a little rushed to me, but we can handwave it for the sake of special talent I guess. But still, this was a huge character development that felt very true to life, aside from the mother's final reaction. It may also have not been intended to be a perfect analogy for shaking off toxic parenting but I do feel the groundwork is there and it strongly resonated with me.

She isn't my favorite but I really appreciate her character and its development. I would never have said this before Crusaders of the Lost Mark, but I really hope we see her and Silver Spoon again in a later episode, even just in minor role to see how she's doing.

/r/mylittlepony Thread Parent