Is it really about "disabilities" with Derpy?

[Cloud Yeller 69]

While I can see why someone would think they are making fun of the mentally challenged I still think they overreacted and like most outraged folks they probably didn't watch the show, they made an assumption based on a still image.  It's the voice that probably does it more than anything else and while I'm alright with the original I'm also alright with them changing it.

 

I work with a person who has Strabismus, which is the proper term for the "cross eye/ wall eye" condition.  She is clumsy because of it as it severely hampers binocular vision and hence depth perception.   She walks into door frames and hits tables all the time.  Having Derpy be clumsy is an accurate portrayal of somepony with that condition.

 

I also have a nephew and a cousin with Down Syndrome.  I know how the mentally challenged act (well at least one type).  What I saw when I watched The Last Roundup for the first time was not a mentally challenged pony.  I saw a juvenile pony acting like a juvenile.  She was obviously not helping to put up the decorations in that scene.  She was like a kid jumping on the couch while mom tried to hang the decorations.  If the voice was a little different I don't think there would have been any controversy.

 

I'll just end this post with a nice song about Derpy, because Derpy

 

Edited October 8, 2014 by Cloud Yeller

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

I see her as clumsy too, also she has an eye condition. But I don't think she is mentally disabled. 

 

I do like her edited voice vs the first. But I think my favorite voice is:

This video always annoyed me. I don't know why. Maybe it's the opportunistic attention horsing. As much of an over the top Derpy fan as I am, I still can't watch this for more than 5 seconds without going, "oh stfu" and shut it off.

[iceestarz 5,757]

Eh, I've honestly never seen the big deal with Derpy.

 

I mean I don't hate her but I could really care less if she existed in the show.

[Dash865 49]

This video always annoyed me. I don't know why. Maybe it's the opportunistic attention horsing. As much of an over the top Derpy fan as I am, I still can't watch this for more than 5 seconds without going, "oh stfu" and shut it off.

 

Not saying I enjoyed the video, just liked the voice.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

Not saying I enjoyed the video, just liked the voice.

Ya, the voice isn't bad at all.

[Princess Lona 381]

Interesting to hear that the original voice was supposeDly male. I thought it sounded female enough.

 

I think the name was the nail in the offensive coffin. "Derp" is really not a very old word. I'm pretty sure it was invented by Parker and Stone, as the oldest examples of it occur in South Park and the movie Basketball. I understand that language evolves over time, but I had never heard of "derpy" as a derogatory term for the developmentally disabled until the derpygate fiasco. I think that's a conclusion the offended people jumped to. On the contrary, it was my understanding that "derpy" is a word specifically designed to refer to a person, disabled or otherwise, who is behaving foolishly despite the fact that they have the capacity to know better (the idea being that such a person has no excuse for making a poor choice). So I personally don't find Derpy offensive at all because derpy and disabled are two different things to me. Even if Derpy were developmentally disabled, there is no reason to believe that her disability is necessarily the cause of her derpiness.

[ponylaces 1,869]

Stellar Eclipse was the OC of someone who was disabled. I don't know much information on that, though. He got his OC as well as a speaking role in the show because of the Make a Wish Foundation. I don't even know if he's alive anymore or not. 

 

So Those three being in a club is extremely highly unlikely. 

 

The thing is, we don't know who is all disabled. Sure Twilight seems to have Asperger's and OCD, but until it's canon, there is no proof she is or isn't. Same with Maud being autistic. (Unless the writers said she wasn't.) There are more on the list.

 

Wait a sec, Maud is autistic? Is this real or a headcannon?

[Fractured 2,683]

Wait a sec, Maud is autistic? Is this real or a headcannon?

Headcannon; none of the characters have actual mental definciences.

[Ragland Tiger 3,301]

I originally wanted to post this in the in the Brotherhooves Social episode discussion thread.  Several of the first posts there complained about the use of the "cross-dressing" trope in the episode, claiming that it was disparaging to people who are trans-gendered.  I was disappointed to find later that those posts, as well as any other posts that mentioned it, were removed.  While I have no reason to  believe that the staff's intentions were anything but honorable, I still feel their action was not altogether wise.  An important conversation about representation, and how far is too far for a laugh, was unjustly pulled from a thread that needed it.

 

At the same time, I was wondering what I could say about representation and comedy in this thread without devolving into an angry, inchoate rant - and then, I found this video by Doug Walker (AKA The Nostalgia Critic).  It's closest to what I feel about this subject, and he says it alot better than I could.

 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,482]

Considering Derpy's amazing appearance in Slice of Life and the role she played there, I can safely assume that the drama with Derpy, her eyes and all that, it pretty much is a thing of the past and what a wonderful thing that is too. Slice of Life, I friggin love ya. 

 

Also, this thread bounced back a bit of a distance didn't it? XD

[Ragland Tiger 3,301]

Of course.    I figured it would be safer to post on the subject here.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Ragland Tiger

[cider float 2,536]

Seriously give it a rest. She's in the show now there's no need to care if she is going to be in it or not.

[ANGEL33 87]

I'm all for her to comeback! I like her because we're the same. She is disabled and so am I.

[Ragland Tiger 3,301]

I'm all for her to comeback! I like her because we're the same. She is disabled and so am I.

I'm all for her comeback, too!

 

 

Seriously give it a rest. She's in the show now there's no need to care if she is going to be in it or not.

"Pazienza", disse il monaco. 

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

The only reason anyone found Derpy offensive was initially due to her voice since it was mistaken for a little boy's voice by her VA (which, made it sound like she was slow or something since it was supposed to be a girl). It got coupled with her eye problem as well as the slang term that "derpy" also has, and badaboom, you've got massive shit storm.

 

So, more or less, it was at first.