Opinion of Bronies

[Mr. Smith]

Do we define Bronies as those who engage in the bizarre "art", troll boards begging for acceptance?

Or do we simply define them as people who enjoy the show in its own right?

[Mr. Smith]

It's not so much the fact that they watch the show, it's the fact that they obsess over it to the point of lunacy.

And that's why for this thread's purposes, I voted HP.

@TNF: So how do you explain Avatar: The Last Airbender? That's a show that was meant for kids, and yet it covered genocide, parental abuse and scarring, 1984-esque power plays [By Chiang Kai-Shek esque stand-ins no less], and what happens to those who become embittered by war that they become monstrous.

These are topics that any rational adult tend to appreciate in a story in a way you do not expect children to appreciate.

Naturally there is a huge adult demographic, and the favorite character of these grown people is a blind, 12 year old girl.

I'm fascinated by how you'll answer that.


@RFayette:

You mean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0dbJj6x0eU&list=PL8TioFHubWFtTdaXU1amIZpOG5Ys9-w5O, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr5MXQGhft4

this Sesame Street? XD

The first is out by Sesame Street itself, and the second is Christoph Waltz interpretation.

[Mr. Smith]

There is perhaps nothing more pathetic than adults watching children's cartoons.

What exactly do you consider a "children's" cartoon? Would you consider it pathetic to watch animated films made by Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, etc.?

You do realize the difference between "watching" and "enjoying" something and "obsessing" over it?

Yes, obviously. But TNF didn't say anything about obsessing, his exact words were "There is perhaps nothing more pathetic than adults watching children's cartoons.".

And this along with some other condescending comments confirm where his head has headed...Hint: It's the reason he couldn't give a crap to answer my question.

It has to be there to be that blind to the similarities to BRTD's l'il catchphrase regarding media that has been espoused thus far. So similar that only ONE word has to be changed.

[Mr. Smith]

There's clearly a difference between occasionally watching a Spongebob or Fairly Oddparents episode, whose general audience is kids aged 5-12, for instance, and being obsessed with a show specifically designed for little girls.  Pixar movies and shows like Avatar: the last Airbender are way broader and thus it's a false equivalence to compare them to My Little Pony. 

Two holes in that argument:

TNF and Co. shifted the conversation away from obsession of kid's shows and that difference, and have pretty much gone into attack mode on any adult who dares simply watch and enjoy a cartoon  meant for kids, even if said kids show might have a lot of likable things. They aren't even taking into account when said kids shows become more broadly focused.

And next, Avatar was meant for boys originally and just boys, but like how Bronies happened, the other current ATLA fans caught onto the excellent world-building, snappy dialogue, and memorable characters.

Next thing ya' know, it's a huge hit and the writers start adding subtle concessions, while keeping the main target demographic in mind.

So, actually it is a fairly apt comparison [no comparison is perfect], given that both are kids shows that far exceeded expectations.

[Mr. Smith]

I actually think it's perfectly reasonable to expect that a grown man who watches a cartoon for little girls is a deviant and probably should be on some kind of watchlist.

lol

No kidding, after all that would put:

Relatives (Brothers, Fathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, etc.) with little girls of the demographic.

Babysitters

The writers and studio heads themselves behind said shows who might be proud of their work, actually they'll have to watch for the inevitable DVD commentaries, because what doesn't have that?

All of these people are deviants who should on watchlists by the logic displayed here. Excellent work.

P.S. What of grown women who still watch Transformers or any other show meant for little boys? There's not much of an outcry for them being deviants now is there?

[Mr. Smith]

P.S. What of grown women who still watch Transformers or any other show meant for little boys? There's not much of an outcry for them being deviants now is there?

The difference being that:

A. There's not many of them.
B. They aren't creepily vocal.
C. They aren't so creepily and scarily vocal that they put it into everyone's face and make porn out of it.
D. There's not many who fantasize about intercourse with their favorite characters (who are basically horse children, aren't they?)

All true (hence my vote), but that's just one small, but vocal aspect and usual internet fandom stupidity (switch what the porn in and you can apply this to practically any popular show these days)

Except the conversation has shifted to dumping on people for simply watching out of their demographic, never mind why and how the show is watched.

[Mr. Smith]

This is a terrible, terrible thread.

To each their own, guys.

I'm not a brony (I've seen some episodes with my daughter, though), but I do recommend watching the documentary about bronies on Netflix. It explains the phenomena, which until that point didn't make any sense to me.

Congratulations Hatman,  that's exactly what I've wanted to say, but never had the calm to stop at.

@Cathy: And this thread in general is an excellent example of it still being there.