Brony discussion split

[jp1]

Thick skin is a good thing, so is respecting other people. Middle ground is a key factor there.

[TSTR]

I mean if doods want to spank to gangbang drawings of ponies from a show aimed at little girls, then that's their bag, man.

Someone just needs to explain to me why exactly these people need a color-coded system to tell whether or not to talk to other people when these people aren't autistic.

Or maybe I just explained it to myself. I don't know.

[Pulsar_t]

Anyone knows of a reliable Venn diagram of MLP fans and furries? The former sans the latter are harmless, but furries creep the hell out of me.

I guess bronyism (is that a word?) is a symptom of other more serious challenges facing males in modern times. Men used to be drafted en masse to fight wars and many of them were killed or maimed for life, and even before that men used to fight and skirmish all the time and rely on brawn to survive. Life has gotten easier (in relative terms), and now we have psychiatrists trying to figure out how to deal with the issues of alpha males, aggressive tendencies and all that hoopla. Now places like Yemen and rural Afghanistan, where centuries-old traditions have persisted, are indicative of the way people used to live in older times, and you wouldn't be caught dead having a brony movement in any of those societies

[AppleQueso]

It's a nice show. I like it, it's cute, the characters are likable. It's just an enjoyable show. I don't have any participation in the fan community, but yeah.

To be totally honest though, a lot of the anti-'brony' sentiment I see feels more like a bit of a gender policing thing. "Guys like a GIRLS show?? Must have something wrong with them! I bet a large part of them are on the autism spectrum!"

[TSTR]

Okay, someone clarify for me. Were the autism color codes just someone's idea, or was that actually put into effect at Bronycon by the organizers?

I could see a bit of gender policing here, AQ, but then again you don't hear about this stuff in regards to something like The Powerpuff Girls.

[AppleQueso]

I could see a bit of gender policing here, AQ, but then again you don't hear about this stuff in regards to something like The Powerpuff Girls.

The Powerpuff Girls is also no longer actively airing and doesn't have any kind of currently active fan community. There's not much of a 'fandom' anymore, just kinda random people here and there who appreciate the show.

The sheer scope of the MLP fanbase is pretty perplexing though. I really enjoy the show but I honestly can't understand how it managed to spring up a fanbase like that other than a simple "well, it's the internet, and they latched onto it for some reason."

Ruby Gloom is a show with a somewhat similar vibe to it (at least I think so) but it never managed to spring up much of a fandom.

[Erik_Twice]

Nah TSTR, men obsessing over a little girl cartoon is definitely weird.

I can't help but notice that this whole controversy always comes down to gender roles, namely the idea that some things are only for women and men are "weird" for liking them. The age thing is a façade, few bronies are actually "grown ass men" in the first place and if it were actually about age, perhaps we would actually see any complaints about older women liking the show.

It's not like Pokémon or Final Fantasy are much more "mature", after all

Anyways, the show itself isn't great but it has some interesting angles that make it stand out compared to its rivals. It's a better animated, better written show that doesn't talk down to its audience and has a stronger characterization than usual. Most similar TV shows tend to rely on extremely tired stock characters dating to The Honeymooners so the postmodernist, character-driven My Little Pony stands out a lot. It's certainly a lot better than dreck like Pepper Ann or Recess that was around in the 90s even if it's nowhere as good as Invader Zim or Ren & Stimpy.

It resonates a lot with kids 12-15, just like Minecraft or Slender do. I think that's pretty noteworthy.

[jp1]

It's a nice show. I like it, it's cute, the characters are likable. It's just an enjoyable show. I don't have any participation in the fan community, but yeah.

To be totally honest though, a lot of the anti-'brony' sentiment I see feels more like a bit of a gender policing thing. "Guys like a GIRLS show?? Must have something wrong with them! I bet a large part of them are on the autism spectrum!"

This is what I was trying to curb. It seems to come across a bit misogynistic if you label it as a "show for little girls" and then condemn a male for enjoying it. It's a harmless show and it shouldn't matter who enjoys it. I don't think there would be any of the opposite if some female members of the forum (or elsewhere) took an interest in He-Man or the like. No need for a double standard. To each their own.

The autism thing is all because of the chart that was posted though, which raised some legitimate inquiries, I don't think it in itself was meant as a shaming tactic.

[Erik_Twice]

By the way, I just came across a really good article by the director of the show that you guys might find interesting:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/12/24/m ... -rebuttal/

An excerpt I found interesting:

There are lots of different ways to be a girl. You can be sweet and shy, or bold and physical. You can be silly and friendly, or reserved and studious. You can be strong and hard working, or artistic and beautiful. This show is wonderfully free of “token girl” syndrome, so there is no pressure to shove all the ideals of what we want our daughters to be into one package. There is a diversity of personalities, ambitions, talents, strengths and even flaws in our characters–it’s not an army of cookie-cutter nice-girls or cookie-cutter beauty queens like you see in most shows for girls.

That's pretty noteworthy, IMHO.


(And no, I have only seen a couple episodes of this, I just find the topic interesting to discuss)

[TSTR]

As mentioned, anyone can enjoy the show. But to deny that it is targeted at young girls is overlooking a very important fact.