Right off the bat, I'll let you know that I am NOT a brony. I don't think there's anything wrong with a man watching "My Little Pony." I've seen one episode of "Friendship Is Magic" and the old 80's series. I get the nostalgia. I'm fine with people following it.
This documentary, however, was created with the intention of explaining bronies to non-bronies like myself, as though to somehow acquit the fandom of the negative image it has been saddled with, fairly or unfairly. This film utterly fails to meet that objective.
One would think, in order to show that bronies are just normal people like you and I, that normal people would be put front and center in this documentary. They are not. The filmmakers seemingly selected some of the most extreme bronies they could find. Basically every person focused on in this documentary is a walking, living, breathing personification of every negative brony stereotype. Without meaning to be cruel or unkind to those who featured in the movie, effeminate, basement-dwelling, autistic, pasty-skinned, doughy manchildren is all this reviewer could see.
And that's a shame, because in the group shots at Bronycon there did appear to be some relatively normal-looking people in the crowd. Perhaps in the five minutes wherein the documentary glossed over the military brony luncheon they could've actually found someone to shatter the stereotype, but even in that brief moment, they highlighted the most effete members of the group. For heavens' sake, Tara Strong was standing right there with her boobs practically hanging out and not one eye was on her chest.
If the hope was to bring bronies into the norm, perhaps the documentary shouldn't have focused on such outcasts. You have the pilot guy, who spends his days getting his life threatened because he unwisely paints a target on himself by putting pony art on his car. You have the kid who we all gave wedgies to in high school who took his PARENTS to bronycon (oh, the humiliation) and whose father, throughout the movie, looks one step away from sending the kid off to military school for de- programming. You have the agoraphobic, socially-crippled Asperger's guy from England, who, let's just face it, is a blazingly hot mess. You've got people who insist on being called by their internet screen names in real life. The list goes on, and none of them appear to be anything other than social outcasts and maladjusted losers. This is NOT how you show how normal you are.
As a non-brony, I approached this documentary hoping it would do something to dispel the overwhelmingly negative stereotype that follows the Brony sub-culture around. I hoped to gain some understanding of it. I watched it along with my wife, who had never even heard of bronies prior to viewing it, and not only did it not represent the fandom well, but it actually caused my wife to think poorly of it.
If you're a brony, you probably won't see anything wrong with the film. But be aware, if you recommend it to a non-brony as a way to make your fandom look better, you will be shooting yourself in the hoof, because this will only hurt their opinion. Vote me down if you wish. I have no hate for MLP:FIM fandom, and I think it's great you have your hobbies, but this is the way it looks to people outside the bronyhood.
This documentary, however, was created with the intention of explaining bronies to non-bronies like myself, as though to somehow acquit the fandom of the negative image it has been saddled with, fairly or unfairly. This film utterly fails to meet that objective.
One would think, in order to show that bronies are just normal people like you and I, that normal people would be put front and center in this documentary. They are not. The filmmakers seemingly selected some of the most extreme bronies they could find. Basically every person focused on in this documentary is a walking, living, breathing personification of every negative brony stereotype. Without meaning to be cruel or unkind to those who featured in the movie, effeminate, basement-dwelling, autistic, pasty-skinned, doughy manchildren is all this reviewer could see.
And that's a shame, because in the group shots at Bronycon there did appear to be some relatively normal-looking people in the crowd. Perhaps in the five minutes wherein the documentary glossed over the military brony luncheon they could've actually found someone to shatter the stereotype, but even in that brief moment, they highlighted the most effete members of the group. For heavens' sake, Tara Strong was standing right there with her boobs practically hanging out and not one eye was on her chest.
If the hope was to bring bronies into the norm, perhaps the documentary shouldn't have focused on such outcasts. You have the pilot guy, who spends his days getting his life threatened because he unwisely paints a target on himself by putting pony art on his car. You have the kid who we all gave wedgies to in high school who took his PARENTS to bronycon (oh, the humiliation) and whose father, throughout the movie, looks one step away from sending the kid off to military school for de- programming. You have the agoraphobic, socially-crippled Asperger's guy from England, who, let's just face it, is a blazingly hot mess. You've got people who insist on being called by their internet screen names in real life. The list goes on, and none of them appear to be anything other than social outcasts and maladjusted losers. This is NOT how you show how normal you are.
As a non-brony, I approached this documentary hoping it would do something to dispel the overwhelmingly negative stereotype that follows the Brony sub-culture around. I hoped to gain some understanding of it. I watched it along with my wife, who had never even heard of bronies prior to viewing it, and not only did it not represent the fandom well, but it actually caused my wife to think poorly of it.
If you're a brony, you probably won't see anything wrong with the film. But be aware, if you recommend it to a non-brony as a way to make your fandom look better, you will be shooting yourself in the hoof, because this will only hurt their opinion. Vote me down if you wish. I have no hate for MLP:FIM fandom, and I think it's great you have your hobbies, but this is the way it looks to people outside the bronyhood.
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