The My Little Pony "Stigma"

[Taffeta]

Ugh.  That "poem" was created by the staff of the brony documentary and recited by John de Lancie himself in its intro.

Honestly, that makes it even worse. And, possibly, nails one of the reasons why there is a 'stigma' associated with MLP. If my student is anything to go by, there are a lot of people who are influenced by that, some of whom may never having stopped and looked at the earlier generations.

I don't know who John De Lancie is. I assume he has something to do with the G4 animation.

The G1 comment seems to echo Faust's apparent opinion, too. Chicken and egg maybe...but it does make it look like undermining G1-3 is seen as a way to promote G4, at least by the meme brony fandom.

[LadyMoondancer]

The "MLP is about tea parties" stereotype pre-dates G4, though.  I think Jordan is right when he said the commercials for MLP were a factor.  They were never about battling monsters or bravery;  they usually had a couple little girls in meringue-like dresses talking about how beautiful the ponies were while they brushed their hair.

Don't get me wrong, the G1 commercials were charming (okay, actually I hated the "My Little Pony mommy" ones when I was a little girl, but I liked the ones with the original tune), but if that was the only exposure someone had to MLP, I can see where they would get the impression that the ponies didn't do much besides brush hair and think about their looks.

[Al-1701]

De Lancie voices Discord, the main villain of the second season premier (because he played Q in Star Trek who was the basis for that villain) and became a recurring character in Season 3.

[Taffeta]

if that was the only exposure someone had to MLP, I can see where they would get the impression that the ponies didn't do much besides brush hair and think about their looks.

Point taken, BUT if a person is going to take a position of discussing the old TV show specifically, then you would think that impression should be built from *watching* the old TV show, not simply from a fleeting glance at the commercials. I would be a bit surprised if someone's only exposure was to the commercials when talking about G1, since it's only more recently they've been so available on YT, whereas the original series has been floating around for a while in various forms. The most well released is the movie, which I don't honestly like that much, but it definitely doesn't revolve around tea parties, hair brushing or crying to stop a villain...

All that said, I used to believe as a kid that Jem was about magic and magicians because on my Sweet Stuff and the Treasure Hunt VHS, the trailer for Jem was entirely animated from the Misfits Abracadabra video, in which Pizzazz and the others are putting spells on Jem and co and playing the witch/magic trick card. So I wasn't interested in Jem as a kid, because that was my impression of it - I only learned later that it wasn't that way.

[Baby Sugarberry]

The commercials are a very good reflection of advertising culture of the 80's - where toys were marketed very, very hard to a specific gender/age group.  Much of today's toy advertising is still the same (we have 'girl' aisles and 'boy' aisles for gods sakes still in toy stores, ugh) but it was definitely worse in the 80's.

The shows on the other hand, while they were glorified 20 minute commercials, did not pitch a given pony/playset quite so hard, they actually had plot for the most part and shallow but decent characterization, something you don't really get in a 60 second TV spot.

That "poem" typifies all the things that make me cringe and vehemently reject the word "Brony".  I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

[Al-1701]

I had forgot that "poem" was actually written by Amy Keating Rogers herself, one of the show's most celebrated writers.  The animation also shows random ponies gasping in horror at G3 and Muffin Pony's eyes going straight at the sight of whatever they were seeing.  So, the staff making the current show believes, or at least believed what was said there.

[LadyMoondancer]

The commercials are a very good reflection of advertising culture of the 80's - where toys were marketed very, very hard to a specific gender/age group.  Much of today's toy advertising is still the same (we have 'girl' aisles and 'boy' aisles for gods sakes still in toy stores, ugh) but it was definitely worse in the 80's.

To the extent that Hasbro's logo in the 80s was literally a boy and girl walking in opposite direction.

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[Wardah]

That "poem" typifies all the things that make me cringe and vehemently reject the word "Brony".  I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

Not everyone who loves ponies grew up with them. I was more a LPS girl who fell in love with G3 near the end of their run as an adult because they were cute and pretty. (I would have probably loved G2 as a kid if they actually continued in the US. grrrrr)

[Artemesia's Garden]

Yep there's a guy called Ewan at Brighton Uni, he was at UK Ponycon last year and gave a talk. Sorry I don't have any more of his details to hand but might be able to find his email when I unpack my pony stuff...

I hope someone is collecting all this for a dissertation, it is fascinating sociological data. And would be very interesting to see an analysis over time, including all the G4 bullying and negativity experienced by bronies. If it was my book, of course it would also include a section on positive stories and outcomes, detailing positive personal outcomes related to My Little Pony

Post Merge: June 17, 2015, 07:57:29 AM

The commercials are a very good reflection of advertising culture of the 80's - where toys were marketed very, very hard to a specific gender/age group.  Much of today's toy advertising is still the same (we have 'girl' aisles and 'boy' aisles for gods sakes still in toy stores, ugh) but it was definitely worse in the 80's.

To the extent that Hasbro's logo in the 80s was literally a boy and girl walking in opposite direction.

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Omg is right!! Never spotted that before

[Taffeta]

That "poem" typifies all the things that make me cringe and vehemently reject the word "Brony".  I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

Yep. Could not agree with you more. I am a bit horrified, though, that that poem came from people directly involved in the G4 show. It's as though G4 is trying to market itself on superiority over other generations, and that's a bit sad.

After the bad blood that happened over G2 in their early days, I think that as a collecting community we learned the hard way that it really doesn't matter what generation pony you like or choose to collect. No generation is better than any other, it is just a matter of individual preference as to which one each of us picks to like best. Nowadays the proper community/fandom - ie, places like here on the Arena, or the TP, where all MLP generation fans from all over the world are represented and where we can all interdiscuss these things without making fun or mocking or attacking each other for the generation we like best - are pretty mutually respectful of one another.

I don't see the "meme bronies" (officially gonna be my name for them now) as pony fans of any generation, because insulting the basis for the thing you say you love doesn't even make any sense. You can't love G4 by hating on older generations, because G4 is meant to bring together older generations into one new show. I'm genuinely both amazed and horrified that that mindset spread to the creation team of G4 in some way. I had totally assumed it to be a creation of the meme "brony" "fandom".


@ LM - that's a great call. I hadn't looked at the 1980s Hasbro logo that way, either, but you're right. That is what it shows. Although it is interesting that it's a blue logo - and it appeared in blue on MLP packages, even though MLP was strictly in the "girl" category based on the commercials.

 

[Jordan]

I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

what about the people who came from G4? I never would have even touched MLP if it wasn't for G4. I was 16 when I got into ponies not even close to a kid, I'm 20 now nearly 21
I do mainly collect G4, but I am open to buying G1's (probably what I'll do when FiM stops making toys) not to mention my bookshelf full of G3's I've rescued from thrifts and flea markets

[Taffeta]

I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

what about the people who came from G4? I never would have even touched MLP if it wasn't for G4. I was 16 when I got into ponies not even close to a kid, I'm 20 now nearly 21
I do mainly collect G4, but I am open to buying G1's (probably what I'll do when FiM stops making toys) not to mention my bookshelf full of G3's I've rescued from thrifts and flea markets

I think Baby Sugarberry is talking about the idiots who make offensive and stupid memes and who go around YT trashing old pony stuff - not the genuine fans like yourself who love ponies and collect because of that There's a difference between real G4 fans like those here on the Arena and the fad fans out to cause trouble.

[Jordan]

I eagerly await the day when the fad/show dies out and all that is left are the people who just want to enjoy their fond childhood memories (of any generation) in peace.   

what about the people who came from G4? I never would have even touched MLP if it wasn't for G4. I was 16 when I got into ponies not even close to a kid, I'm 20 now nearly 21
I do mainly collect G4, but I am open to buying G1's (probably what I'll do when FiM stops making toys) not to mention my bookshelf full of G3's I've rescued from thrifts and flea markets

I think Baby Sugarberry is talking about the idiots who make offensive and stupid memes and who go around YT trashing old pony stuff - not the genuine fans like yourself who love ponies and collect because of that There's a difference between real G4 fans like those here on the Arena and the fad fans out to cause trouble.

aa! I keep forgetting there are people like that O.o you'd think people would want to learn the history of the franchise not mock it. I mean you have to look at what Hasbro's was/is trying to market towards...

[Galaxy91]

Hmm, now that the topic is all about Stigmas, Bronys and all that Jazz, I may as well give my two cents.

I've been there from the start - I started collecting G1 Ponies when I was only a child and never stopped. That means I can remember a Time before FiM came around. And at that time, I don't think there was a Stigma for Ponies at all. Sure, boys smirked at Ponies like they smirk at all girl toys, but that hardly counts. As an adult collecting Ponies, people were a little curious, sure - but mostly they accepted it as a quirk, a special hobby, and that was all. We were no different from other vintage Toy collectors.

Well, and then FiM happened. I was happy that My little Pony was not dead, and I was happy that it had so much success. But then the whole Brony fad went out of control. People started going CRAZY about that show. The Internet was FLOODED with that crazyness for weeks and weeks. Rants, emberassing Photos, more rants. And, sadly. too: Porn. Loads of Pony Porn started showing up. (This was almost nonexistent before FiM btw). Many photos showed up with Bronies being crazy, sexual or weird.

Of course, I know that not all Bronies were acting this way! Please bear with me!

Well... The internet basically exploded. And that is when the big break happened. Suddendly, Pony Collectors and Ponies in general were associated with these annoying people and/or perverted people. Many Boards even banned Ponies from being posted, and this remains to this day. I literally cannot talk about my Pony collection online anymore. Only here its possible.
Now, when I tell people I collect Ponies, they look at me funny and I have to explain the whole thing to them.

I know that not all Bronies are this way. I met a few and they were basically like me, just enjoying a Toy. I am happy about that. But at the start, when the show first came out, you cannot deny that most Bronies were *very* vocal about it. And some of them drew *much* porn of it. Fortunately, now it all cooled down, and the crazy Bronies are not as loud anymore, making way for calm, "regular" Bronies. I like this. I also like the show, FiM. Its cute and well-written, so no grudge remains there.

I think sometimes, a fanbase cheers a little too enthusiastically and accidentally makes itself unpopular for a while. I think this is what happened with MLP. I think its sad that now MLP has this stigma - I think everyone suffers from it, Collectors and Bronies alike.
But I am sure it will blow over with time!


I hope I didn't make anyone angry. I mean no insult. This is just how I percieved it.
No hard feelings, okay?

[DazzleKitty]

I totally feel the same way, Galaxy91. I hate how all these adult MLP pictures and even PRODUCTS have came to be. Some may know what I am referring too. I like my pony world to remain innocent. The bronies are the Arena are very nice, but I avoid the ones outside. They have been nasty and hurtful, even to me. I actually got made fun of by them for my collection. I don't want to be associated with hateful people like that. The people here are accepting and kind, and those who understand the obsessions with toys.