The polarizing reactions to My Little Pony

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shagg_187 said:
This thread made me check on Netflix if MLP is available or not. Help me...
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the entire series is on youtube and the production company and producers are aware of it and doing nothing about it.
 
shagg_187 said:
THAT'S NOT THE HELP I NEEDED! Oh God. I wanted you to prevent me from watching it! You are j... wait, is that the entire first Season?

Oh boy...
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Just click, my friend...just click. Say goodbye to your old way of life.
 
mac said:
6-min vid of even handed coverage on the subject.

Bronies: Is that a thing?

Like I said, grown men so satisfied with their ability to create a "fan culture" around something not intended for their demo.
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But isn't that part of human nature?
Why political extremist get support if that is not the case? I feel many of us love to be part of the oppressed minority that fights for what is just.
 
Plywood said:
Before the ponies it was AnimeGAF that received hate.
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Yeah, but have you seen their thread? Now I'm not saying they're a bunch of (pedophiles/murderers/jaywalkers/puppy-kickers/communists/space aliens), but that thread is totally being watched by the FBI's anti-(pedophile/murderer/jaywalkers/puppy-kicker/communist/space alien) division.
 
mac said:
6-min vid of even handed coverage on the subject.

Bronies: Is that a thing?

Like I said, grown men so satisfied with their ability to create a "fan culture" around something not intended for their demo.
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You have an impressive ability to ignore the posts that were responding to the points you made.

In case you missed it the first time, some of us enjoy the show because we find it genuinely entertaining, funny, and uplifting. There's no need to paint us all with the same brush. :)

2th said:
one of us. one of us. one of us!
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Gooble gobble gooble gobble.
 
hamchan said:
I refuse to ever watch this show because there's a chance I might like it.
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You know, you can just watch it and be pleasantly surprised like me. There's no mandatory membership in the Brony club, and you don't need to get "I LIKE CUTE CARTOON PONIES." tattooed on your forehead.
 
So Myke Greywolf posted this thing

I'll just leave it here (read it all)

Well, I've got a theory. I hope that people here won't think of it as just rambling, and this may come out as obvious to some of you, but here it goes:

This whole thing started in 4chan's /co/. We all know that 4chan is the main lode for Internet memes, and the ones that involved MLP were no exception.

Now, the main thing that we have to consider regarding the creation of MLP fan content is its dual nature. On one side, there are the memes, contents reproducing a single, simple idea: a sentence, a joke, whatever. On the other side, there is the legitimate fanart, the items (be them illustrations, video, music, literature, programming, or whatever) that have actual original content and ideas and that stem from legitimate appreciation of the source material.

In the case of MLP:FiM, I believe that the meme nature preceded the fanart nature, and that the main idea being propagated initially was the whole cognitively dissonant idea of a MLP show actually being able to be visually interesting and charming, and having the qualities described in this thread's OP, instead of immediately revolting any grown people watching it, like the old shows did. The whole concept was vehicled through screenshots and small animations that showcased the amazing expressiveness and personality infused into the show's characters. This whole idea was perceived as extremely ironic, and we all know that irony is a big thing on the Internet. Thus, these meme-propagating pieces became extremely popular in /co/, where they were met with enthusiastic reception, that led to more people joining the memetic bandwagon. This initial explosion had some interesting consequences:

- It motivated many people to scrutinize intensively the source material (if not for finding more food for the meme), and eventually actually consider and appreciate it in a non-ironic light.
- From the above, the seed was planted for the appearance of the first pieces of fanart. /co/ is an anonymous hangout place for many people involved professionally in the animation industry, and so MLP:FiM had the luck to have some very high quality early fanart.
- The meme spread out from /co/'s borders, and started invading /b/ and the Something Awful forums, another notorious meme nursery.

If you don't know about /b/ and SA, they are capably of producing some of the most amusing stuff in the web. However, they are also home to many of the most obnoxious, nasty and venomous people who ever laid their mouse cursors on a web browser, all of them covered up by the amplifying veil of anoymity. To these people, the "lulz" associated with the fact that this was a show targeted at little girls being appreciated by grown men, thus deviating grossly from accepted social norm, trumped every facet of irony that could be extracted from the early MLP:FiM memes. These people started targeting the creators of the MLP:FiM memes, making them respond in true troll fashion by posting even more ponies, and eventually the conflict escalated to a point that became known as the Great 4chan Pony War. Both in 4chan and SA, moderators and administrators were called to action, with the following consequences:

- In Something Awful, all pony posting was banned altogether - the admins simply didn't want to have anything to do with it, since it was so divisive.
- In 4chan, pony posting was banned for a period of 1-2 weeks, I don't remember exactly how long this stayed in place. Eventually, it was permitted again, but restricted to /co/.

By now, many of the meme makers were already legitimate fans, as a result of their constant exposition and intense scrutiny of the show. There was also a big community sense (the "brony" movement), born out of solidarity over being specifically targeted for banning from their usual posting places. Bronies, disgusted by the intolerance and hate shown to them by 4chan and SA dwellers, took a page out of the show itself and decided to guide themselves according to a code of friendship: loyalty, kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty - and above all, the tolerance that they had been refused. Many wanted to distance themselves from the environment of vileness and rudeness they had came from, and in the process they ended up finding a way to motivate themselves into becoming better people - and all because of ponies.

They took off and created their own social dwellings on the Internet, like Ponychan, Equestria Daily, Ponygoons, Ponibooru, etc., and started using these to freely post their fan creations. By now, the "irony" aspect had become only a backthought to the fan creators, who were expected to genuinely appreciate what the show had to offer. Thus, the fanart type content became much more prominent, which is a positive. The memetic content started focusing on mashing up with other popular memes, and became the domain of the less artistically inclined fans. Meanwhile, the whole ruckus around this whole pony business called in many people to check what this pony thing was all about. Many of them "got it" and eventually became fans, starting to produce their own fan contents. This proliferation ended up bringing the average quality of the creations down. In also came the perverts, because there are fetishes for everything and there's no shortage of people unable to separate feeling appreciation over something from lusting over that thing. That's the price to pay for the expansion of the fandom, and in that, it's no different from any other fandom.
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The whole movement started because this new iteration of MLP isn't complete garbage like the first three generations of the show. Adventure Time, Phineas and Ferb, etc. may be better shows but they won't ever have this kind of following because they were never completely awful for an extended period of time. The whole movement is basically a long "Most Improved" award.

Also, furries are bipeds, not quadrupeds.
 
hamchan said:
I refuse to ever watch this show because there's a chance I might like it.
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Exactly! :lol

My friends tell me I get hooked on anything playing on TV. I love entertainment and I love picking out on good things that a movie or TV show would do and absorb it.
 
I watched it for the first time at a friend's place. Not my style. It felt a little childish to me, but I can see the appeal. It's not poorly written.
 
Acerac said:
You have an impressive ability to ignore the posts that were responding to the points you made.

In case you missed it the first time, some of us enjoy the show because we find it genuinely entertaining, funny, and uplifting. There's no need to paint us all with the same brush. :)
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I found the book Life of Pi uplifting and entertaining. I didn't seek out a group to create memes or use it as my avatar. But I know what you mean. My Darwin Fish makes everyone think I'm some sort of atheist when really I just the craftsmanship of the decal.
 
Regulus Tera said:
Most of the stuff popular in 4chan is regurgitated from Something Awful.
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That's definitely how it was in the early days, but I think we see a lot of convergent evolution now. A good example would be Kerbal Space Program, which became a huge hit on /v/ and SA almost simultaneously.
 
mac said:
I found the book Life of Pi uplifting and entertaining. I didn't seek out a group to create memes or use it as my avatar. But I know what you mean. My Darwin Fish makes everyone think I'm some sort of atheist when really I just the craftsmanship of the decal.
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Funny story, I know a priest with that fish in his SUV. It has been only since i moved to the States that I have found people associating evolution with atheism.
 
I haven't seen a pony image outside of the pony threads in months.

Not to mention the hilarious hypocrisy of decrying "defensive" pony fans when people congregate in a thread to bash their show, although this time the OP tried to avoid that.
 
I checked it out because it's made by Lauren Faust, I found the show to be charming but a bit hit and miss for me. I found the cutie mark crusaders episodes to be too much, they made me cringe throughout the whole episodes. I love Fosters home for imaginary friends but MLP is just a bit too much cuteness for me.

While the super fans can be annoying, the haters are acting like redneck hillbillies where simply the sight of a MLP Gif angers them and seems to threaten their sexuality. The Gifs are usually pretty funny.
 
mac said:
I found the book Life of Pi uplifting and entertaining. I didn't seek out a group to create memes or use it as my avatar. But I know what you mean. My Darwin Fish makes everyone think I'm some sort of atheist when really I just the craftsmanship of the decal.
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Knock that strawman down! Show him who is boss!

Seriously though, of course having an avatar of the series means I am a fan of the show. That's a far cry from what you said earlier about everyone who enjoys the show feeling that they are "so impressed with themselves the tell everyone how cool it is to be a man and watch the show. 'Look at me, I'm in my late 20's and watch a show created for young girls! Aren't I transgressive and breaking boundaries!' "

Online avatars are easily changeable things, far different from tattoos. Many people show their fandom of various things in their avatars, I could give you a laundry list of avatars I've used on different forums in the past. None of these images have been there to show that I'm so cool, or that I'm transgressive, they merely represent something I have found interesting.

I assure you, if you had an avatar that represented your enjoyment of that book nobody would consider you to be some sort of rebel preaching the values of The Life of Pi. Why not give us the same courtesy?

bluebird said:
This is the best thread of the day.
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Of course, it is a pony thread. ;)
 
mac said:
It's not a reaction to the show. It's to the sad, sad, men who watch it and are so impressed with themselves the tell everyone how cool it is to be a man and watch the show. "Look at me, I'm in my late 20's and watch a show created for young girls! Aren't I transgressive and breaking boundaries!"

Great, you like a kids show. I've liked several but I never felt the need to make it part of my identity. It's such a hollow gesture. Like a 40 year old who thinks by extolling Justin Beiber as a modern crooner makes him young.

Maybe you can compare it to guys who feel the need to paint sports logos on their body and remind everyone long past they care how well their team is doing. But Christ, they don't do it for a TV series that's going to only last 6 years.
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Or maybe we just like the show and turning it into internet memes and fanart.
I dont care who is or isn't impressed by my liking the show. I am already an anime fan. The ridicule ship has sailed far into the horizon. I like Firefly. I like Star Wars. I like MLP. Fandom. How does it work?
 
cajunator said:
Or maybe we just like the show and turning it into internet memes and fanart.
I dont care who is or isn't impressed by my liking the show. I am already an anime fan. The ridicule ship has sailed far into the horizon. I like Firefly. I like Star Wars. I like MLP. Fandom. How does it work?
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this says it all, really.
 
blame space said:
this says it all, really.
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<3 blame space. Other than mre, you're my favorite active... devil's advocate on the boards.

FlightOfHeaven said:
I haven't seen a pony image outside of the pony threads in months.

Not to mention the hilarious hypocrisy of decrying "defensive" pony fans when people congregate in a thread to bash their show, although this time the OP tried to avoid that.
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No lie, the ridiculous haters make an already enjoyable show that much more entertaining.

I'm talking about you Jenga!
 
My only gripe on PonyGAF is that some users there tend to be... ya know, hypocritical... but that's beside the point.

Also ITT everyone who watches and enjoys MLP are hipsters now, according to one poster. Because apparently every fan likes to watch it to be cool.

Showmeyamoves said:
Like they actually made physical contact in those cheesy shows.

Come on man don't make me hate on Kamen Rider.
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Go watch manly Showa Kamen Rider like Black to see that their attack actually make contact.
 
Rorschach said:
Exactly. Why can't it just be great? Why can't it just be crap? Why can't it just be mediocre?
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Because it incites some members of the community to unjustly accuse others of various things, leading to shitstorms. And that, internet, is why we can't have nice things.
 
Ookami-kun said:
My only gripe on PonyGAF is that some users there tend to be... ya know, hypocritical... but that's beside the point.
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I agree completely. Though I enjoy very little outside of the main series and comics spoofing what goes on in the series, I accept that some people have a bit more... unusual tastes. It's a sad day when fanbases are judged by the most... exotic of their fans, but it is pretty typical.

Methinks that they are so used to being attacked that they are afraid of giving ammo to those who find the show disagreeable, hence the applejack/pinkie gif posted a while ago. I figure live and let live. They're not hurting me, let them draw whatever bizarre things they want.

That being said, there is a reason I've stopped visiting the pony thread as frequently as i used to when the season was going. It's not that I hate the stuff being posted there, it's that it just doesn't interest me. Much respect to all of those who have kept it alive, using whatever means were necessary. :)

Orayn said:
Because it incites some members of the community to unjustly accuse others of various things, leading to shitstorms. And that, internet, is why we can't have nice things.
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I wonder how many times enjoying mlp has been linked to pedophilia by members of this board. I'd say 100+ times would be a fairly conservative estimate.
 
People that love MLP are deplorable human beings. While I'm not suggesting that they are rapists, pedophiles, drug dealers, murderers and various assortment of other scum, they are morally as culpable, simply by engaging in their adoration towards MLP.

If they had any actual moral decency, they'd be propogating a love for Doraemon.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
I actually tried to watch it once, just because people assured me that underneath all the stupid internet fandom was a well made show.


...it's not funny or charming at all. I liked Fosters, thought PPG was hilarious, but this just wasn't funny. The "humor" and "charm" felt like low-grade "wacky" humor in place of any kind of real jokes.
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I agree with this, I'm a big fan of PPG and Fosters. But when I tried to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic it really wasn't anything but a generic girl show, I had a sister growing up and this show reminds me of the shows she watched that really didn't interest me at all.

There's nothing wrong with it at all, its just obviously made for the little girl demographic in mind and that's fine. But it really doesn't go beyond that at all, storywise, comedy, message, characters, etc. are all just generic little girl show tropes. The reasons I hear grown men for liking it like "great animation" which I disagree with and "it teaches us about friendship and how to be nice" to which I say if you're a grown man in his twenties who still doesn't know more about friendship than what a kids show can teach you I can't help but see you as a socially awkward loner.
 
little girls are certainly known for appreciating star trek references.

if you think there's nothing to it beyond a little girl show, you probably just didn't get it.
 
WrathOfOtaibah said:
I agree with this, I'm a big fan of PPG and Fosters. But when I tried to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic it really wasn't anything but a generic girl show, I had a sister growing up and this show reminds me of the shows she watched that really didn't interest me at all.

There's nothing wrong with it at all, its just obviously made for the little girl demographic in mind and that's fine. But it really doesn't go beyond that at all, storywise, comedy, message, characters, etc. are all just generic little girl show tropes. The reasons I hear grown men for liking it like "great animation" which I disagree with and "it teaches us about friendship and how to be nice" to which I say if you're a grown man in his twenties who still doesn't know more about friendship than what a kids show can teach you I can't help but see you as a socially awkward loner.
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What would you say to those of us who think it is a genuinely funny show that can put a smile on our face without the crude humor that runs rampant in entertainment today?

Surely you can appreciate that humor is subjective. This show is no classic Simpsons, but it puts a smile on my face when I'm having a rough day at work. I appreciate that the show isn't for everyone, is it so tough for people like you to appreciate that some of us (who have friends, thank you) can enjoy the lighthearted humor the show provides?
 
I despised the Bronie fanbase but learned you only live once lately. So if it makes you happy to like MLP, I could really give a fuck but please, do me and the whole entire board together and stop pushing your pony propaganda and pony love across the Board. PLEASE!!!!!
 
Eh, it's such a tired meme, so boring to discuss these days. Only a few still pretend to like it ironically, but even they will move on to the next funny internet thing soon enough.
 
THE NO LIFE KING said:
I despised the Bronie fanbase but learned you only live once lately. So if it makes you happy to like MLP, I could really give a fuck but please, do me and the whole entire board together and stop pushing your pony propaganda and pony love across the Board. PLEASE!!!!!
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Well lucky for you we don't do that :D
 
THE NO LIFE KING said:
I despised the Bronie fanbase but learned you only live once lately. So if it makes you happy to like MLP, I could really give a fuck but please, do me and the whole entire board together and stop pushing your pony propaganda and pony love across the Board. PLEASE!!!!!
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PONY PROPAGANDA!

FIRST COMMUNITY! THEN OT! THEN GAF! AND THEN THE WORLD!
 
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