Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony

So this movie wasn't on my list.

I was browsing the Netflix selection as I do in my free time and I came across a movie called Bronies. Now, if you don't know what a brony is, let me explain.

Are you aware of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Well its a show about, what else? My Little Pony. And the show as marketed as a show for little girls. Make sense right?

Well a brony is an adult man who watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The average age for these guys are in their early twenties and these guys are hardcore.

I have met a brony. I mean he's a decent enough guy he just likes bright colored ponies in a show that was made for girls around the ages of 3-10.

Now I'm going to tread lightly in this review because I don't want to offend anybody too much. Here's my disclaimer.

I don't give a shit. If guys want to watch My Little Pony, go right ahead. I'm an advocate for people watching what they want regardless of their age, gender, race, whatever. I don't give a shit.

That doesn't mean I won't think its a little strange because I just don't understand it. And that's partly why I wanted to watch this documentary, because I wanted to get some understanding.

So what happens in this documentary?

The documentary follows a couple of bronies around the country and asks them how they became a brony, what their life is like, and why the show speaks to them.

One of them lives in the South and has been harassed for liking the show. Another one lives in Israel and creates music inspired by the show. Another one is from the United Kingdom and has Aspergers and feels the show allows him to understand concepts like friendship and emotions.

The movie also covers the origins of the television show and talks to the creator and some of the voice actors of the show and how they've reacted to the huge upheaval of bronies.

I think one thing we learned from those interviews is that this man.

IS GOD!

That's not really an exaggeration. John de Lancie, better known for his role as Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation, explains in the documentary that he did a special voice over for one of the villains in one of the seasons of My Little Pony, a guy named Discord. He says he did the voice over then forgot about it. A few months later his email was flooded with fan mail, but it wasn't from little girls, it was from grown men. 

Since, the man has gone to Bronicon (the Comic-con for Bronies) and is freaking Jesus to these people. 

Now I'll give the guy some credit, he does have a couple moments in the movie where he's really a bro. He responds to the email of a boy who's father is having doubts about him being a brony, he goes to bronicon and supports the fan base that has been supporting him. Just kind of a bro.

Which was another part of the documentary, an attempt to get rid of stereotypes of bronies being homosexuals or perverts for being interested in the show. Which kind of got a little annoying after a while. The entire movie portrayed bronies in comparison with homosexuals coming out of the closet.

ITS A FREAKING SHOW!

Like I've said before, I don't give a shit who watches this show or not.

But there comes a time when you have step back and think, am I doing all I can with my life? Or am I putting a little bit too much time into a show about colorful ponies?

After watching the documentary I found a couple of the first episodes just to see what the hell is so freaking wonderful about this show.

And my god.

Now this is just my opinion, different people get different things out of mediums like TV so I'm sure there's something magical about My Little Pony that I am just not getting.

But everything was magical, everything was about friendship, and laughter and freaking ponies I just wanted to punch something. The script is so bland that you'd think these ponies were farting rainbows and pooping butterflies... and sometimes they do!

The concepts are just so basic. Making friends makes us better people. We all have different strengths and as friends we bring out the best in people. I get that, it makes sense, its a great message to teach to little children. And I'm not just saying that about little girls, boys need to learn these concepts as well.

So why are high school and college boys drawn to this show?

Well the answers vary.

A lot of people answered that it wasn't so much about the show, rather the community that has been built out of it. Remember how I mentioned I know someone who is a brony? My freshman year of college this guy sat in his room for two days straight watching a My Little Pony marathon. But he watched it over an internet forum with a bunch of people he had never met in person. But they were all bronies and they were all friends.

That may sound kind of odd but its actually an interesting concept. The guy had some interpersonal issues and was incredibly introverted. Making friends over the internet was just easier for him and it made him feel accepted.

And that was something that was mentioned in the documentary.

I hate to stereotype but watch the documentary and look at the people that are balls deep into this phenomena and I started to think to myself, There's a demographic here.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a lot of these guys were often bullied in grade school, they felt like social outcasts, and many of them are introverts.

The movie went a little bit into the psychology of the phenomena but not nearly as much as I wanted them to. While there are bronies that are extroverts and are considered the "evangelic bronies" a lot of them are introverts trying to feel special and accepted.

And therefore the concepts are so tangible for them. It makes them feel good, carefree from a world that is very harsh.

In fact, a part of the movie was interviewing military members who were bronies. They said it was good for them to find an escape from the reality of their memories of deployment and of course since the military is only for the manliest of men, they feel like outcasts and are not able to fully express their love for the show.

The documentary reminded me of a fantastic documentary I saw a while back by a guy named Jackson Katz. The documentary is called Tough Guise and focused on the media portrayal of what is manly and acceptable as men. I may have already posted this on a previous post. Regardless, here's a clip from it.