Rebuttal: "Why I Am Against 'Bronies'"

So meanwhile I'm about to post this, and I see Loggo not being very loving and tolerating. That's kind of a pity. I just finished all of my school work, and if I go to bed right now I'll probably wake up at like 7am way before any of my classes, so I have some time to shred every word he wrote.

[quote]I realize I'm a little late considering a lot of the hype for MLP (on this site) has died down recently[author]Loggo[/quote]

I'm sorry to hear that. I would bring some more hype if people like you weren't so negatively predisposed toward it. Since leaving I have transitioned into hardcore brony, which I guess is evident in the song.

[quote]First, let me get my thoughts out of the way; this cartoon is NOTHING more than young girl's entertainment.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Wow, thanks for starting off easy on me.

What decides the strict age group or sexual exclusiveness of a television show? There is such a thing as a target audience, of which MLP:FIM's is indeed young girls, but that does not exclude other demographics. Simple example; many teenagers watch shows like South Park for the edgy humor and profanity without actually being old enough to understand the satire of the show. Does that mean that South Park should ONLY appeal to actual adults who know what the creators are saying with the shows? No, it's okay for other age groups and genders (to a lesser extent, but the show is clearly male-oriented) to enjoy South Park, since it can be funny even if you don't understand the satire. Likewise, MLP:FIM is targeted at young girls, but it can have appeals to other audiences, can it not?

But you know that. You're immediately implying that it is such mediocre and rich in girl-oriented content that other groups should find no merit in it. When you imply things like that, you start breaching upon the territory of having an opinion that is actually indefensible in the way you have phrased it. And I guess we’ll get into that in due time.

[quote]I've seen numerous episodes. I began with the first, and was unimpressed.[author]Loggo[/quote]

I don't think the first episode is very good, either.

[quote]and a lot of character development had happened since then, as well as this episode containing actual gags or something. [author]Loggo[/quote]

Confirmed. Once you get into it, it's quite g-

[quote]Both were trash.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Oh. Damn.

[quote]The characters are all random stereotypes[author]Loggo[/quote]

Well, here's the thing about having a ... personality. Just like there are a limited number of words in the English language, there are also a limited number of character options [i]if you're going to generalize so harshly[/i]. The reality is that these characters are much more complex than what you recognize.

Let’s have a talk about Lauren Faust, who I’m sure you’ve heard was the executive producer for the show’s first season, and currently is the consulting producer. Lauren Faust describes herself as a person who hated girly children’s shows growing up, for many of the reasons you fallaciously associate her show with due to its genre. Lauren Faust always felt that girls’s shows were unimaginative, and that the characters lacked any creativity due to having no real flaws and having no personal ties to the audience. Lauren Faust is also a feminist, and is strictly against the idea of influencing a girl to act a certain way. This is why there are so many characters with so many different personalities and flaws (such as how you point out Rarity is a ‘[bleep],' which is pretty insensitive); yet it is still clear that they are all still valuable and accepted. Granted, I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that since you never actually took the time to watch more than a few episodes, and since your mind was so evidently closed toward any appreciation of subtle things anyway, I can’t expect you to know that.

[quote]whose only purpose is to learn about friendship together.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Technically, Twilight Sparkle is the only person whose actual purpose is to learn about friendship (in addition to her other studies). The other ponies have occupations and aspirations.

[quote]it's nothing special at all and hardly deserves a FRACTION of the hype it's been getting.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Well, part of the reason it is so widely received is due to the fact that it is littered with tons of extremely memorable moments of music, humor, emotion, visual beauty, and charm. It’s very easy to spread due to the ease of creating fan art of the characters, fan music of the songs from the show and of original content, memes of the humor, pictures and gifs of the excellent animation, and the universal messages of human decency.

It is very easy to spread. And, go figure, a lot of people like it once they see it, so people spread it! In all fairness, I probably would not ever have given the show a chance if not for Glowbo. And I was uninterested yet accepting of the show when I first saw it as well, which is probably still well-documented in the MLP thread or something. I didn't like it until I started going more into the episodes and the community.

Speaking of which, I love the hell out of the community - I think you just see all the wrong parts of it. Whatever.

[quote]I swear, the majority of the fanbase do NOT actually enjoy the show, and I'm sure a lot of them haven't even seen it.[author]Loggo[/quote]

The MyLittlePony subreddit has gotten over 12,000 subscribers in under a year, and it is also statistically one of the most active subreddits per capita on all of reddit, meaning a lot of people are creating content. That’s hard to do without watching the show.

Furthermore, there were 3,800 people on the internet watching a live stream of the new episode live at 9am last Saturday. When you take note of the absurd time of day, the fact that these are only the hardcore fans who won’t even wait until later in the day when it’s uploaded to youtube, your claim that they don’t actually watch the show is truly incorrect.

[quote]But believe it or not, this show has a MASSIVE following, consisting primarily of males.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Actually, the show is also loved by actual little girls. Some pony videos on youtube are more viewed by females than by males. It’s sort of irrelevant, but since you’re misconstruing the audience, I thought I would mention it. There are a lot of females, too, especially when you consider that young girls wouldn’t be as large on the internet scene anyway.

[quote] However, everywhere I go I'm literally plastered with idiots who not only watch this filth[author]Loggo[/quote]

Everywhere I go, I’m plastered with idiots who like football. I’m going go make a blog complaining about how they shove sports down my throat. Herp derp.

[quote]but make liking it one of their only interesting character traits.[author]Loggo[/quote]

Ever consider that they don’t consider ponies their ‘only interesting character trait,’ but that it is a symbol of a positive message that people will understand, even if they hate it? Maybe they represent themselves with ponies because the characters are meaningful to them, and that the show is extremely compassionate – which is something that they want to identify with in general?

[quote] Some (normal) people would keep things like that private[author]Loggo[/quote]

No. If there is one single thing I have learned in my [b]entire life[/b] – of all my talents and all the things that impress people, as well as all the mistakes I’ve made and had to live with – [u]the single thing that I will never forget is that you SHOULD NOT EVER hide something that is meaningful to you and that you are passionate about.[/u] I throw the entire weight of my identity and my life behind that claim, and if I have any value as a person, I should hope that this is very clearly understood. Do not tell people to keep to themselves and to hide the things that they fear will not be accepted.

“I want to dress in your insecurities
and be the perfect human.
Out-stretched out for all to loathe-
Here we go! The ultimate irony.”

-Slipknot

[b]I would rather live up to everything I am that makes you uncomfortable, than hide those things to earn your meaningless passing approval.[/b]

[quote] They constantly throw out random references like 20% SOMETHING or 10 SECONDS FLAT that don't even make sense in context.[author]Loggo[/quote]

I’ve seen people IRL who quote TF2 lines during lunch. I’m going go write a blog complaining about it.

I’ve seen people jokingly say the names of Harry Potter spells (Wingardium Leviosa after dropping a pencil, for example). Gee, Harry Potter boils my blood.

Everybody in my school was talking about the Chicago Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup (I lived in a Chicago suburb). I hate fadsters. Herp derp.

If it’s not abundantly clear at this point, there are people who reference their favorite things regardless of whether they like ponies or Halo. It’s just human nature to relate life to things that you like.

Furthermore, it is a part to whole fallacy when you decide that it is a problem associated with the fanbase simply because the people you’ve met act a certain way.

It is also extremely bigoted to only point out these issues with the pony fanbase when I’m sure you have seen people who reference other things. It’s selective hatred.

[quote]why do you insist to talk to me about it?[author]Loggo[/quote]

You brought it up.

[quote]It's like they think they're something special just for watching a kid's show.[author]Loggo[/quote]

No, but they have something in common, and needed a way to express that other than “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan.”

[quote] Does watching a mediocre show aimed at young girls seriously earn some kind of special title for you like "Brony"?[author]Loggo[/quote]

No, seriously, it’s not a special title. Is “furry” some kind of honor that I don’t know about, too? I thought it was just shorthand for “anthropomorphic animal enthusiast,” just like brony is shorthand for a MLP:FIM fan. You’re just grasping at straws for reasons to reinforce your belief that they are television elitists about a show that you think isn’t good.

[quote] STOP CRAMMING IT DOWN MY [bleep]ING THROAT[author]Loggo[/quote]

I mentioned this earlier, but since it is a very common problem with people complaining about MLP, I will bring it up again.

It is perfectly normal to reference something that you are passionate about. When other groups do it, you are fine with it. When bronies do it, you get mad and you exaggerate it in your mind. Having a pony avatar is not shoving it down your throat any more than having a Pepe Le Pew avatar is shoving Looney Toons down your throat. Posting pony fan music is no more annoying than posting Banjo Kazooie fan music.

You have a persecution complex. About ponies. That's sad. I highly doubt that strangers are directly contacting you about ponies for absolutely no reason, and if they are then simply tell them you are not interested and they will probably not bring it up again. When you see things like t-shirts, hats, pictures, and music, these things are not directed at you nor are you forced to view them – they are not being shoved down your throat. They should not make you mad. It is not a big deal.

In general, these people probably don’t want people like you to see them in the first place. They want people who are open-minded or are already fans of the show to see it. Calm down.

[quote] When I pass the toy aisle in Wal-Mart and see teenage boys and little girls looking at the same Rainbow Dash figure, I seriously lose a little faith in humanity. Please go away. Please. Please.[author]Loggo[/quote]



[quote] or the last few weeks in Debate we've been doing Congress. And one of the bills is, I [bleep] you not, "A Bill to Require the entire American population to watch a single episode of My Little Pony together in order to create world peace." THIS is why I hate you guys. [author]Loggo[/quote]

Somebody brought up ponies in a DEBATE, the PERFECT SITUATION to convince an actual annoying brony to stop his attention grabbing, and you go on the internet and commit ad hominems against him instead of just smashing his legislation legitimately and thoroughly in person.

I mean, damn. You could probably just crush his bill on the principals of liberty alone, let alone the fact that My Little Pony is likely to create personal satisfaction within some individuals, but impossible to solve the economic, governmental, and social issues that fuel the world’s wars. Plus the fact that not everybody can afford a television or a computer. And then further resources, and possibly a committee, would have to go toward deciding which episode to show people. And that world peace is a non-sequitor from only showing the show to Americans anyway. There are a million things wrong with this legislation. Just complain about it in a blog as if it actually matters any more than somebody suggesting that all soldiers should play COD3 to make them better shooters. You wouldn’t complain about that, would you? Selective hatred. At this point I’m bored of bringing it up.

[quote] Seeing people I considered friends go into this insanity legitimately makes me reconsider my feelings about them[author]Loggo[/quote]

You’re sick.