So glad you asked Jenna...
If you have not experienced the wonder that is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, then you are really missing out. You think I'm joking. Take a moment to think back on your childhood. Remember those cartoons you used to watch? The good ones, before they got all weird and dumbed down like they are today? Shows like Gummi Bears, Ducktales (woo-ooo), Gargoyles, Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, Batman, Freakazoid, Animaniacs...need I go on?
These were shows that didn't talk down to you just because you were a kid. They took their audience's intellect for granted, and crafted quality children's entertainment. Heck, a lot of these have been resurrected as DVD sets because so many ADULTS wanted a taste of their childhood again, and these shows STILL HOLD UP TODAY!
In passing, I have seen some of the crappy cartoons they put on TV today, and I am not impressed.
Then I found MLP: FIM.
All those shows I listed up there? MLP would fit right in with them.
Perhaps this is why the phenomena known as "Bronies" has occurred. A broney is a male, generally in his 20's or 30's, who is a fan of MLP: FIM. And they aren't making fun of the show in any way, they actually, genuinely love it. And who can blame them?
Here are a few quotes from an article on bronies, you can read the whole thing here:
“First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”
So, why the breathless adoration? Some fans say the show’s appeal lies in good illustration, excellent characters or, as Allen put it, a “perfect storm of ’80s nostalgia and cultural irony.”
Despite a tacit understanding that some people might be surprised by their choice of entertainment, most bronies show little to no compunction about their fandom. They shouldn’t have to. And, intentionally or not, they might be bucking the gender socialization of things considered to be “for girls” or “for boys.”
“This weird alchemy that Lauren Faust tapped into when she set out to make the show accessible to kids and their parents hooks into the male geek’s reptilian hindbrain and removes a lifetime’s behavioral indoctrination against pink,” said New Mexico brony Allen. “As a person with Asperger syndrome, I learned more about theory of mind, friendships and social interactions from this season than I had in the previous 31 years of life.”
It's a great article, so if you have a moment, I suggest you go read the whole thing.
As for my own enjoyment of MLP: FIM? All I can say is that I watched one episode. Then another. Then another. Then another. And before I knew it I had watched the whole season without really noticing that I had become a fan.
It went sorta like this.
Now, the clip I showed you in that other post was actually several clips cut together from one episode. It showed all the different times Pinkie Pie warned Twilight Sparkle about not revealing a friend's secrets. Pinkie Pie, by the way, is the most random and insanely funny character. She's like a combination of Luna Lovegood and Phoebe from Friends. On crack. When she popped out of the bowl of sponges, shouting "forEVerrrrr!" I laughed so hard I shot milk out of my nose. And I wasn't even drinking milk. Then she eats the apple in that threatening way...hilarious.
And with that, I shall leave you with another clip, also of Pinkie Pie singing a song she made up about the "Evil Enchantress" (who, of course, turns out not to be evil at all, but only severely misjudged because she's a zebra pony. Hello subtle lesson about racism! What an excellent lesson to be teaching our children. In fact, I think more people could stand to learn that lesson than just our children. Thank goodness My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic isn't just for kids.)
The first part is Pinkie Pie singing it, then, later in the episode all of the ponies are afflicted with various ailments (which they blame on the 'enchantress') and Pinkie Pie gets Fluttershy (whose voice has been altered by the same thing which has afflicted all of them) to sing it for her. Enjoy.
And one more just for fun, because I also love Fluttershy:
6 comments:
thanks so much for answering my pony question. I thought it had something to do with MLP. I did read an article about bronies awhile ago.
p.s. I've recently started watching Dr. Who and am generally amused. I'm assuming you've seen it. :)
Hope all is well!
Hell, yes, you need go on! You forgot Bonkers!
One day when I was very young, Mom came home with a toy. It was a plastic pony with a comb-able mane and tail and a fanciful brand upon its hindquarters. She told me that it was a new toy the manufacturer was testing out and they wanted to see how little girls felt about it. I looked at the pony for a minute. Then I decided that it was my best friend.
Cut to: years later. I had the My Little Ponies stable and a herd of ponies to populate it. I had discovered that if you pulled out a pony's tail a little round hole opened up and you could stick tiny rolled-up messages inside it and hide the pony in your yard and eventually no one would find it except you, but you'd be really excited anyway because HOLY CROW YOU'D INVENTED A PONY TIME CAPSULE.
I learned that Dads weren't that interested in playing Ponies. Neither were Moms, come to think of it, but baby sisters were physically incapable of resistance and therefore tolerated My Little Ponies stuffed into her crib and stroller at all times, even rather inconvenient ones like when Mom was changing her and I snuck a Pony into the high-chair.
I watched the movies and learned all the songs. Every times I move into a new place, I remark, "Home is where the heart is; it's where you hang your hat." To this day, when I'm trying to convince my fiancee that she should clean the bathroom because I have scooped the catboxes, I can't help humming beneath my breath, "All you have to do is get the smooze."
Long story short (too late!): I love the My Little Ponies and everything they do, and can't believe their luck in finding a whole generation of IHDs* who will support them. Kudos, BoBos!**
*ironic hipster douchebags (tm). Seriously, I live amongst them but...I really hope I am not of them.
**bourgeoisie bohemians: people who work five- or six-figure jobs but feel guilty for not being hippies so they spend their money on hemp pants and memberships to the local co-op; a.k.a. locavores; mostly people who walk down the street to the free Latino music festival and feel smug about themselves instead of spending their free time volunteering or spreading their free wealth around by giving it to me. Screw you, douchebags.
GASP!! I totally forgot about Bonkers! I LOVED that show!
"Nice work, Pickle!"
"Uh, it's Pik-el, sir."
I am a big fan of the MLP: FiM series! I think it brings of sense of what kids shows used to be like. :)
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