As a geek, I try to keep up with the many weird trends going around the Internet, even if I just want to strangle them.
But when I stumbled upon the most recent one – 18 to 30-year-olds watching a cartoon about candy-colored ponies – I caught myself saying “What?”
I tried to ignore it for a while, but my curiosity got the best of me and I had to watch it to see what the fuss was about.
One hour, 30 minutes and seven cans of Dr. Pepper later, I admitted the show, “My Little Pony: Friendship Magic” was very good for what it was.
The first thing about the show that generated attention on the Internet was the apparently amazing series, which sparked my curiosity.
After hearing that it was produced by legendary cartoon producer and writer Lauren Faust, of “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” fame, I absolutely had to check it out.
I knew that guys liking something for little girls was a little strange, even for today’s standards. But since I lost my dignity years ago, I sat down for an episode with open curiosity.
After the episode was over, I discovered that this show wasn’t all that bad. I found some characters, like the one over-dramatic unicorn, pretty likable. I also thought it was pretty clever the writers used a zebra for the episode’s subtle anti-racism message.
I decided to give another episode a chance while doing research anyway, and then another one. After the third episode, I finally understood why everybody likes this so much.
Wanting to investigate the fan base itself, I talked to some older fans of the show on a chat board, discovering that they call themselves “Bronies.” Older female fans are “Pegasisters.”
At first I thought I thought they would be creepy, socially awkward number-crunchers, but after sharing with them the optimism I gave the show, they turned out to be nice people.
From the looks of things, the show has given different people something in common, with complete strangers becoming the best of friends after discovering each other’s Bronyship.
Even some parents have made connections through the show, so maybe the Brony concept isn’t so bad. Possibly hundreds of people have connected to each other socially, and who knew it would all be because of a children’s TV show?
Maybe a bunch of grown men watching a show for girls is weird, but if it makes new friendships, I say “So what?”
The Bronies seem to be perfectly OK with watching it, so maybe there’s a lesson to be learned here.
If people put their pride aside and be optimistic about something seemingly odd, they might find something worthwhile, like “My Little Pony.”
So, the Brony herd can keep spreading rainbows and cupcakes all they want, just so long as they don’t request any Lady Gaga parodies from the show.
