UNLEASH THE BRONIES!
RE: “My Little Brony” [Film, July 9], in which reviewer Elinor Jones review A Brony Tale—a documentary about male fans of the children’s show, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Many such “bronies” wrote in to express their displeasure with the article, and in particular Elinor’s comments about the possible inappropriateness of grown men hanging out in “the little-girl aisle of the toy store.” What follows are just a few of the many (MANY!) responses we received.
You know, I created an account JUST so I could call you out on the huge amount of STUPIDITY you have. Seriously, what the FUCK is wrong with you? How dare you say such horrible things about us bronies? Normally I would love and tolerate the shit out of you, but considering you had to post an ENTIRE ARTICLE? No, I give no forgiveness to sexist haters like you. Have you even SEEN brony statistics? Do you know ANYTHING about us? HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN THE SHOW?
Of course not, because you don’t do your research, and because you judge an entire fanbase based on a few bad apples. Guess what, EVERY FANDOM HAS BAD APPLES! And if you are truly, TRULY man enough [Elinor is a woman—Eds.] to reply to this upon reading it, I expect an apology, because NO ONE likes people like you. NOPONY wants to go to Equestria Daily [equestriadaily.com] and be reminded that there are IGNORANT SNOBS like you out there. GOOD DAY, SIR!
posted by otaku4242
Bronies are awesome and nobody cares what Elinor Jones thinks anyway. She only has 211 Twitter followers, lol.
posted by Ian Heard
Do yourself a favor and quit your job. You suck on every level and don’t deserve to get paid for this. Maybe you can keep ranting on your Twitter no one gives a damn about.
posted by Michael Bolting
Is this supposed to be a review of A Brony Tale? Because it looks more like a statement of opinion. What of the movie? How would you rate it? Do you think it was well filmed and produced? These are questions I look for in a review. All I see is a statement of: “This movie will say they’re not weird. My opinion is that they are.” I wouldn’t call this a review. Regardless of whether I agree with you or not, I see this as bad journalism.
posted by Gabe Wohlwind
I am absolutely calling this article out as both sexist and homophobic. Allowing women to embrace traditionally masculine forms of expression also requires allowing (and even encouraging) men to embrace more traditionally feminine forms of expression.
As the mother of a 13-year-old, straight, entirely non-weird, socially adjusted brony whose favorite character is Pinkie Pie, I gotta tell you that the thing I enjoy most is that my son does not experience harassment at school about this. He has a community of male and female MLP fans. There’s even a club. We’ve evolved to the point that heteronormative men can enjoy colors, characters, and experiences traditionally reserved for girly girls and have it not be cause for bullying at school. That’s effing awesome and this reviewer needs to think deeply about the ingrained misogyny that makes her feel icky about boys who like “girly stuff.” SERIOUSLY.
posted by Trisha
To the author: I don’t have a problem with people still feeling “off” about bronies. It certainly looks odd from the outside, depending on your level of open-mindedness to the idea. One of my best friends still hates bronies. But when it comes to a review in a publication, I see no reason why you needed to use the phrasing you did. Your last few statements sound much more like a personal attack on the guy, telling him to stay in his “proper place.” There are other ways to express your distaste for the idea than trying to make a personal attack on one of the interviewees.
To some of the bronies here: I get that it’s frustrating to read some parts of this article, but shouting out your anger and throwing harsh words around doesn’t help our case. We can express disagreement without yelling and being super angry about it. Let’s not try to make our public image any worse.
posted by adkscherch
THANKS TO ALL THE BRONIES who weren’t too Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash off a few responses. It’s a Rarity to receive such Twilight Sparkling comments, and we apologize for stepping in your Pinkie Pies and being such Applejackasses about it. For your efforts, you all win the greatest honor we can bestow: “Portland Mercury Cutie Marks.”
Fun week!
It’s not necessarily about sexism; it’s about how adults, both men and women, are not only so into this shit now but are so earnest and self-rightous about it, even though it’s just bad-taste crap that was created to make money off little kids, and yet now people can’t just say they like the show or are fans but have to invent some identity “bronies,” like being a “Trekkie” or an “Avatard” but get up in arms when anyone teases them or doesn’t get it. Honestly, it’s rainbow-colored kitschy ponies peddling a bunch of earnest “values” within a fantasy world, so get a sense of humor about it at least.
Most people get made fun of for something, and you’re no different. Especially if what you’ve chosen out of a huge array of culture available to you is rainbow kiddie crap—My Little Pony, Care Bears, Pound Puppies, Shirt Tails, Rainbow Brite, Barbie etc. ad nauseam. I hated this shit when I six. It’s cutesy, sanctimonious, culturally bankrupt crap, and “magic” and “friendship” are not something substantial enough for you to be preaching to me about. “Magic” is hollow bullshit, and friendship is hardly a new idea for the human species. Making friends teaches the value of friendship, not a TV show. Get over yourselves.
Since I am a Portland resident and a brony, I have been following this string of articles with bated enthusiasm. I have to say I am both pleased and displeased with the original “review” which spawned the firey response of my fellow fans who saw it. xD
One interesting thing I wanted to point out: the guy in the toy isle in the movie that everyone keeps referring to- he is actually a somewhat famous personality among us bronies. I won’t reveal his online persona here, but I was actually amused when I saw the doc myself and realized whom Elinor was writing about. He has built up numerous roles in our community which include filmmaker, documentary author and motivational speaker, so it was just kind of funny to see him referred to as some creepy dude. xD
What a bunch of idiots.