Concerning Ponies and the People Who Like Them, or, "I am Not Convinced"

[Bags159]

To me it seems like a trend that will only last until the "omg ponies" shoch factor phase loses it's novelty.

Somehow I don't see that happening.

Hey everypony. I would just love to share to you guys my story on how I fell in love with ponies, and how it ultimately save my life. My name is xxxxx, I'm 17, and this is my story.

It had been a week after my girlfriend had broken up with me. My life was going downhill, I was starting to loose my friends one by one til eventually I had nothing to live for. My family never really cared for me, I was the youngest, so I was always been picked on and teased by my older sisters ever since I was very little. It caused me so much psychological damage, I am now considered to have Bipolar depression. The only one who has ever cared about me was my dad. He's always been there for me, even if I did wrong.
I was never that far from committing suicide, (after trying to 3 times. (2 in the same year.)) but after what had been happening to me, I was so sure that I would die this time. I was an active browser of /b/ on 4chan, and I do certainly regret it on some things. (and I'll get to that in a sec.) Some things I've seen that should have never be seen, but one day when I was about to post my suicide message on 4chan, I saw a thread on /b/ which had ponies.
I had no idea about that, and I started to see these really funny pictures, and it made me feel really good. I started to watch it from the beginning, til the latest episode which at the time was episode 18 or 19. I've seen all of Season 1 episodes to date.
I would just like to share you guys this story because every day, ponies help me get through my life, and It's everypony like you, my Bronies here, that keep me alive more everyday. You guys are just the nicest on the internet. I love you all, and I love ponies with a passion. Ponies have saved my life.

Thank you everyone for reading. Please tell me what you think.

I've seen everything from the show inspiring people to connect with old friends to the above. I'm not aware of any other show having so much affect on so many people. This show has changed an incredible amount of lives; it never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Innegativeion]

I've seen everything from the show inspiring people to connect with old friends to the above. I'm not aware of any other show having so much affect on so many people. This show has changed an incredible amount of lives; it never ceases to amaze me.

Holy shit MLP stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life... posting anything emotionally serious on 4chan... like letting rabid dogs eat hotpockets our of your palm.

Thank god for this show.

 

[Bags159]

I've seen everything from the show inspiring people to connect with old friends to the above. I'm not aware of any other show having so much affect on so many people. This show has changed an incredible amount of lives; it never ceases to amaze me.

Holy shit MLP stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life... posting anything emotionally serious on 4chan... like letting rabid dogs eat hotpockets our of your palm.

Thank god for this show.

Heh, that's one way of looking at it I guess. Though random people ridiculing him was probably fairly low on his priority list at the time.

 

[Iconsting]

If people need to stop obsessing over My Little Pony, they need to stop obsessing over Doctor Who, Twilight, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Broadway musicals, reality TV, and every other entertainment outlet. After all, we're not allowed to be passionate about something we as individuals enjoy, right?

... Right?

How many threads and avatars/image spams do you see about those things compared to MLP.

Obsession is obsession, no matter how popular or obscure.

Well then, of course obsessions are unhealthy.

What was your point?

So are video games, are you saying we all need to stop discussing and making avatars/image spams about video games?

That kind of attitude would be the end of the very community we're arguing on.

Videogames are unhealthy?

What are you talking about?

Obsessions are clearly unhealthy, and (I hesitate to say always, simply due to moral relativism) negative influences.

It sounds to me like you're trying to cloud the issue.

By looking at only the negative side of obsession, you see it as unhealthy. One could be obsessed with keeping up with current events, writing poetry, or studying history, things that support logical or deep philosophical thinking. Saying obsessions are unhealthy is a generalization.

By your logic, video games promote idleness, violence, and damage your eyes, which would make them "unhealthy." Therefore, again by your logic, discussion, image posting, and avatars should cease for them too. We both know that not all video games are mindless killing simulators, and not all of them promote idleness. However, by only seeing the unhealthy side, we get the same partially true, but not entirely true generalization. So yes, video games and obsessions are "Unhealthy." However, that doesn't change the fact that people have the right to feel passionate and post avatars and images to show that they enjoy such things if they feel so inclined.

Does that make sense?

Even if I was to agree with the argument you just made - ponies aren't a 'worthwhile' pursuit and fall into the negative category you defined.

However I do not agree with your definition or argument.

Look up the word "obsession", unhealthy is in its definition.

Obsession: the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
Doesn't specify healthy or unhealthy.

I'm not even going to bother refuting the "worthwhile pursuit" argument, because anything can be conjugated into a "worthwhile pursuit" based on perspective.

 

[Innegativeion]

Heh, that's one way of looking at it I guess. Though random people ridiculing him was probably fairly low on his priority list at the time.

Well he said he'd come close several times before.

4chan is the last place an emotionally troubled person should look to for opinions.

 

[Iconsting]

If people need to stop obsessing over My Little Pony, they need to stop obsessing over Doctor Who, Twilight, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Broadway musicals, reality TV, and every other entertainment outlet. After all, we're not allowed to be passionate about something we as individuals enjoy, right?

... Right?

How many threads and avatars/image spams do you see about those things compared to MLP.

Obsession is obsession, no matter how popular or obscure.

Well then, of course obsessions are unhealthy.

What was your point?

So are video games, are you saying we all need to stop discussing and making avatars/image spams about video games?

That kind of attitude would be the end of the very community we're arguing on.

Videogames are unhealthy?

What are you talking about?

Obsessions are clearly unhealthy, and (I hesitate to say always, simply due to moral relativism) negative influences.

It sounds to me like you're trying to cloud the issue.

By looking at only the negative side of obsession, you see it as unhealthy. One could be obsessed with keeping up with current events, writing poetry, or studying history, things that support logical or deep philosophical thinking. Saying obsessions are unhealthy is a generalization.

By your logic, video games promote idleness, violence, and damage your eyes, which would make them "unhealthy." Therefore, again by your logic, discussion, image posting, and avatars should cease for them too. We both know that not all video games are mindless killing simulators, and not all of them promote idleness. However, by only seeing the unhealthy side, we get the same partially true, but not entirely true generalization. So yes, video games and obsessions are "Unhealthy." However, that doesn't change the fact that people have the right to feel passionate and post avatars and images to show that they enjoy such things if they feel so inclined.

Does that make sense?

Even if I was to agree with the argument you just made - ponies aren't a 'worthwhile' pursuit and fall into the negative category you defined.

However I do not agree with your definition or argument.

Look up the word "obsession", unhealthy is in its definition.

Obsession: the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
Doesn't specify healthy or unhealthy.

I'm not even going to bother refuting the "worthwhile pursuit" argument, because anything can be conjugated into a "worthwhile pursuit" based on perspective.

Obsession:
an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

I already addressed moral relativism. If we're going down that path, whats wrong with self harm?

And what makes the definition you found more accurate than the one I found?


Nothing is wrong with self harm, I never said I disagreed with that in the fist place. I don't see where you were going with that one.

 

[DracoSuave]

I am...

um...

...the show isn't actually that bad...

...um...

...yeah.

 

[The Coop]

I know this thread's been dead for a while. But, back when the topic was hot, I hadn't even seen a clip of the show, let alone an episode. So, I did a little digging and found this thread to be one of the busier ones (and the one with the most recent reply). So, I'm giving it a bump, rather than making a new one.

See, I remember the My Little Pony stuff from earlier incarnations of it, and it always struck me as the little girl version of **insert name of random toy-based TV show aimed at boys**. Little talking ponies, everyone's happy, blah blah blah. I didn't give it much thought when I was growing up, so I didn't give "Friendship is Magic" much thought when it began getting popular. I credited it to just being a fad, and blew it off. But a week ago, I came across a thread on another site that asked what was the best episode to introduce someone to the show. A few episodes were bantered back and forth, but many seemed to think it was episode 3 or 4. Curiosity was getting to me after months of seeing the references, image macros and such from the show, so, I sat down to watch episode 3. Then I watched 4, eventually 5 and 6... and by that time, I'd come to a realization.

Huh, I thought. This show's actually entertaining. That was followed by, Wait, I... I'm liking a show for little girls?! WTF!!

After making sure my man card hadn't been revoked when I wasn't looking, and I'd watched a few more episodes, I knew why I was enjoying it. The diversity of the characters and how they interacted, the dialogue between them and how their personalities affected it, the sarcasm and randomness that rarely went to the level of potty/gross-out humor or cynicism, how the voice actors were putting some oomph behind their characters... it wasn't girly humor, or girly cutesy. It was just... funny, and at times, cute. It was entertaining in a way that wasn't done that much anymore; namely, without being dumbed down, patronizing, or coming off as little more than a toy line pimping machine. Tack on the clean visuals, nice visual style, smooth animation, songs that range from Disney-esque musical numbers to quick and humorous ditties, a good sense of timing on dialogue and visual gags, and various other traits, and it's just a well put together show. One that strives to get past its initial "girly" exterior, and simply be entertaining. Sure, it has the PSA "what I learned about friendship" thing at the end, or the "so sweet you got a toothache" moments, but the overall show is well done and entertaining if you give it a try.

The first season (which I've now seen most of), hooked me. Now I guess we'll see if season two can continue the... um... magic, that pulled me in.