So, I just have to come out and say it. I don't get My Little Pony. More specifically, I don't understand how this show has accumulated a Brony group of 20+ year old grown men. Before I continue, I want to make it clear that I am not trying to offend anyone. My intention is not to insult. I am simply explaining how I don't get it.

Hearing what the show was about, and hearing the plot lines of a lot of episodes of the show, I pictured it as a something like a cross of Care Bears and Princess Barbie as far as maturity goes. But I realized that I should not make a judgement like that without ever seeing an episode. I am having an insomnia night right now. I saw that it was on Instant Netflix, so I decided I might as well see what all the fuss is about.
 
I watched 5 episodes, and it is exactly how I imagined it would be. A cross of Care Bears and Princess Barbie. It is a show that MIGHT have had my attention when I was at an age too young to really remember, but not past that, let alone my teenage years (and even more as someone seeing it for the first time as an adult). 

I can see the appeal to toddlers and a little older. But I just don't see how this can possibly be so captivating, charismatic, and luring to teenage guys and adult men (even teenage girls and adult women). I am not talking about the simple 'it is just a cute little show' kind of fan base here. The Brony group is like hard core into this show and even obsessive in many cases. I have never met someone in person who wears the Brony label. The only ones I know are from online places like Vizzed. But I am aware that this is a very large group of people.

Again, I hope I am not offending anyone. I am not judging you. I just want to understand. Can someone please explain how this show that has the maturity of preschoolers has such a die hard fan base of older guys? Sure, I am guilty of watching old cartoons that I loved from my childhood, but even those shows do not captivate me as an adult like this show does for adult guys who see if for the first time as teens and adults. Can someone please tell me what is drawing the Brony group in?

Me too...I think it just because of the drama that happens in show not like the others witch that contains..
Mystical girly stuff..I watched my little pony..But I didn't like it that much..I prefer watch barney (Not the expensive barney..)
Than this is just Weird to me..And you have a point..But we don't arguments about others favorite stuff..
For me I like watch Korean series..

rcarter2 : Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and try to answer your heads, First off... Yeah, I'm a brony, But I don't obsess over the show in anyway, And I'm going to try to explain it as a person who has a good sense about these thing and not as someone who is a fan of the show itself. But let me begin and get to the point.

The show was made by a popular writer named Lauren Faust, She made The Power Puff girls, Another "Girly" show that had a big male audience and Foster home for imaginary friends, While having never actually seen the later I've heard very good things about it, But again.. I've yet to see it first hand so I'm not going to rate it.

Honestly, I could be wrong but it sounds like you pretty much expected the show to not be good while you watched it, It's pretty important to keep an open mind when you watch this show, Otherwise you most likely won't enjoy it. at all, I know I didn't the first time I watched the show, Another thing I think is kind of worth mentioning is that I found the show by myself on netflix without even hearing a word about bronies, I just gave it a try and sure enough... I hated, Until I tried it with an open mind two weeks later, That's when I fell in love with stuff like the animation and artwork and even the writing.

So while yeah, It's a girls show, It was made as a family friendly show meaning an entire family could actually enjoy the show if they wanted to, one of the things I actually really enjoy about the show is the fact that the characters aren't girly stereo types and the fact that they actually have some character depth behind them, Sure.. The are girls and act (Somewhat, I wouldn't call kicking a manticore in the face very girly.) girly, But that's because they are girls, All the characters have a good amount of story behind them assuming that a story is made for said character.

And here is where I really fell in love with being a brony, The fan works, Whether it's music, Artwork or even fan fictions, They usually have a lot more depth to them and tell you something about the community you're in.(Fan fictions especially, Yay giant fire breathing pony wars.) These all allow for a pretty darn good story and enjoyable time, It's kind of hard to explain actually, All I know is I enjoy the show and fan works that surround it.

I hope this did a decent job answering your questions.

Frodlex : That was a good reply. I will say that I was not expecting to dislike it when I decided to watch it. There are plenty of shows that didn't catch my interest, but I decided to watch it because of the large fan base, and ended up loving it. This was one of those things. Even though it might not sound like it, I watched it open minded. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gone through 5 episodes. 

I was in no way looking for anyone to convince me to like it or make me agree with the show. I was just wanting to know the appeal. Your last paragraph talked about that a bit, so you helped a little. 

Still would like to hear from others. Especially from the ones that are hard core fans.

rcarter2 : well seeing as I am a hardcore fan I even made a oc pony by the name of Star Study I would have to Frodlex is right on most of his points the one that is wrong if Lauren didn't create PPG or Fosters home that was made by her husband Craig McCracken so lets give credit where credit is due.

What I like about the show is its so different from what you would expect from a little girl show the characters are very well written and they story always leaves you wanting more. Most people that watch thee show for the first time watch one episode and are like that wasn't that bad lets watch another. Depending on what the five episodes you watched is what references you can find. some examples of references in the show:

The Big Lebowski, gone with the wind, Pok?mon, doctor who, star wars, hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, and many others that I cant?think of off the top of my head.

if you want to know why us bronies and pegasisters love the show so much I highly suggest you watch this documentary on our culture and fan base and why we get hated on so much and defined as Deviant.

rcarter2 :   Well, I get where you are coming from. I was actually the same way, only  I was eventually dared to watch it.  I would assume that the people who are drawn into it just have different preferences, or a different sense of humor. I guess the show isn't for everyone. The only reason why I was really drawn into it in the first place was because the first one I watched involved a main character going insane, next thing I knew a bear's neck got snapped and...yeah. It was just a bunch of stuff I personally found funny in that episode. Most of the characters are surprisingly well written for a cartoon. And the other reason to why I think is why it's popular is already explained by hunter. All those references to Pokémon, Doctor Who, A-Team, Big Lebowski, and a bunch of others, are stuff that the parents of the target audience would find entertaining. But that's just my 2 cents on the subject.

rcarter2 : Not sure if you think I'm a hardcore brony, but as the obvious owner of this forum I'd assume you do. 

Considering others have said how they got into the show. I'll explain how I came across My Little pony: Friendship is Magic. 

I found the show by pure chance just after the first 2 episodes were released, so at that time the brony random wasn't precisely known around the Internet. I watched the first two episodes and really enjoyed it. For me personally I don't really care much for "target audiences" so I never had the thought that it's stupid for me to like a show that was originally aired in the 80's for little girls. 

I personally like the characterization of the main cast of the show. Yes they may sort of fall into stereotypical female characters, BUT you also cannot ignore that these characters exist in the male population, whether it's the jock, the nerd. The clown or just the kid that wants to be popular. 

Also a show won't appeal to everyone, some people don't like the show at all. I mean everyone's different after all.

The fandom is pretty amazing though. How many shows do you know have an active community that creates full length songs, parodies of the episodes, A very popular annual convention, and that's not even counting the thousands of art pieces and stories fans create.

Of course with every large group of fans, you will get "artists" that prefer to draw and create stories that are clearly based for people aged 18+ years old. I personally have no trouble with this, But others do find it extremely disturbing.

Finally you watched the show expecting it to be for preschoolers.. So even if you tried to be "open-minded" your original expectation is still there and it's in human nature just to absorb and notice things we expect more... and also the shows original target audience isn't even for pre-schoolers it's for girls aged around 8-16 years old. 

To point out an obvious difference compare MLP:FIM to a show like Dora the explorer, a show that is aimed at preschoolers and you should realize that they aren't similar at all.. MLP is designed to be watchable by parents, hence how the show will make references to stuff that children won't pick up on. Yet most episodes still have a moral or lesson that can be learned from the events in the episode. 

I'm not sure how much this actually helped or if it answered any questions. but if you have any more i'd be willing to try and explain further.

Have a good day. 

(Sorry if word's are spelt wrong or the grammar is poor i was in a rush)

I am loving the feedback. Love to hear more. But I at least feel I am getting a bit more of an understanding of it.

sonicmcmuffin : I will say that I did not start watching it thinking it was for preschoolers. The main reason why I decided to give it a shot was because I have heard a lot of things that happen in the show that are opposite of what I would expect form a children's show. Heck, even I did, it wouldn't matter. You might not know this about me, but I run the high school theater department. I love all types of theater. I even love children's theater and have a blast putting on kids plays I guess this is just a thing where it has its appeal, but it just missed it with me. But I have no disrespect for it. 

rcarter2 : of course... i wasn't insinuating that you disrespected it... it's just that i know for a fact that the fandom will make people think i'ts uber awesome and the person who then expects something amazing is disappointed... it's just the way humans work lol

And I refer you, to this.



Not to be rude, but really, you have my respect for trying it, though.

rcarter2 : I too don't get MLP. I don't know how some normal boys turn into a bronies. The show was intended for little girls. This is what I think.

FalcoDude : Well, the intent was not to care about what I think. I was just giving my thoughts to help people explain it to me. How can they help me understand if they don't even know what I think or don't think?

mariowin13 : I don't think it was intended for little girls, just kids in general. Especially these days, children's things are often pretty much gender neutral in that any kid is allowed to enjoy it.

rcarter2 : I really just wanted to use that. I apologize if I offended you.

FalcoDude : Naw, I thought it was funny. But I thought I would clarify just in case.

rcarter2 : This what Frodlex says. I think it's a girl show because there's more females than males character in the show. Also there too much colorful stuff. This my own opinion.

mariowin13 : If you don't like ponies that's fine with me, Just make sure not to make such a big deal of it, or you may find some of your posts edited that's all x3

sonicmcmuffin : Yeah, sorry bout that. I didn't even think that this thread might encourage comedic insult...

rcarter2 : I'm fine with comedic insults. There's a lot of videos mocking people who like the show on the internet so it's not something that irritates me. it was more a cautionary measure to make sure that he doesn't go overboard as it's disrespectful to the people who actually use this forum to talk positively about My little pony with the knowledge they won't be attacked or mocked about it that's all x3

Oh great, now all of the bronies will shower me with friendship and muffins

mariowin13 : haha. I doubt that. That video was pretty mild compared to other cartoons I have seen about bronies.