Bronies: The Most Random Fandom in the World

     This week Hannah and I were tired of the sad, heavy documentaries and decided to find something a little lighter. We ended up watching Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. All I can say is it was easily the most unusual documentary that we have seen and also the most entertaining. Check out this trailer before I discuss this any further so you will have an idea of what I'm talking about.

     

    As you can see, this documentary is about the fans of a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, whose intended audience is little girls, ages 2 to 11. Unexpectedly, a huge contingent of males aged 12 to 35 are also obsessed with the show.
      One of the most interesting things about this documentary is how it was made. It started as a Kickstarer campaign with a goal of $60,000. It reached it's goal in about 3 days and when the campaign was over it had raised over $322,000. The film is the brainchild of John da Lancie, a voice actor, that plays one of the characters in the show.  (He also plays Jane's father, the air traffic controller, in Breaking Bad.) da Lancie had the idea when he saw the amazing outpouring of support from these adult fans when he joined the show.
     I am not going to spoil anything in this film which is very heartfelt. You should all see it as it is a fascinating look at the emotions of many young people today, not to mention a very entertaining documentary. I would like to talk about how these people are perceived in the media and popular culture.

    When I first heard of these people I was somewhat creeped out as I'm sure some of you were. It seems unnatural that adult males with jobs and families and mortgages should be obsessed with this show. As expected, people have been extremely derogatory online and in the media. Despite this, there is nothing that is fundamentally wrong adults enjoying this show. No doubt the creators were thrilled to find out that they had inspired a cult following. There is really no difference between adults enjoying this and adults enjoying Harry Potter. In fact I believe the same ideas that make Harry Potter popular also make My Little Pony popular. Specifically, the ideas of loyalty, friendship, respect and a solid idea of what is right and what is wrong are, in my opinion what make both of these examples so popular. These are the things that just about everyone desires in their own lives. They want friends who won't abandon them when things get hard. They want to be respected for their own abilities. They want to know that the moral decision that they make is for the right. In today's day and age, so many people have learned that right and wrong are relative that they find relief in a place where right and wrong are so attainable.

     As I have previously alluded, I think that fandoms such as the ones created by My Little Pony, comic books and geekery in general are attractive to Generation Y and Mellennials in particular because they create a sense of belonging that they cannot find anywhere else. They are often alone and shunned by others in our culture because they have interests beyond what is trivial and trite. They may come from broken homes, or have a disability or just not be "cool" and they have found a place that they are not only accepted, but embraced. They are respected for the things they can do and the things they can create and they make very lasting friendships. While others are joining gangs and cults, these "nerds" are finding a sense of belonging in something harmless if not downright positive.

     All this to say, this documentary is excellent and is a fun film. I highly recommend it. Next week there will be no documentary post as Hannah and I will be travelling to New Mexico. I will post pictures as we visit different locations featured in AMC's Breaking Bad.