Why Bronies (and Pretty Much Everyone) Should Hate the Brony Documentary

[likalaruku]

Sounds like another disappointing documentary that skips over a ton of shit & doesn't like to address the elephant in the room, just like the one about Mojang.

Leaving out the deviant sexualization is like interviewing Jhonene Vasquez about Invader Zim & editing out his responce to "Zadr" or any parings because it would piss off some fangirls. It would be like interviewing Pendleton Ward about Adventure Time & ignoring that all potential pairings revolve around peadophilia & interspecies relationships.

There will always be a large quantity of sicko fans, & some bronies need to realize it;s My G-Rated Ponies: Friendzone is Magic.

 

[Epic Bear Man]

I love how some people got so defensive about this. Anyways, I'm not a brony nor have I even heard of this documentary, but I do agree with you on the fact that documentaries need to show both sides. Documentaries are more than likely going to be biased in some way, but they still need to show both sides of the equation. That said, I think it might also be difficult to pinpoint the "dark side" of the MLP fandom. However I don't know if rule 34 should be applicable in this case as a dark side.

That said, in the future, fans should not be doing documentaries. Not unless they've had previous knowledge. The likelyhood of the bias being one-sided is far more increased, and makes it harder for someone to get good viewpoints and to decide their own subjective opinion on the matter.

 

[Pinkamena]

I actually backed it when I first heard of the kickstarter, but I haven't watched it yet.

 

[Broderick]

I love how some people got so defensive about this. Anyways, I'm not a brony nor have I even heard of this documentary, but I do agree with you on the fact that documentaries need to show both sides. Documentaries are more than likely going to be biased in some way, but they still need to show both sides of the equation. That said, I think it might also be difficult to pinpoint the "dark side" of the MLP fandom. However I don't know if rule 34 should be applicable in this case as a dark side.

That said, in the future, fans should not be doing documentaries. Not unless they've had previous knowledge. The likelyhood of the bias being one-sided is far more increased, and makes it harder for someone to get good viewpoints and to decide their own subjective opinion on the matter.

The problem with the "Dark side" of the brony fandom is pinpointing what the "dark side" actually is as you said. Rule 34? Every fandom has that, and sexuality is not an inherently bad thing. You may say that is bad when applied to a children's tv show, but I think that is up for debate, and really depends on the characters in question (would pinkie or twilight be more "acceptable" to sexualize than say one of the children of the show?). I think the over reactions of fans and much of the drama is closer to a "dark side" than cartoon pony genitalia. I mean hell, the derpygate fiasco and the much more recent

Spoiler

Twilicorn

controversy speaks much more about the community. Also the various in fights with musicians and other "prominent" members of the mlp fandom would have been better to address. Like say... Yelling At Cats' song about derpy, where he specifically names and verbally berates a member of the fandom, which many believe to be part of the reason why derpy's voice was changed in later versions of a specific episode.

I have not seen the documentary, even though I myself was a backer of it. Many of the musicians and artists of the mlp fandom see the documentary as a huge circle jerk, and was disappointed in it. As for me? I will watch it when the time comes and pass judgement then.

 

[Epic Bear Man]

The problem with the "Dark side" of the brony fandom is pinpointing what the "dark side" actually is as you said. Rule 34? Every fandom has that, and sexuality is not an inherently bad thing. You may say that is bad when applied to a children's tv show, but I think that is up for debate, and really depends on the characters in question (would pinkie or twilight be more "acceptable" to sexualize than say one of the children of the show?). I think the over reactions of fans and much of the drama is closer to a "dark side" than cartoon pony genitalia. I mean hell, the derpygate fiasco and the much more recent

Spoiler

Twilicorn

controversy speaks much more about the community. Also the various in fights with musicians and other "prominent" members of the mlp fandom would have been better to address. Like say... Yelling At Cats' song about derpy, where he specifically names and verbally berates a member of the fandom, which many believe to be part of the reason why derpy's voice was changed in later versions of a specific episode.

I have not seen the documentary, even though I myself was a backer of it. Many of the musicians and artists of the mlp fandom see the documentary as a huge circle jerk, and was disappointed in it. As for me? I will watch it when the time comes and pass judgement then.

That would be why I said I do not know if rule 34 should be applicable in this case. However, there still should've been some sort of negative aspect of it. Go talk to some people who find the love (or as the people who dislike bronies would say, "obsession") with the show to be unusual, bizarre, etc.

The point of documentaries is to educate people. In the type of documentary this brony one sounds to be, it sounds like it's the type of documentary intended to turn someone with a negative opinion of the culture so they can see it's just as normal and human as any other type of entertainment. But the way the OP made it out to be, it sounds as if all they're doing is putting out the positive elements. Putting in negative ones, no matter how minor, will allow the people against MLP fandom to see their opinion, stay drawn in to the documentary, and to watch the rest of it so they get a better understanding of bronies/pegasisters/etc.

The "dark side" of it is up to debate on what it should've been, but the OP's point on including some negative things still stands. However, as I've said, I haven't seen this documentary, so I'm just speculating based off of the OP's initial post.

 

[z121231211]

How are bronies ANY DIFFERENT from ANY other fandom? I fail to see any differences.

Most fandoms don't create a documentary trying to legitimize their interest.

 

[Whitbane]

So they ignored all the controversy and hilarious stuff? Too bad. That would have raised some great butthurt. Almost as bad as /mlp over the last few weeks.

 

[ThisGuyLikesNoTacos]

I really don't see the point in a documentary about bronies. I guess you could mention that bronies aren't necessarily pedophiles, but try to stretch that into an hour long documentary.

How are bronies ANY DIFFERENT from ANY other fandom? I fail to see any differences.

Most fandoms don't create a documentary trying to legitimize their interest.

Which is arrogant, but all fandoms have arrogant people.

 

[xPixelatedx]

So, if you see this movie, don't expect a single mention of any of the following: fighting within the fandom, sexualization of MLP characters in any way shape or form by the Internet, overexposure of MLP memes on non-brony sites, threats from more militant bronies to critics of the show, the "pegasisters" debate/whatever, etc.

This is pretty much going on daily and a huge part of the fandom, and I say this as someone who knows one of the people who ran bronycon. I don't care what the content of the show is, not showing such intricate parts of your fandom to increase positive opinion about it seems disingenuous and shady.

Speaking of MLP and sexualization, anyone remember a thread on here where someone was saying something about the show's artists making the show too sexy? That was a pretty funny thread, (I was laughing) but after telling a friend about it they sent me this...
The file is called: the plot thickens.png

Consider this image my new response to every MLP debate.

 

[Dangit2019]

snip

I'm not very talented in art at all...can you walk me through the differences in the pictures if you would be so kind?

 

[Dangit2019]

snip

I guess this is as good a place as any to link to a short interview with actor Tara Strong, the voice of Twilight Sparkle. Just came out a few days ago:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/15/tara-strong-my-little-pony-twilight-sparkle-friendship-is-magic_n_2697884.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Hint: She's got nothing but good things to say about her Bronies. I'm not one of them. Not sure why I feel compelled to say that, other than the fact that, while I don't watch the show (and therefore can't commiserate in your predicament), I can respect fandom.

Oh yeah, Tara loves the whole thing. She's just a really nice person, and she does great stuff for charity in the documentary.

Again, I like the people in this movie, I just got annoyed by bronies' representation as a whole.

 

[xPixelatedx]

snip

I'm not very talented in art at all...can you walk me through the differences in the pictures if you would be so kind?

The hint is in the file name: The Plot Thickens.

It's ok, I'll give you time, and if you still can't figure it out I'll tell you.

 

[Dangit2019]

snip

I'm not very talented in art at all...can you walk me through the differences in the pictures if you would be so kind?

The hint is in the file name: The Plot Thickens.

It's ok, I'll give you time, and if you still can't figure it out I'll tell you.

Can't...unsee...

EXTENDED TO AVOID MOD WRATH: Maybe in that one, it's just the angle. I would have to compare the 3 more generally in the show.

 

[Pinkamena]

This is pretty much going on daily and a huge part of the fandom, and I say this as someone who knows one of the people who ran bronycon. I don't care what the content of the show is, not showing such intricate parts of your fandom to increase positive opinion about it seems disingenuous and shady.

Speaking of MLP and sexualization, anyone remember a thread on here where someone was saying something about the show's artists making the show too sexy? That was a pretty funny thread, (I was laughing) but after telling a friend about it they sent me this...
The file is called: the plot thickens.png

Spoiler

Consider this image my new response to every MLP debate.

I don't think her ass has gotten any larger by the seasons, it just tend to change size from shot to shot.

 

[HardkorSB]

There is a difference between "showing both sides" and giving credibility and air time to stupid unfounded arguments and non sequiturs. Just like the hypothetical gay documentary, just like the evolution vs creationism debate in the south.

Any conservative argument against gays is most likely a stupid argument (based on culture, but culture changes). The same way as the old cavemen who hate how "bronies are killing the men of the world with girly-ness." The arguments have no objective basis other than the cultural demand at the time, even though past culture would call modern men girly because they don't like unicorns or like anything that isn't some form of red.

So why should any documentary give any air time to such subjective horse shit? Or even take it seriously? All that would do is send the message that "this argument may have legs" when in reality it doesn't.

Do we need to repeat ourselves that "god doesn't hate America, fags, and the blacks?" No, because the argument that god does hate all of us is so absurd it doesn't even need to have a rebuttal.

And as I said, there is nothing in the brony fandom that is any different from any other fandom. So there isn't anything to really cover. So they have no other avenue than to give the gist of what bronies are.

Even you failed to give an example of the "dark side of bronyism."

A documentary which only shows the positive aspects of a subject and doesn't acknowledge it's criticism is called propaganda.

 

[Piorn]

Just let them have their fun. If they need to justify their hobby to themselves, that's ok, you can't force someone to grow up.
I just try to stay out of this.

 

[xplosive59]

I always felt that the documentary was being made way to early, it started near the end of season 2 which is not really enough to get a clear impression on the longevity of the show. If the show had already been on for 7 or so seasons then it would make sense but right now we don't know if it will even last 5.

It is essentially pony propaganda (so to speak), Hasbro have allowed this because it is essentially a marketing tool and if they showed the bad side of the fandom there would of been consequences to face.

I feel bad for Lauren Faust as well who is essentially trying to forget the show and work on other projects but keeps getting clawed back in for this kind of shit, she even said earlier on Twitter "I don't have a problem with princesses. I have a problem with lame characters and bad storytelling.", this is of course out of context but she is obviously quite annoyed that her vision for the show has been destroyed... Yet she has to do conventions and these documentarys.

 

[Torrasque]

The only way a Brony documentary should be tackled is by someone who is neutral to the show, preferably someone who has seen a single episode. The less they know about Bronydom and the more time they spend researching it and documenting their plunge into the fandom, the better the documentary would be.
The best documentaries I've seen are where people go into a subject knowing very little and finish the documentary knowing just about all their is about it. A fan video is pointless and is just a nod in the wrong direction. We don't need any more tooting of our own horns, there is more than enough of that already >.>

 

[KeyMaster45]

I feel bad for Lauren Faust as well who is essentially trying to forget the show and work on other projects but keeps getting clawed back in for this kind of shit, she even said earlier on Twitter "I don't have a problem with princesses. I have a problem with lame characters and bad storytelling.", this is of course out of context but she is obviously quite annoyed that her vision for the show has been destroyed... Yet she has to do conventions and these documentarys.

Maybe she shouldn't have left the show after the first season? It was very apparent in some of the Q&As she did with the fandom early on that she'd fought Hasbro tooth and nail to create the product of season 1. As season 2 wore on and the influence in the creation process waned the misguided clutch of Hasbro's marketing department began to creep in.(Faust's original design for Cadence was just another unicorn in the same vein as Blue Blood from the s1 finale; it changed after she left) Season 3 was...well...the grip was quite firm but the killing blow came in the finale. There's no way she couldn't have known that after her departure no one would be able to fight Hasbro effectively. She didn't stick around to guard her fledgling creation and now she's seeing the consequences of that.

OT: The lack of quality in the documentary comes as no surprise to me. I remember when the idea first started floating around the fandom in the gap between season 1 and 2; even then it sounded stupid. That twit Sethisto, however, latched onto it and that was the end of anybody listening to why it was a bad idea.

Honestly the whole fandom sorta sickens me now. Anybody who enjoyed the show with any kind of moderation left long ago when they got sick of putting up with the zealots and the ever increasing focus on sexualizing the characters. The breaking point for me was the controversy around Derpy. It brought to the forefront a very ugly side of the fandom, and that those left in charge of the show after Faust's departure would mangle their work due to the complaints from about twenty people.

 

[Lugbzurg]

I haven't seen that myself, but I felt quite the same way watching Indie Game: The Movie (which was a documentary with a misleading title). It was downright embarrassing and painful to watch. The three indie game developers they picked out just had to be the most anti-social, angry, depressing, profane jerks they could possibly find with several honest mentions of the desire for suicide and murder.

NO, I AM NOT KIDDING.