How serious is FiM to you?

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

There are some people who, upon hearing anything attacking or mocking the show or fanbase, would get mad and scold at whoever who does the mockery, or vehemently defend the show. There are also others who will go into an uproar whenever they find certain changes to the show (such as the Alicorn saga, EqG, etc. -- I'm not asking for you to delve deep into those dead issues).

Do you take the show very seriously, like these folk?

[Gestum 2,493]

Nope. It's just a decent cartoon. 

[LHfunk 422]

I don't tend to, but sometimes when I was on Instagram whenever an anti-brony attacked another brony, I would step up and defend them and the show. I haven't gone straight to the anti-brony and attacked, just defended from behind.

[Revy 184]

FIM is just a cartoon show the same as any other, the community is whats more important, but being said its not a more important community than any others.

[Jeric 46,851]

The show? Not really. The relationships I've fostered because of the show? Absolutely. The discussions I've had surrounding the show? Yes yes yes.

 

In the end it is a phenomenal show, that led to greater things. But someone can dislike the show and it doesn't phase me. Hell, I've been on record saying that less than kind opinions of Rarity are OK in my book. It signifies nothing to my own enjoyment or the person who disagrees with me.

 

Listening to opinions you disagree with is how we learn from each other.

[Sectus 246]

It is obvious to everyone that there are some of us who just take the show a little too seriously. Me, personally? I keep my love of the show quiet, not out of fear of reprimand, but rather respect for the wishes of those who don't watch it. Aside from that, I know the show is a cartoon.

 

I know it seems weird of me to watch it to an outsider, and I go along with that. My friends and I usually take jokes about how I'm a brony far into the extreme, and that's fine with me. I can take a joke, and I honestly don't care how people feel about me watching it. If they're negative or rude about it, I just don't talk to them. If they joke about it, I go along with it, and if I happen to find a fan of the show, I'll happily discuss it with them.

 

A very long winded prelude, I know, but overall, I try not to take the show too seriously. As a writer, I understand the difficulties behind composing these episodes and that you can't please everyone, but I also have my own opinions for how the show should go, and it always disappoints me to see that it doesn't always go my way. For instance, I would have brought back King Sombra in this season simply because he was an underexplored villain with plenty of potential to be something great. His psychological warfare against Twilight and Spike was amazingly evil, and I wanted to see more of that.

 

My advice? Just relax. It's a kid's cartoon we all watch on the internet. You can't take it too seriously.

[Unr3alGamer 230]

I used to take it WAY too seriously, now, I just find some enjoyment watching the show. It's just another show I like to watch. 

[Xeltor23 704]

It's a decent show in which I find enjoyment to watch, even if it's clearly not the most mature and serious cartoon

Edited June 15, 2015 by xeltor

[Kerberossz 1,929]

Hmm..I don't take it seriously, but I can say that I spend more time with this(includes the fan stuff) than any other movies or series(except Game of Thrones) so this cartoon is my favorite but still it's not perfect and I know that. It's just a good cartoon for me.

[Shadow Beam 1,179]

As serious as as TV show should be taken.

 

It is something I truly enjoy, let aside its community. I do have many things to be thankful for, new friends, experiences, abilities and such. However, there're a few numbers of drawbacks, and this fandom fell before many of these. As many of us had already realized mere days ago, certain issues arised amongst the analysis community.These issues in question were caused by what I call 'commonality pride'. The name clearly speaks on itself, sometimes people just take it way past the boundaries of what's justifiable.

 

The 'brony' label is something I'm elated to array, albeit it is not the only one nor it gives me anything close to a feeling of preponderance.

 

Practice as you preach, inasmuch as there's a remarkable amount of people who might end up being the reason of more hatred directed towards us.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

I take it seriously in that it's my favorite television show ever, and I completely adore it to death. Just because it's a cute cartoon that's appropriate for kids doesn't mean it can't be taken "Seriously".

 

 Doesn't mean I get mad if someone criticizes the show, makes jokes about it, or doesn't like it though. Criticism is always welcome to any media, especially ones I enjoy, even if it's criticism I don't necessarily agree with. It's nice to see people thinking and talking about something I enjoy a bit critically. Jokes can be amusing. Even if they're poking a bit of fun at the show I don't see a problem with it, as they're for entertainment, and somebody not liking it is fine, as them not liking the show doesn't affect me at all.

 

 I get a bit annoyed if someone "Criticizes" the show in a manner I think is unfair, or uses their dislike of the show as a way to insult others. I suppose incessant negative statements from some fans might get a bit on my nerves here and there too, but if they're fair I don't have a real problem with them beyond my own feelings.

 

 I don't have a problem with changes being made to the show, as long as they don't affect it negatively. Change can be a great thing, and I'd never get upset at the mere idea of something being changed alone, as long as it's not a problem for the show itself. Like, if they made Pinkie a goth suddenly, for an exaggerated example. It'd be stupid and would make no sense and would upset me in that case.

Edited June 15, 2015 by BasementPoneh

[LittleMac 3,085]

I don't get mad if someone criticises the show at all. People have their opinions. I mean, it's just a TV show XD

[Guest]

It's just a cartoon, like many before it.

[Malinter 3,064]

deadly serious because its so seriously silly. It maybe a mere cartoon, its enjoyable enough for me to say i'm part of its fandom, which is surprising for me. I've played sonic games since his first appearance in 1991 and yet don't feel apart of the sonic fandom at all even though I like the games.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Malinter

[Envy 6,163]

Not really, not a single thing in this entire series made me actually angry until episode 100. And that's because I've grown so distant from the Brony fandom, not the opposite. I don't care if people don't like FiM. I don't care if they don't like the Brony fandom (unless it's from a literal view that it's wrong for guys to like anything made for girls - but trust me, the views are typically not quite that simple). I don't care if the show does something that isn't perfectly written. All of that is meaningless in my eyes. I only really care if the show does something completely inappropriate for what (and who) it is made for.

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

If people mock the show and/or the fanbase, I laugh along with 'em. It's good to just enjoy the experience rather than take things too seriously.

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

Hmm.  I guess I'm a bit on the serious side.  It doesn't bother me if someone hates the show, however, as long as they don't judge someone for liking it.  I don't talk to or pay any attention to haters though, as it's pointless and most often just trolls baiting people.  What annoys me more, though, is when "fans" from within the community seem to do nothing but trash the show and the characters.  If you don't like it anymore, fine, just don't watch it.

[Suyu 108]

Not too much. I mean it's just a show that I find enjoyable. Nothing too special about, although I did met a couple of cool people and made some friends due to me liking MLP.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Eh. More seriously than I should. And even then, it's not all that seriously. The only reason I do take it more seriously than I should is because I hang around this fandom. When you have ponies constantly shoved in your face, you can't really escape from thinking about them. If it weren't for the fandom's overhyping of everything and the fact that I am actually paid to produce MLP content, I may have stopped watching by now. (Although the show probably would have ended by either Season 1 or 2 if that were the case.)

 

Still, it's just a better than average, C+ (or occasionally, B-/B+ in the case of Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks) children's cartoon to me. Its only purpose is to entertain me, give me a venue to interact with others, inspire me for my own creative endeavors (drawing ponies has actually improved my art skills by a lot), and make me money. The show itself has no emotional importance to me, and merely serves as a cosmetic backdrop for the brony fandom, of with which I have had many good and many horribly toxic experiences with which were emotionally important to me. Because I associate the show with that, it becomes more important than it should.

 

As for the critical angle that people are mostly talking about:

 

I pretty much turn off my brain when I watch it though and don't analyze it too closely, unless something ridiculously blatant and brony pandery happens. In which case, I just kind of shake my head and sigh. It doesn't really provoke me though. When I was younger, it probably would have gone a bit crazy due to being a crazy perfectionist and judging everything to a very high standard, but I am now numb to such things. And I have learned to judge different types of media.

 

Everything deserves criticism, but different things warrant different standards. Some things are so good, that they can only be critiqued with elaborate analysis and critical nitpicking. Other things, like MLP, should only be criticized on a very base level, for the blatantly bad or eye-brow raising. Otherwise, you'd be picking everything apart and wouldn't enjoy it. And my brain would constantly fall apart due to resentment and thinking: "Why am I watching this thing with so many flaws?" (Although I know some people do take pleasure from doing that, and it's fine. I myself take pleasure from watching them pick things apart, but I don't like to do it myself) As someone who overthinks almost everything, it is nice to have a time where I just turn off my brain for a bit of fun, and then to be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasion something exceeds those expectations. That is how I approach MLP.

[Moniker 93]

I'm really into it, but it's not really the MOST important thing to me anymore, I used to talk to it a lot, but now it's a little more of a show I write stories for and watch. And I do tend to show my brony side, but not everyone would guess I'm a brony.

[Kivil 1,721]

When it comes to anti-bronies attacking me for watching the show I get violent and sometimes take a trophy when I win the argument, but besides them I don't really think too seriously on the show

[zombienixon 330]

I can't say I've ever taken any TV show as seriously as I've seen some people take FiM. Which is baffling since the writers themselves didn't take it as seriously, either. The most common things I hear people complain about when they moan about how the show's going down the drain are problems that the show has always had.  This is especially true of the continuity.  It's always been an on and off kind of deal, varying between a slight story arc and resetting every episode like the Simpsons or South Park. 

 

If you're really look for the kind of deep storytelling you think this show once had, then you're better served elsewhere.  It was never the most serious cartoon.

[Stardust Balance 7,739]

Hardly. I just tend to ignore any insults or mocking made against the show. I appreciate the show, but I don't take it so seriously as to consider it, as an example, to an extent as my life force. 

[Shanks 10,816]

Usually no, it is a good show but still a show albeit one with a fanbase that is a tad more creative than most I have seen but one that has its problems as well as its benefits. MLP is not immune from criticism, but I do think an important distinction should be made between people whom the show is simply not their thing and actual haters and trolls. Haters are going to hate and while there are some fans that annoy and piss me off I decided to make their obsessive and blind hatred their problem instead of mine.

 

 

All of that is meaningless in my eyes. I only really care if the show does something completely inappropriate for what (and who) it is made for.

That kind of sounds like taking the show seriously to me, albeit in a different way than most fans do. All they did was make an episode for the fans and you are talking like they put clop or grimdark in an episode. I am really tired of all these "bronies are stealing the show from kids" argument, it is untrue and needlessly divisive.

[Violet_S 785]

I hold FIM pretty high for certain reasons but I wouldn't go making a huge fight over it.. I would be incredibly mad and offended if someone was insulting it but I wouldn't hurt anyone else's peace over it