An Examination of BronyDom Video (In the Making)

[Guest]

Oh no, it's that Key Sharkz guy who hates the fandom and says bad things about it all the time. He's trying to make a video that is about how bad the fandom is to make us all look bad, grrrrrr get him. We don't need that up in here.

 

Okay in all seriousness, hello. I am Key Sharkz, or I am more commonly known as "MattTech" on Youtube. I do videos on technology, gaming, the internet, social media and sub-cultures that are heavily internet or technology based. Bronies happen to be one of those sub-cultures. Now I wish to do a video examination about bronies that tries to be as objective as possible. In my ongoing recent decision, I have decided to try and keep my content as objective as possible from here on out. So this video is not going to be a "pro-brony" or "anti-brony" video. Instead it aims to give a semi-short (probably between 15-30 minutes) summary, and minor analysis of the fandom in general. I intend to cover everything equally. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes, it will mention that clopping exists, no it will not try and convince people that all bronies are cloppers.

 

A little about me first: 

 

I am not really a brony myself. I have been around the MLP fandom since the early days and originally I was not a fan. I actually could not wrap my head around why there was such an adult fanbase for a show that from first glance does not appear to have any kind of appeal to older audiences. After some time I gave it a chance and I enjoyed the cartoon. I've been more of an observer, watching sites like Equestria Daily in their infancy, and seeing brony social networks pop up and grow, and even helping run some of those sites.

 

I never really adopted the title as my interest was always coming and going and I never really felt like I was hardcore of a fan enough to adopt the title.

 

 

So fast forward to now. What do I hope the accomplish with this video? The answer: absolutely nothing! This video is not intended to have any kind of agenda to address whatsoever. It is neither for nor against bronies and instead only aims to give ant outsider a peak into the fandom to make their own opinion.

 

What do I need from all of you? Suggestions, ideas, anything you think could help the video be as informative as possible. I am open to any and all suggestions, though I can not promise I will use them all.

 

What parts of the fandom do you think need the most coverage? How should the video be conducted? These are all things I would like feedback on before going into the production process. I want to hear from everyone I can to try and make this video as objective and informative as possible.

[Shadow Beam 1,179]

Something that managed to astound me, and that I consider of imperative nature to mention, is the artistic portion of the community. Somehow, the show managed to stir such passion and loyalty amongst its followers that, even when some express themselves through sheer bigotry, there's many more who dedicate hours a day to craft from the most trivial of fics to the upmost flabbergasting of drawings; from amateur poems to the most poignant of melodies, and so on.

 

This was indeed one of the main reasons that brought me here. Anything capable of creating the inspiration and devotion necessary to sway someone into creating something new, something special, is worth the try.

 

And yes, even clop artists should be included amongst them. As unsettling as it may be for many of us, it doesn't take away the fact that it is still time consuming and somewhat beneficial to someone's skill. To that, all I can say is live and let live.

 

Good luck with the video, objective views are something the Internet has been barren of as of late.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Shadow Beam

[Guest]

Something that managed to astound me, and that I consider of imperative nature to mention, is the artistic portion of the community. Somehow, the show managed to stir such passion and loyalty amongst its followers that, even when some express themselves through sheer bigotry, there's many more who dedicate hours a day to craft from the most trivial of fics to the upmost flabbergasting of drawings; from amateur poems to the most poignant of melodies, and so on.

 

This was indeed one of the main reasons that brought me here. Anything capable of creating the inspiration and devotion necessary to sway someone into creating something new, something special, is worth the try.

 

And yes, even clop artists should be included amongst them. As unsettling as it may be for many of us, it doesn't take away the fact that it is still time consuming and somewhat beneficial to someone's skill. To that, all I can say is live and let live.

 

Good luck with the video, objective views are something the Internet has been barren of as of late.

I know a lot of people are going to get mad just because I included "the bad stuff", but I do not intend to fool anyone. I want anyone watching to be able to form their own opinion.

[Shadow Beam 1,179]

No need to clarify that, it's understandable. But of course, I hope that you are prepared to receive an ineluctable hate shitstorm.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I know a lot of people are going to get mad just because I included "the bad stuff", but I do not intend to fool anyone. I want anyone watching to be able to form their own opinion.

You see, this is the catch-22 of brony documentaries. You either make it pro-brony and non-bronies will be turned off by your attempt to justify the show, or you piss off bronies, who are the main audience that will be watching this. It is incredibly hard to be objective when talking about such a weird subculture such as bronies. While I'm not advising you against it, I just hope you know that this will naturally piss a lot of people off, no matter how you present the data and information. Edited September 24, 2015 by GuyNamedEarl

[Blaze Bronson 343]

Grrrrrr get this guy. We don't need self-reflecting thoughts here!

/s (?) 

 

You see, this is the catch-22 of brony documentaries. You either make it pro-brony and non-bronies will be turned off by your attempt to justify the show, or you piss off bronies, who are the main audience that will be watching this. It is incredibly hard to be objective when talking about such a weird subculture such as bronies. While I'm not advising you against it, I just hope you know that this will naturally piss a lot of people off, no matter how you present the data and information.

I don't know if I totally agree. Address it somehow like "We/they have been tied to clopping, but this isn't the core of the fandom, and is for the most part  looked down upon by the fandom itself."

 --------------------------------------------------------

I would like a documentary pretty similar to this:

 

However, this spends way too much time on threading old ground. The older generation is somewhat irrelevant, spend about a minute or two saying where MLP started. I find it mostly irrelevant to FiM.

 

Give an introduction on FiM, and Faust's vision for the show and tie it into the birth of "bronydom" on 4chan. This is the actuall start of the fandom, not the previous generations.

 

All of this should be rather short, and snappy. People shouldn't loose interest before this is over, because now the part of why they are watching is comming!

Tell them about how people get into the show, and why people keep on watching it!

Now this might be hard for you to write (no disrespect intended  ), so you might want to get input on this.

Bring in things like the huge and dedicated community and the amounts of content they have created (which essentially brought me into the fandom) into this part, and refrain form the usual "it has amazing story" or "it's so much character development" arguments, not just because they are bland, but also because they are relatively false.

I often watch the show for it's animations (ugh, another usual argument), no really, I often find myself entertained simply by there happening colors and energy on the screen, I don't need deep, thoughtful storytelling all the time.

If you want to actually reach out to your audience, be humble, not defensive. We are a group of people who are a weird bunch, and we like colors and the crazy world of Equestria! We are strange fucks! *bucks (point proven?)

 

In the end, if you send a 1 hour video to anyone, they won't watch it. Keep the content (whatever form it is) to a easily digestible amount, and rather make it precise and effective. 10 minute video max! Keep it good, not much 

[Guest]

No need to clarify that, it's understandable. But of course, I hope that you are prepared to receive an ineluctable hate shitstorm.

Yes. I am well prepared for that. Fortunately my audience is generally not really bronies, so if I lose brony audience members... I'm out nothing.

 

 

 

You see, this is the catch-22 of brony documentaries. You either make it pro-brony and non-bronies will be turned off by your attempt to justify the show, or you piss off bronies, who are the main audience that will be watching this. It is incredibly hard to be objective when talking about such a weird subculture such as bronies. While I'm not advising you against it, I just hope you know that this will naturally piss a lot of people off, no matter how you present the data and information.

 

Yup! Many have tried, but I feel the big issue is that they either try to be pro-brony or anti-brony and I intend to do neither. I intend to just state what is actually there and go "form your own opinion".

 

 

 

I don't know if I totally agree. Address it somehow like "We/they have been tied to clopping, but this isn't the core of the fandom, and is for the most part  looked down upon by the fandom itself."

 

I can't say that with certainty though, because there is a huge chunk of the fandom that does not look down on clopping despite not being cloppers. So I can not say for certainty if even most of the fandom is for or against clopping without conducting research first.

 

 

 

Bring in things like the huge and dedicated community and the amounts of content they have created (which essentially brought me into the fandom) into this part, and refrain form the usual "it has amazing story" or "it's so much character development" arguments, not just because they are bland, but also because they are relatively false.

 

When it comes to that I think I want to do a more in depth examination of why people like the show.

 

Also you gave a lot of great advice! Thanks!

[Blaze Bronson 343]

Just want to clarify that I wrote my last comment quite tipsy. Borderline cringe worthy to read again today 

 

 

 

I can't say that with certainty though, because there is a huge chunk of the fandom that does not look down on clopping despite not being cloppers. So I can not say for certainty if even most of the fandom is for or against clopping without conducting research first.

 

 

Definitely do some research on that, I even think there are some threads that has had a pool on this. If not, that's an idea.

This is just how I "feel" the fandom thinks based on this forum.

Essentially clopping isn't what make us a community, and the discussion, as proven in this thread and the fact that we are talking about it, is debated and even shunned by some.

That's a realistic and neutral statement IMO.

 

 

and refrain form the usual "it has amazing story" or "it's so much character development" arguments, not just because they are bland, but also because they are relatively false. I often watch the show for it's animations (ugh, another usual argument), no really, I often find myself entertained simply by there happening colors and energy on the screen, I don't need deep, thoughtful storytelling all the time.

 

 

Regarding this, I'm not saying MLP doesn't offer the other the other things, just that they aren't superior.

So many other shows or movies fill those arguments, and therefore doesn't necessarily explain why we watch exactly MLP.

I watch it for:

• Equestria - The fantasy world it builds is interesting, now I'm a sucker for fantasy worlds.
• Aesthetics - The animations, colors and design make it very compelling to watch. Easily digestible.
• It's nothing like anything else I have watched - Kind of obvious since I have never been a little girl, and this show introduces me to new stories. I have already seen all the action stories, drama stories, sad stories, thoughtful stories, but never seen the fairly-tale friendship story.

Let's bring out an example to make it more clear.

In Rarity Investigates we get a black and white scene.

The aesthetics didn't please me, and I have seen that scene before somewhere, so I got bored.