So I'm not sure if this common knowledge or not, but randomly scrolling through the internet today, I stumbled across "Bronies" & had to reach out to my fellow VCs. (As with most internet paths, I was reading an article, which led to other articles, which led to watching David Lynch's "Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)" on YouTube & if that wasn't odd enough, the comments led to Bronies. (On YouTube, someone commented that they should redo the film with ponies, and a self-proclaimed "Furry" called the poster a "Bronie"). Being the overly curious person I am, I had new topic to investigate... and this one is a doozy. I'm sure most of you remember "My Little Pony" - the cute little toy & 80s cartoon show was something I remember loving as a child. The people in this forum are already well-versed on the adult themes hidden in cartoons, from Disney to Sponge Bob, but I never heard "My Little Pony" cited as an example.... until today.
All it took was entering "bronie" into Google & yowza, a whole new like-minded group exploded in the search results. Basically, "My Little Pony" was rebooted by a woman named Lauren Faust (interesting last name...I immediately thought of the Faustian Bargain to make a deal with the devil, but it could just be a coincidence...) & the reboot has attracted so many adult-male fans that they have termed themselves "Bronies". Sounded creepy, but hey, I thought maybe it is just nerdy guys trying to be overly ironic or something, who am I to judge? So I pressed on... and did not like what I found... it seems that the "My Little Pony" reboot purposely included adult themes, and now has "Bronies" making odd fan videos. Remember the VC article about YouTube & the corruption of knock-off cartoons to include violence, sex, & other adult themes as a way to secretly traumatize kids? If not, let me link you:
https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/something-is-terribly-wrong-with-many-kids-videos-on-youtube/
It appears the same thing is now being done with “My Little Pony”, only the creator (Faust) is proud that there are so many adult fans (so proud that they even made a YouTube promo video for Bronies to the theme song of Katy Perry’s “California Girls”:
**note the specific "shout-out" to Bronies**)
This means that a cartoon designed for toddler-aged females is now openly catering to an adult-male fanbase… but that doesn’t mean that these young kids are going to stop watching the show. It means that, once again, today’s youth will subconsciously be served adult topics through a seemingly innocuous platform. There are articles praising Bronies, commending them for escaping the “hyper-sexualized male ego” and being comfortable not only watching, but actively celebrating & replicating a show intended for female children.
https://www.wired.com/2011/06/bronies-my-little-ponys/
(Side note, WTF is “hypermasculine” about an adult male NOT wanting to watch a child’s cartoon about magical ponies? I consider that “normal”… If I met a guy & found out he was a My Little Pony fanboy, I would leave skid marks running for the door… but hey, maybe that's why I am still single...)
Apparently I am not the only one troubled by this, though I definitely seem to be in the minority. I found the following article criticizing Bronies, revealing that they have creating My Little Pony (MLP) porn, use terms like “clopping” for “masturbating”, and there is even “Princess Molestia” (a play on MLP character “Princess Celestia”).
https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcp-the-problem-with-bronies-20140801-story.html
That is when I stopped reading and came here… has anyone else heard of this? And if so, are you as creeped out as I am?? Granted I haven’t watched My Little Pony for probably like 25 years or so, but I really don’t think the original show had underlying adult themes – or at least I have never seen it explicitly mentioned. But the fact that the reboot has garnered SO MANY adult men as fans that they literally have a name (Bronies) left my skin crawling. I just randomly stumbled upon this, so I wasn’t sure if you all have heard of this phenomenon or had any insight, but I felt it deserved being discussed. I don’t personally have children, but if I did, I would want to know that My Little Pony (MLP, for short) has this sinister side to it… apparently just googling “Pinkie Pie” (a character on the show) will quickly lead to images & videos of this poor Pony in very adult situations.
Normally I really don’t care what consenting adults do in their spare time, it’s not my place to judge - if no one is being hurt. BUT, to take a child’s platform & purposely corrupt it for sick, deviant behavior is just plain wrong. Especially since it appears nothing being done to curb this aberrant misuse of a trademarked cartoon – quite the opposite actually, it is being promoted by the creator of the reboot! THAT I have a MAJOR problem with…. If some weirdos want to make a sexed up, violent version of a cartoon, it should be forced to use a different name so there is no confusion with the actual show, because no child needs to lose their innocence just for clicking the wrong link… Again, I don’t know if this is widely known, but I just stumbled upon “Bronies” & am still reeling.
Am I crazy, or is this all just too wrong?! I mean, no offense, but even the guys that are shown & quoted in the "positive" Brony article creep the hell out of me… collecting dolls, remaking videos using ponies – I swear I can see their creepiness oozing through their photos….there is even a BronyCon for these male fans! (which of course includes sexualized versions of the Ponies, so any unsuspecting parent could easily bring their young daughter there without realizing the depravity waiting behind the convention’s doors). Of note, the reboot is called “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” which immediately sounded like “grooming” to me…
Oh & did I mention that the target audience for the show is ages 2-12? Are you as creeped out as I am now?!?!
(sorry if I just ruined your lunch break...)