Is it possible to be a fan and not watch the show?

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

I'm wondering the same thing about my brother. He loves Vinyl Scratch (DJ Pon3) and I know for a fact that he watches fanmade DJ Pon3 animations, but he insists he doesn't like the MLP show itself... I have no idea whether he watches it or not, but he mentioned Equestria Girls is horrible, so maybe he watched those?

[NamelessHorse 59]

I too am more of a fan of the fandom and the fan content than the show itself. I have seen the first five episodes and today I made myself sit through A Canterlot Wedding for whatever reason. I find it harder to focus on TV shows in general, and FIM isn't much of an exception. The show isn't bad, but it's a show for little girls, and I feel it will always be hampered by that, which is why I feel more compelled to pay attention to the aforementioned fandom aspects. I know FIM is a good idea. The scope of the fandom proves that. If I'm lost on something, I can always check the wikis, and many important show moments are available in clips on You Tube. And there is always Netflix.

 

Incidentally, I kind of find myself actually kind of liking Princess Cadence, even if she is doomed to be the princess of unnecessary merchandising. Oh well. Fandom to the rescue. I bet I can find all kinds of enjoyable fan interpretations of her.

 

Screw all the haters who say you can't be a fan without watching the show. Enjoy the world of FiM in your own way, and let your oats remain unrustled.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Marble Didymus

[Snow Frostflame 3,567]

yeah.... that's pretty much most of us right now waiting for Season 5.......

 

but seriously they are just in denial..... if not I can't see how its possible to not like the show but like the fandom because all we ever do is talk about the show.... or create our own stories to the show

 

 

 

I personally think it doesn't make sense... It's like joining a fandom without any actual immersion in the fandom...

yes... thank you

Edited February 15, 2015 by Snowflake Frostflame

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,153]

It depends on the person. For me, it would be incredibly hard. I wanted to be a fan of shows like Babylon 5 and Game of Thrones, but until I actually sat down and watched them I personally could not call myself as such.

 

But for others I can see it being somewhat easy.

[MsMegan91 117]

Yes definitely. I love collecting the toys and merchandise, and looking at fan art. But I've only ever seen a few episodes of the show. My interest started when I was a lot younger - with the toys.

I don't think anyone has the right to say who is and who isn't a "proper fan."  People can like My Little Pony in whatever capacity they like and they shouldn't be belittled for liking the merch/fan art etc more than the show.

Edited February 15, 2015 by MsMegan91

[MysticShine 529]

I don't really watch the actual show that much. A lot of my information comes from the MLP Wiki. I do however, try to watch new episodes when they come out.

[ToastedScone 383]

I frequently get into things this way. I generally HATE sitting down and watching things (curse my short concentration span!) but I love to read, so I usually just read the wiki pages to get up to speed and just watch the necessary episodes. I don't do this for MLP as much, but with long running anime I like (Naruto, for example), this is the ONLY way I can go about getting into it

[Dreambiscuit 8,199]

It's easy to be a fan without watching the show. It's all in what aspect of the ponies you enjoy the most. If you like to read fanfics for example, that would be your way of connecting to it. If you're into the artwork or collecting, those would also be a way of appreciating MLP. I'm a fan of lots of things that I don't go all-out over. I'm a huge Barbie fan and yet I don't collect the dolls, which some would consider the center of that fandom. I'm just into the movies and general style of the character. Being a fan is all about each person's individual tastes and interests, wherever they may be.  

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos 1,190]

Sure, that's possible! I don't think I'd be able to be a part of a fandom when I haven't seen the canon content, but I'm sure people do that. Everyone enjoys content in different ways, and that's what makes fandom so interesting! 

[Splashee 28,538]

On 2/12/2015 at 10:32 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

So can someone please explain this to me, and start a healthy discussion? Is it really possible to be a fan of FIM and engage in the fandom while not watching any episodes? How does this work?

There is the show, and then there is the toy line, and nowadays even a movie. However, back in the day, there were a lot of fan content that were loosely based on the show. It is possible to like colorful ponies doing things like playing video games or eating bananas, or just killing each other in gory ways, and it has nothing to do with a children's cartoon. When I was a teen, I wasn't allowed to watch cartoons because I was too old. It was a perfect excuse to watch fan content instead.

[EpicEnergy 22,218]

I think it is, you can still be a fan by reading the fanfics and being active in the brony community.