Poll: Poll: MLP good?

[Aaron Sylvester]

Asking whether MLP is a good show is like asking whether The Beatles were a good band. I'm personally not a fan of Beatles and don't understand what people find so amazing about their jolly-old songs in this day and age, but I'm NOT stupid enough to say something "boo they are pathetic and everyone who likes them is pathetic" because they are fucking famous and had a huge influence. I deeply respect anyone or any group who can give the world something without harming it, with good intentions (there, I ruled out Hitler ).

MLP is doing something on a smaller scale - it's bringing an insane amount of people together, changing stereotypes about what males like, is full to the brim with amazing art/music/etc thanks to a ton of talent, and the show itself has it's own charm that I won't even try to explain. The show isn't harming anyone and neither are bronies, so those who find us "disgusting" or whatever and attempt to come at us with pitchforks/torches will only find themselves even more confused by how a lot of us react positively/neutrally (though you will find the occasional brony who will tell you to fuck off and find something else to hate).

It usually takes a few sick jokes or an hour spent on /b/ to liven up my day but I was mind-blown at how just a a bit of light-hearted humor in MLP had me giggling my ass off and my heart almost exploding from the sheer adorableness of the characters. It's really something that helps me switch my mind off and enjoy, it provides the kind of entertainment that 5 hours of killing aliens with a jizz-cannon can't offer.

 

[Blaze the Dragon]

Ironically enough, I think that bronies are making it harder for people to like the show as time goes on. Now, I'm not talking about the annoying bronies who just piss off people by trying to force them to watch the show, but just end up making haters, although they don't really help much. (Also, if you "hate" bronies and the show because of a brony like that, please rethink your logic. You don't hate bronies or the show, you hate that person because he's f*ing annoying. please don't lump bronies together under your hatred because a few of them annoy you)

What I'm saying is that because bronies make the show out to be good, it therefore becomes harder to get people to like it. I have a theory that one of the main reasons that people started watching the show is because they expected it to be horrible, and they just wanted to riff on it for fun, but instead it turned out to at least be not bad. And while not bad is also not great, it's a lot better than horrible, therefore it seems that the show is much better than it really is. So now that the show has a sizable following, most of the time when people are getting into it, it's because they've heard about how good bronies make it out to be, and as a result, they go in expecting it to be good, or even better, so as a result, when they watch an episode that is 'just' good, their response is usually "meh, it's alright"

Actually, come to think of it, I think there's evidence of that to within the fandom itself. Ironically enough, the episodes that got most people into the show, the pilot 2-parter, are really not considered the best episodes any more by most bronies, or even really that great. Most people even say to skip them if you're new to the show and come back to them once you know you like the show.

Now, that being said, I do honestly believe that the show is good, or even great at times, however I also believe that a lot of bronies are really bad at picking good episodes to introduce people to the show. Case in point: Sonic Rainboom. The only reason people pick that episode is the last scene where Rainbow is a badass and saves everyone, forgetting that the rest of the episode is, well, forgettable and somewhat mediocre. If I had to pick an episode that's much more generally funny and I think would be more likely to get people into the show, is Lesson Zero or the Discord Episodes. Those episodes are much better at showing off how silly the show can be, and they have some great jokes in them.

I also believe that the show has improved greatly in nearly every respect as time has gone on. Season 1 had some gems, but was made entirely before the show was released, so they didn't have a fandom yet. Season 2 started production just after the fandom was formed, so they at least found out that people actually liked the show, so I think they put more effort into it, and it shows with the quality of the writing and animation. Finally, Season 3 and 4 are made well into the period where the fandom has been established as a pretty big thing that won't go away in a few months and so the showrunners really want to keep the show going and I believe that they are finally starting to take some risks with it.

---

Now then, to the bronies in the thread, since I saw this topic being discussed:

Regarding the latest Discord episode, It really wasn't bad in my opinion, it just was limited by the shows run time, which is actually my biggest complaint about the show. The writers seem to really want to occasionally put out really big and epic stories, but they keep wanting to use more time than they have. In this case, the ending felt rushed, and Discord was converted rather quickly. However, keep in mind the implications of this episode. This means that Discord, and by extension John DeLancie (Q from star trek for those that don't know) can be a recurring character in the show that they can call on at any time. Not to mention that his personality is still the same. He's just Chaotic Good now instead of Chaotic neutral. And if you still can't accept the episode, imagine there was an additional scene that took place off camera where Discord and Fluttershy were playing a board game, and even though Discord was cheating to win, Fluttershy put up with it and they still had fun. Or really any other scenario where Discord would be enjoying her company, then the final scenes make more sense and are at least justified to me. Like I said, that, or something similar, was most likely a scene cut from the final episode due to time.

 

[MissP]

Watched the first season back when it was taking off because I was curious about all the hype it was getting, and I still have a soft spot for good cartoons. I thought it was pretty cute; it had some colorful animation and decent characters, but beyond that I didn't see what the huge deal was and didn't feel compelled to continue with it. It seems like the large, supportive fandom is probably as much of a draw for bronies as the show itself.

Never forget the Jackie Chan Adventures is and will always better than anything My Little Pony could ever amount to.

Oooooh Jackie Chan Adventures was awesome! You struck my nostalgia bone with that one.

 

[Dangit2019]

It's up there with the best children's cartoons, but it's not quite the revelation that the bronies think it is. I mean, it's pretty decidedly for it's primary audience of young girls, as opposed to something more layered like Adventure Time.

I would say it gets visibly layered in Season 2, but people still argue over whether that was for good or fan pandering. I don't look into it too much, though.

Careful what you said, if you speak anything remotely bad against Bronies, the mods will give you a warning while they don't care what you say about any other group of people.

Oh, won't you look at that, he (OP) civilly criticized the show without calling anyone names or laying generalizations, and he didn't get mod wrath. Maybe others should follow his example instead of bitching when they get reported for blatantly insulting and mocking a bunch of dudes who like a cartoon.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I really don't hate the show. I watched the first 8 - 10 episodes.

I'm not one of those twats who care's about what demographic is SUPPOSED to be watching or whining about the destruction of masculinity.

It just isn't that good. The animation is creative, the voice acting is quite good, the characters are all pretty much 1-Demensional, few of the jokes are funny and the writing as a whole just lacks anything.

At best, I'd call it slightly above average.

Though I'll note that unless a show has arks and actual consequences, I can NEVER enjoy action or drama. If everything just gets wrapped up at the end of every episode with the status quo restored, I get bored quickly.

What irritates me are the fans. It's like if Lilo and Stitch the Series had millions of rabid fanboys defending its every breath.

Furthermore, the crossover shit legitimately makes me angry. People always say things like "If you don't like, don't look" and in most cases I agree. However, in the case of the pony fanart shit, it's nearly impossible to go an hour on any given website without seeing the desecration of a beloved character.

And now these people are part of the culture I love so much. They're never going away. And THAT is truly depressing.

What's even worse, is by despising the fans, I immediately get lumped in with the people that think it's girly and un-masculine. It's such bullshit.

Wait, what was this thread about? Oh, the show. Well animated, well voice acted cotton candy. Absolutely nothing beyond the quickly dissolved hyper-sugary flavor.

[spoiler/]

[/spoiler]

You see that? Right fucking there. THIS is why I despise the hardcore fans.
All I wanted to do was read some other responses. Instead, I get to see my childhood murdered by you people's terrible artwork.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

It's up there with the best children's cartoons, but it's not quite the revelation that the bronies think it is. I mean, it's pretty decidedly for it's primary audience of young girls, as opposed to something more layered like Adventure Time.

I would say it gets visibly layered in Season 2, but people still argue over whether that was for good or fan pandering. I don't look into it too much, though.

Careful what you said, if you speak anything remotely bad against Bronies, the mods will give you a warning while they don't care what you say about any other group of people.

Oh, won't you look at that, he (OP) civilly criticized the show without calling anyone names or laying generalizations, and he didn't get mod wrath. Maybe others should follow his example instead of bitching when they get reported for blatantly insulting and mocking a bunch of dudes who like a cartoon.

Well, thanks for proving my point with their attitude.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

I agree with you on that fucking crossover shit. It need to stop. I don't want to see more of MLP forcing itself in everything on the internet.

You make it sound like the MLP fanbase is a small group who are doing all this "forcing", when you fail to realize that the following is nothing short of INSANELY HUGE. If you randomly throw a die there will be a fair chance that whatever number it lands on will be someone who is a fan of the show, and the rest of the numbers will be people who have at least HEARD of the show. Think about it. Crossovers are inevitable. So in the words of a brony...deal with it.

 

[anti movie bob]

I really don't hate the show. I watched the first 8 - 10 episodes.

I'm not one of those twats who care's about what demographic is SUPPOSED to be watching or whining about the destruction of masculinity.

It just isn't that good. The animation is creative, the voice acting is quite good, the characters are all pretty much 1-Demensional, few of the jokes are funny and the writing as a whole just lacks anything.

At best, I'd call it slightly above average.

Though I'll note that unless a show has arks and actual consequences, I can NEVER enjoy action or drama. If everything just gets wrapped up at the end of every episode with the status quo restored, I get bored quickly.

What irritates me are the fans. It's like if Lilo and Stitch the Series had millions of rabid fanboys defending its every breath.

Furthermore, the crossover shit legitimately makes me angry. People always say things like "If you don't like, don't look" and in most cases I agree. However, in the case of the pony fanart shit, it's nearly impossible to go an hour on any given website without seeing the desecration of a beloved character.

And now these people are part of the culture I love so much. They're never going away. And THAT is truly depressing.

What's even worse, is by despising the fans, I immediately get lumped in with the people that think it's girly and un-masculine. It's such bullshit.

Wait, what was this thread about? Oh, the show. Well animated, well voice acted cotton candy. Absolutely nothing beyond the quickly dissolved hyper-sugary flavor.

[spoiler/]

[/spoiler]

You see that? Right fucking there. THIS is why I despise the hardcore fans.
All I wanted to do was read some other responses. Instead, I get to see my childhood murdered by you people's terrible artwork.

I agree with you on that fucking crossover shit. It need to stop. I don't want to see more of MLP forcing itself in everything on the internet.

Agreed. It's kinda annoying when the briefest of mentions of something vaguely related to mlp results in a massive circle jerk of bronies going on about it's supposed awesomeness. Plus some people take this show way too god damn seriously. I know there are hardcore fans of every fandom, but when i read a post somewhere, about someone claiming they'd be dead by their own hand by now if they never discovered this show, or how one claimed it allowed himself to discover he's a transsexual, it forever distorts my views on bronies