What the f is up with all of this My Little Pony crap?

Blind Sight

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Well, to quote Lauren Faust (the show's creator) when someone asked her "May I ask how it feels to know that a show you've created for little girls is obsessed over by sexually repressed manchildren? It is kind of scary." on a forum.

Faust: "Honestly? I feel that people who call them that are ignorant a-holes. That's how I feel. I didn't create this show for little girls, I created it for little girls and their parents- including male parents. It only stands to reason that adult animation fans without children may like it, too. The belief that boys shouldn't be interested in girl things is the main reason there's hardly anything decent for girls in animation- or almost any media, for that matter. It's a backwards, sexist, outdated attitude."

I've watched a couple episodes of it, it's pretty good, it treats the audience more intelligently then a lot of other shows for kids (I've sensed commentary on homosexuals, religious views, and consumerism in just a few episodes). Somewhat reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series in that way. Also, the youtube comments about the episodes are hilarious, nothing like seeing guys debating over whether the ponies practice eugenics or segregation because winged ponies only marry winged ponies and land ponies only marry land ponies.

Real men watch My Little Ponies then debate about the social commentary present within it.

Z of the Na said:
TheYellowCellPhone said:
Have you actually seen the show?

Simple yes or no question.

If not,

-Pony Snip-
No.

I have not seen the show. I am a 20 year old man living at college sharing my dorm room with another 20 year old man. Do you have any idea what that would look like were I to start watching...that?

...wait a minute.

I see what you are trying to do. This is another attempt to get me to join this cult isn't it?

YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME, FOUL DEMON!!

If your roommate takes any kind of drugs I guarantee you'll be able to get him to watch it with you. Hell, if he's drunk it might be enough.
 

Katana314

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I knew from watching an episode or two that the show was good, I just wasn't sure what to think about it being so girly; thankfully less than just about all "girly" shows.

Then I watched an episode of a random anime.

By comparison, MLP is no more girly than a random anime off the shelf.
 

Ice Car

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John Marcone said:
People love their memes. Geeks included. Ponies are a forced meme that has been crammed down this communities throat so hard that to fit in everyone else just goes along with it.
...

You do realize that people like it not only for the meme right? It's quite the opposite I believe. People like it because the show is good, not because some retarded meme sprouted out from it.

I didn't watch it myself to know, but I've seen a LOT of positive comments about it.
 

Xooiid

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The show became meme fodder as soon as it hit 4Chan. The art style is different, though a bit too pastel for the eyes. Also, I would recommend muting through the songs. The VA is pretty good compared to most other 'kids shows' out these days. That, and there is some semblance of a plot compared to stuff like Adventure Time. All in all, you can do a lot worse with a kids show. [I'm looking at you, Sonic X and 4Kids. Don't try to hide.]

It also helped that I was reading TV Tropes at the time, namely the 'Too Cool To Live' and 'Bruce Lee' pages. Helps balance out the Cuteness OD that is natural in a show like this.

And, as I pointed out before, meme fodder.
 

Ice Car

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RedEyesBlackGamer said:
jpoon said:
TheYellowCellPhone said:
jpoon said:
TheYellowCellPhone said:
jpoon said:
Looks pretty stoopid...
Watch an episode.

Get hooked.

Join the herd.

Do it NAOW!

Noo, I can't do that I far too old to like this sort of silliness!

*secretly watching your link*
Join the herd. 125 members and growing.
No can do, I watched about 6 minutes of it but that's all I can handle before I wanna punch myself in the throat. 32 Year olds aren't supposed to be watching this, I'm supposed to be watching Adult Swim, not MLP's.
MLP is more smartly written than most of the drivel on Adult Swim.
Quite frankly, everything is. Adult Swim is a bunch of mindless, unfunny, shows that often involve incessant and unnecessary amounts of violence for laughs.
 

Xooiid

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Ice Car said:
RedEyesBlackGamer said:
jpoon said:
TheYellowCellPhone said:
jpoon said:
TheYellowCellPhone said:
jpoon said:
Looks pretty stoopid...
Watch an episode.

Get hooked.

Join the herd.

Do it NAOW!

Noo, I can't do that I far too old to like this sort of silliness!

*secretly watching your link*
Join the herd. 125 members and growing.
No can do, I watched about 6 minutes of it but that's all I can handle before I wanna punch myself in the throat. 32 Year olds aren't supposed to be watching this, I'm supposed to be watching Adult Swim, not MLP's.
MLP is more smartly written than most of the drivel on Adult Swim.
Quite frankly, everything is. Adult Swim is a bunch of mindless, unfunny, shows that often involve incessant and unnecessary amounts of violence for laughs.
Ok, I haven't been able to watch AS for a while, but I used to watch it for the great anime selection they used to have. Bebop, FMA, Kikkaider, Evangelion, Lain...all great shows to watch.
 

Fr]anc[is

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evilthecat said:
For me though, it's the massively gay overtones of certain characters and situations. I seriously cannot believe that the creators are not aware of quite how much they're utilizing gay imagery and iconography in the show all the damn time, not judgementally but in a kind of playful, accepting way which many adult shows haven't got the hang of yet.
No rage or other connotation when I ask this, but like what? Please don't just say Rainbow Dash. A rainbow in the context of a little girls show is hardly out of place. I'm curious, it sounds like you have specific examples in mind.
 

Easton Dark

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Xooiid said:
Ok, I haven't been able to watch AS for a while, but I used to watch it for the great anime selection they used to have. Bebop, FMA, Kikkaider, Evangelion, Lain...all great shows to watch.
Well, they still have Bebop and FMA, they added Kekkaishi (or however you spell it), Ghost in the Shell, Bleach, and Big 0 (which I am a tentitive if VERY CONFUSED fan of). Unfortunately, that's Saturday only (technically Sunday, starts at 12:00 for me).

Other than that? It's basically different versions of Family Guy and now they show King of the Hill........ Aqua Teen isn't funny to me anymore and please SOMEONE MURDER TIM AND ERIC, I WILL NEVER WATCH THAT SHOW AGAIN.

In short: Waste o' time except for Anime.

AND THEY USED TO SHOW CODE GEASS TOO, LIKE THE BEST ANIME I'VE EVER SEEN, WHY ADULT SWIM, WHYYYYYYYYY
 

Mcface

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bdcjacko said:
Mcface said:
bdcjacko said:
Is it ironically fashionable or something? I'm seeing them everywhere and my old man brain is getting fuzzy.
***********
ok, I don't care anymore
The meme was started, like all things, on 4chan. It was a joke to piss mods off because they started banning people for it. OFC, then some hipster on reddit discovered it misinterpreted it by missing the blatant sarcasm, like always, and posted it. It soon became a meme of people thinking they were being internet trendy or E-hip/funny by pretending to like such a bad show. They however, don't understand they are just being trolled.
1) I said I don't care anymore.
2) just because it was a joke for a time doesn't mean the populace changed it to not a joke. 4chan is not the final word.
1) don't care that you don't care.
2) no. no they cannot.
 

Cap'n Ninja

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chowderface said:
1. Lauren Faust says, "I want to make A Cartoon for Little Girls which functions under the assumption that Little Girls are Intelligent and won't watch just any old crap just because it's pink."

2. Lauren Faust gets handed My Little Pony by her bosses.

3. Lauren Faust says, "Well that's not really my first choice, but I can work with this."

4. Lauren Faust spends actual money to hire actual writers instead of just asking grandma to write something flowery about bunnies, which is how I assume most cartoons that target little girls are written.

5. Success
To extend on this a little:

6. An animator leaves a background pony with mildly "derped" eyes in the first episode

7. 4chan's /co/ board finds this and fan-names said character "Derpy Hooves"

8. They enjoy the rest of the show and make image macros etc.

9. It spreads to /b/ and gains prominence there.

10. DOMINION OVER ALL OF THE INTERNET It spreads.

Personally, I didn't care much for the meme until my cousin was watching it, and it was better than most stuff on TV right now, so I looked into it a bit more.

Fridge Logic: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic isn't on TV over here yet, I don't think.
Is my uncle a brony?
 

Nouw

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It's a genuinely good show and it's cool to like it >.>. Just try and ignore it I guess, maybe an extension or something to block all ponies?
[sub]Watch some of them before setting an opinion, just saying.[/sub]

bdcjacko said:
this makes me want to punch my computer screen.
I love MLP:FIM but I have to say me too.
 

Terminal Blue

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Fr said:
anc[is]No rage or other connotation when I ask this, but like what? Please don't just say Rainbow Dash. A rainbow in the context of a little girls show is hardly out of place. I'm curious, it sounds like you have specific examples in mind.
Of the episodes I've watched, and purely from memory.

The adult dragon with the 'fabulous manicure' in episode 2 is stereotypical camp. Not the kind of village camp or Soho camp which adult comedy likes to wring cheap taboo violation out of, but camp nonetheless.

The same scene uses the line 'I will not allow this crime against fabulosity to go uncorrected'. No adult in the modern world can be unaware of context behind the word 'fabulous'.

There are other examples, but that's the one I was actually thinking of. Seriously, that scene is laden so thick I don't see how anyone could possibly get through it without picking it up.

Rainbow dash.. yeah.. look up lesbian haircuts. They've moved on a little since the days of the dyke-mullet. Of course we can't confirm anything without probing the character designers mind, but both she and Glenda (the ultra-possessive 'friend' with the biggest bang scoop ever) are so easy to read that way.

Maybe I used the wrong word. It's not 'gay', I'm not really suggesting that these characters are being drawn up with the intention of making them gay (although I do wonder about the dragon) because being gay is quite a sexual thing and you couldn't really deal with it in a children's show. But the whole thing is so easy to view in that light that it makes me wonder. Put it this way.. it's not heterosexual, and it's incredibly homosocial. The whole concept is about intense and genuinely loving social relationships between groups of girls which aren't based on nurturing or finding boys. It's pretty gender-transgressive in lots of ways.

Heck, even the fact that it's a show for little girls with a massive straight and gay male fanbase is pretty fucking queer. I do actually wonder if some the appeal is because it's about.. um.. intense loving relationships between groups of girls. Slash fiction exists for a similar reason.

Or maybe I've just read 'Barbie's Queer Accessories' too many times.
 

SteakHeart

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While I will say it looks actually very good from a purely joke- and animation-based standpoint, I'm not keen on watching it since it's not entirely appealing to me. Although I will admit that one The Doctor Pony had me laughing.
 

Small Waves

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TU4AR said:
The best thing to do is watch it on YouTube with captions.

Those things are fucking hilarious
April Fools Day was GLORIOUS when the transcriber was working. I wish they made it permanent.
 

Fr]anc[is

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evilthecat said:
Oh yea him. That's a duh, but he's of so little significance he doesn't warrant much analysis. He's just a funny accent, so obvious it's pointless.

I get where you're coming from. I was half expecting something like "She doesn't like dress up so she's gay." Kudos on not doing that. It's sort of similar to what I think when I overthink it. Sex is most definitely not part of the equation, but why not take gender out as well? Can it not just be about two people (ponies, whatever) and not two girls? Idk if that will make any sense or sound related, it does somehow in my head. I need to stop thinking and posting at 3am
 

Gordon_4_v1legacy

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Well I think the obvious answer is that the writer's hired for the show do not give a single fuck about the absurd connotations that some words have, nor the character designers give a one shit about haircuts being used as sexuality shorthand. It would seem their aim was to design interesting, unique and fun characters and have them well written.

So far I'd argue its a success. It doesn't concern itself with all the stupid trappings of girl-aimed shows; it does include some but even stereotype is based in truth after all.

Besides, most of its characters are incredibly endearing in different ways. From what I've gathered, the fan favourites are Rainbow Dash (who I swear would be at home as a character in Top Gun), Fluttershy for just being plain ol' cute and Pinkie Pie....well she's fucking nuts in the best way possible.

The show is FUN. It doesn't let anything get in the way of that; it is a nice way to spend half an hour with either your young children if you're a parent, or a nice way to just chill.
 

Cazza

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Brother and I were talking about why people might like it.

People get high and watch it? Best thing we thought of. Yes I have seen it. It's nothing special.