Should I make bronies the topic of my school project?

[melody5697 195]

For Interpersonal Communication, I have to do this project where I choose a subculture or co-culture and I have to prove it's really a subculture or co-culture and give examples of symbols, language, values, and norms and then I have to make a playlist of songs about those things. What do you think? Should I do mine on bronies? I'll need some help, since I'm not very involved in the fandom. I thought this project would be super boring, but it's gonna be really fun if I can do it about bronies!

[Venomous 18,820]

You totally should.

Perhaps you could shine some light on the community and break down some misconceptions.

[Kiri 7,279]

That sounds like a very interesting project idea. I'd say go for it!  

[~SadisticFluttershy~ 779]

That's completely up to you to decide.

 

I personally would if you're up to it. I've been in the fandom for over 3 years. I know way too much about it. It's be easy for me.

 

But if you wanna have fun with this and have the pony fandom as your topic, by all means go for it. Just be very, VERY careful on what you write about. Stay on the good side, stay away from the grimdark, sexual and any other NSFW crap that's involved negativly that could give the fandom a had name, cause more anti brony nonsense and get you in alot of trouble.

Edited September 21, 2015 by ~SadisticFluttershy~

[Melon Blitz 423]

Go for it, I feel like it should be pretty easy. There's tons of symbology in the Brony crowd (cutie marks, the art ect), language (phrases or sayings used ect), values (the idea of love and tolerate and friendship ect). Many fandoms mean a lot of different things to different people. It should make for an interesting paper.

[Lunar Echo 10,334]

If you're feeling up to the task then go for it. It's good to spread awareness.

[RattPitt 172]

If I was in your position, I definitely would. If you need any help with the music playlist, shoot me a PM. I've got my own playlist of music relating to My Little Pony that's nearly at 200 songs. There's definitely some in there that'll help you out.

[SpikusFyre 486]

{Insert Shia Lebouf meme here... you know the one} 

[SCS 7,455]

Only if you're willing and able to deal with potential hate and vitriol from ignorant, angry motherfuckers. Especially if you're still in high school: high school fucking sucks and is typically filled with such individuals.

[superdogz1999 551]

I think you should go for it. Explaining to your school about Bronies actually helps to bring awareness of our Fandom and people would think that we are just as normal as the Non-Bronies.

But I recommend to steer away from the NSFW stuff and focus on the positives.

Edited September 21, 2015 by superdogz1999

[SasQ 1,355]

 

 

What do you think? Should I do mine on bronies?

 

If you want to do it, then do it. It's your choice.

If you choose to do it, I definitely approve it. It could be a good way to break some stereotypes and introduce awareness. You can help people see it through your eyes before some Fox News or other filthy propaganda will make them see some perverted image of it.

 

Try to think about what questions your audience could possibly have and how can you answer them in an honest way. Think about what it is that brought you to MLP and Bronies in the first place, what is good in it for you, and what good could be there for other people (nice stories with good morals and life lessons; relatable characters with complex personalities; great voice acting and Flash animation; interesting adventures and world-building; as for the fandom: values, morals, charity auctions, creativity, spreading friendship and the ease of making new friends, the feel that you belong somewhere, that you are not alone in this cruel world, that you can count on your friends helping you just because of who you are, etc.).

 

I have to prove it's really a subculture or co-culture

 

How does one prove that something is a subculture anyway?

 

 

 

and give examples of symbols

 

Hmm... I think you might want to take a look at my Symbolism in MLP thread. It covers mostly Season 1 and a bit from other seasons (I still need to update it someday), but it should suffice.

 

 

 

language

 

@@Melon Blitz gave you some good hints on this one.

 

 

 

values, and norms

 

This one is a bit tricky, because Bronies are quite a diverse group, and not all of them hold up to the values and morals presented in "Friendship is Magic". I'm one of those who try to live up to these moral standards anyway (and this is one of the reasons I love "Friendship is Magic" so much), But as I said, not every Brony is like that, similarly as not every Brony is into grimdark or clop. So the safest approach would be to say that many bronies value these moral standards, but not all. There are some which call themselves Bronies because they just watch MLP.

 

(Perhaps there should be a special name for those Bronies who follow the moral ways from the show, to make it clear who does it and who doesn't? What do you think? How about "Harmony Brony?" )

 

 

 

I'll need some help, since I'm not very involved in the fandom.

 

If you need some in-depth, diverse and non-biased information about the Brony fandom, take a look at SaberSpark's documentary "The Brony Chronicles" on YouTube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2EOfhvvURY

 

Perhaps you will find there something which will inspire you.

The first 18 minutes is just the history of the MLP franchise, so if you know it, and don't want to cringe of watching G1/G3 ponies, you can safely skip it to the part where the 4th generation of MLP is introduced, and a couple of minutes later he talks about how the Brony fandom has emerged and developed. Part 2 is about the creative side of the fandom.

[PROJECT: Simon 3,953]

If you want to do it, you can always do it~ :DDD =D=D=D <3 <3 

[Gestum 2,493]

I wouldn't recommend it unless you feel like getting laughed at.

[melody5697 195]

Looks like you don't all understand the project. I'm just supposed to do the things I talked about. Also, it's those things I listed that prove it's a subculture. And I'm in college, not high school.

[Melon Blitz 423]

Looks like you don't all understand the project. I'm just supposed to do the things I talked about. Also, it's those things I listed that prove it's a subculture. And I'm in college, not high school.

You didn't really explain the project fully, usually most people have to prove something in the form of a research paper. If your project is to just go out and be part of the culture, that's even easier. Infact, it would be pretty cool if you could go to a con yourself. That would be a ton of fun.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I'd say go for it. People in college are way more accepting than I thought when I got here, and as long as you don't make it really awkward and cringe worthy, it would be a great subculture to present.

[ManyANewDay_36 178]

oh yes, please do! that would be awesome!!

[melody5697 195]

There will be no research paper involved. It's a PowerPoint and a playlist.

And this thing is due in two weeks.

[Daring_Do 552]

That's completely up to you to decide.

 

I personally would if you're up to it. I've been in the fandom for over 3 years. I know way too much about it. It's be easy for me.

 

But if you wanna have fun with this and have the pony fandom as your topic, by all means go for it. Just be very, VERY careful on what you write about. Stay on the good side, stay away from the grimdark, sexual and any other NSFW crap that's involved negativly that could give the fandom a had name, cause more anti brony nonsense and get you in alot of trouble.

Yes, because we've got to hide it and keep pretending that it's all just "misconceptions", don't we? Wouldn't want to give the fandom a "bad name", like you say.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Daring_Do

[melody5697 195]

I wasn't planning on mentioning the bad things. That's not part of the project. I already explained the whole project. If I didn't mention it, it isn't supposed to be part of the project.

[Daring_Do 552]

I wasn't planning on mentioning the bad things. That's not part of the project. I already explained the whole project. If I didn't mention it, it isn't supposed to be part of the project.

I'd advise taking a leaf out of Applejack's book, and not listening to people who seem to want to turn your project into a propaganda campaign.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Daring_Do

[Guest]

You totally should.

Perhaps you could shine some light on the community and break down some misconceptions.

Generally what happens when people try to do that just makes people go "look at how hard bronies are trying to erase stereotypes about them", and just fuels their ideas that bronies must be hiding something bad from how hard they try to get people to think they're not so bad. Harder you try, the more it seems to backfire.

[melody5697 195]

Generally what happens when people try to do that just makes people go "look at how hard bronies are trying to erase stereotypes about them", and just fuels their ideas that bronies must be hiding something bad from how hard they try to get people to think they're not so bad. Harder you try, the more it seems to backfire.

Yeah, while I won't be bringing up the bad parts, I won't deny them if somebody asks.

I'd advise taking a leaf out of Applejack's book, and not listening to people who seem to want to turn your project into a propaganda campaign.

Okay. It probably can't be turned into a propaganda campaign without my grade suffering anyway.

[SasQ 1,355]

I'd advise taking a leaf out of Applejack's book, and not listening to people who seem to want to turn your project into a propaganda campaign.

Sharing the good things and omitting the black sheep among us is not "propaganda", as you called it. It's choosing which parts of the fandom one wants to focus on; which fan behaviours one associates with and approves and which one does not. Because if I don't approve the bad things, why should I talk about it if not asked specifically? Why should I feed my energy to it? It's like trying to fight the fire by pouring a gasoline on it Let's not get ridiculed ourselves by "political correctness", because this is just another propaganda in disguise: it doesn't let you say anything bad about bad things and name things what they really are just to avoid offending the black sheep which is a minority. It's another forced equality which blows up minor flaws to the size as if they were as much important as the positive aspects. If something is a minority, I don't see the point in blowing it up out of proportion and giving it more screen time than it deserves. Simple as that. Giving a minority the same amount of focus is what is called "bias" and "propaganda" in my book.

 

Imagine you are looking for a job and you go to an interview. Would you tell your boss: "I'm a great programmer, I can solve problems quickly and learn fast, oh, and I'm also an alcoholic"? Yeah, good luck with that

 

That's also one of the reasons I'm a strong opponent of gay parades & stuff like that, despite the fact I have nothing against homosexual people. I approve them being different, I can have friends which are gay and I'm OK with that. What I don't approve is forcing it upon me and making an entire philosophy around it just to blow up minority to make it look like as if it were the same size as the rest.

 

I guess you might have listened to the recent Animated James' video about Bronies and honesty. I listened to it too, and my opinion is that you both got it wrong. Honesty is not about telling everyone how bad things are just because there are bad things. It's saying what you really think about it (as I hereby do). Honesty doesn't require that you tell everything to everyone. Or that you cannot have secrets or privacy. Or that you cannot refuse talking about something you don't like or don't approve. It is when you honestly answer if someone asks.

What's funny is that all these things about what honesty really is, were already explained in the show several times (e.g. "The Return of Harmony", "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", "Inspiration Manifestation", among others), but still so many Bronies out there doesn't seem to get it

 

That's also one of the reasons I think why we should introduce additional labels for different types of Bronies. Because Bronies are a diverse group and not every Brony is the same. Many of them are great people: friendly, creative, generous, kind, helpful etc. Those which really took the moral lessons from "Friendship is Magic" to their hearts. Personally I call them "Harmony Bronies", because I see that they understand all the Elements of Harmony the right way. But not all Bronies are like that. There are also people who just enjoy watching the show, or being the part of the fandom. They don't create any fan content, but they enjoy the work of others. Then there are also Bronies who are more into dark and R34 stuff. Well, if it is a form of art and not just some random violence or porn, I can tolerate it (which is not the same as accepting it – another thing Animated James got wrong). But this is a different category of Bronies, and putting them to the same bag with, for example, Harmony Bronies, could make people mistakenly think that they are all the dark ones, or that they're all into Harmony, which I guess could be offending and unjust to both of them. There's also a minor group of those who clop to MLP. While I can tolerate that (as long as they do it in their private – their sexual preferences are their private thing after all), I strongly disapprove that, and I'm not going to hide that I do, because that would be dishonest. I don't want to be forced to talk about it just because it exists. Cloppers are another separate category of Bronies (if they still deserve to be called Bronies at all, because I cannot see how it is in the lines of the show at all, and even the show's creators disapprove that), and they deserve a separate name, to not be confused with the rest of Bronies who don't want to be put into the same bag with Cloppers.

 

Yeah, while I won't be bringing up the bad parts, I won't deny them if somebody asks.

And that's a good and honest approach.

Edited September 22, 2015 by SasQ

[best poni 1,518]

Go for it! It would be really interesting!