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Could bronies become more mainstream?


CastletonSnob

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If people in the fandom didn't regularly make complete asses of themselves on a regular basis maybe. I mean I know it's not fair to lump everyone in the fandom like this since obviously most people can act like functioning adults, but a lot of bronies are notorious for really putting the spotlight on people we should be distancing from and making people think twice about associating with them, last year in particular was really awful

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18 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

If people in the fandom didn't regularly make complete asses of themselves on a regular basis maybe. I mean I know it's not fair to lump everyone in the fandom like this since obviously most people can act like functioning adults, but a lot of bronies are notorious for really putting the spotlight on people we should be distancing from and making people think twice about associating with them, last year in particular was really awful

I'm curious about what you mean by last year being particularly awful.

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The problem is that one example of a fandom becoming mainstream (anime) is insufficient for it to be considered conclusive evidence that other fandoms can become mainstream as well. The differences between the fandoms are numerous and therefore numerous variables influence whether a fandom will become more mainstream.

But to answer the question directly, I think that the brony fandom does not have the capability of becoming more mainstream due to its defiance of gender and age roles and society's stereotypes placed on the fandom. I understand that the anime fandom somewhat defies gender and age roles, but one must consider that anime appeals to a variety of ages and all genders, not just little girls.

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People who like anime are still seen as weirdos. :twi:

Me personally, I don't give a shit about "becoming more mainstream". We already became more mainstream over ten years ago. You know, with Friendship is Magic's premiere. There were bronies before then.

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1 hour ago, Will Guide said:

I'm curious about what you mean by last year being particularly awful.

Kinda hard to talk about it without breaking the “no politics” rule. Though I think that should give you an idea

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2 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

Kinda hard to talk about it without breaking the “no politics” rule. Though I think that should give you an idea

Everyone went crazy last year, not just bronies. We are not opening this can of worms. :fluttershy:

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If there was a time Bronies would have been mainstream, I would have thought it would have been roughly between 2011 to 2015 when the fandom was on the ascent and at its apex. That is, the number of Bronies seems to have been shrinking; there would be less and less interest to try to make Bronies mainstream, so to speak, since fewer people are interested in the fandom in the first place. I do not really care about Bronydom becoming mainstream except that it may result in a greater quantity of fan works -- especially ambitious fan projects such as Duo Cartoonist's animations and Lullaby for a Princess animation.

3 hours ago, Soundwave said:

If people in the fandom didn't regularly make complete asses of themselves on a regular basis maybe. I mean I know it's not fair to lump everyone in the fandom like this since obviously most people can act like functioning adults, but a lot of bronies are notorious for really putting the spotlight on people we should be distancing from and making people think twice about associating with them, last year in particular was really awful

But is there such thing as a fandom with a clean record? It strikes me that anyone who is to be associated with any fandom must immediately accept that they are to be outcasts in some sense.

2 hours ago, EpicEnergy said:

The problem is that one example of a fandom becoming mainstream (anime) is insufficient for it to be considered conclusive evidence that other fandoms can become mainstream as well. The differences between the fandoms are numerous and therefore numerous variables influence whether a fandom will become more mainstream.

But to answer the question directly, I think that the brony fandom does not have the capability of becoming more mainstream due to its defiance of gender and age roles and society's stereotypes placed on the fandom. I understand that the anime fandom somewhat defies gender and age roles, but one must consider that anime appeals to a variety of ages and all genders, not just little girls.

Considering that defiance is the norm, gender and age expectations somehow does not strike me as being major obstacles.

In this specific example, it is to be expected that Weebs would be more mainstream considering that being a Weeb means being a fan of Japanese animations -- a very broad category -- as opposed to a Brony means being a fan of MLPFIM -- one specific show. It would be more appropriate to compare Bronies to, say, fans of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (that is a fairly popular show, yes?) or Weebs to fans of Western cartoons.

 

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I don't really think that'll happen. Anyways, who cares if we aren't mainstream? Almost everyone on this forum enjoys or has enjoyed this franchise in some way, shape or form and honestly, I think that's really all that matters.

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17 hours ago, Luna the Great of all the Russias said:

Considering that defiance is the norm, gender and age expectations somehow does not strike me as being major obstacles.

I disagree - just because defiance is more common today than in the previous years does not mean it is widely accepted. Also, even if defiance is widely accepted and normal, that doesn't necessarily mean that gender and age expectations are not major obstacles because there is displeasure, resistance, intolerance, and even hostility that is associated with the defiance of gender and age expectations.

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Ponies are more mainstream than they were in the 80s. Just take this song by Pipp!

Spoiler

   

 

Bronies are part of the 'nerds are now sort of mainstream' movement I suppose. Many of my friends from school wouldn't agree that bronies were mainstream. But when I go onto the internet... 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think it entirely depends on how good gen 5 is. It will have to be really damn good to gather comparable traction to what FiM did when it started. I think a vast majority of the hate has already simmered down. Although that said I doubt that it'll ever become as mainstream as liking anime because this is a way smaller community. New animes will continue to be made for the foreseeable future, while with the MLP fan base, unless G5 blows everyone away, it will at best grow very slowly if not slowly dwindle over time.

Hopefully I'm wrong and we see a big resurgence of bronies, I would hate for this community to be a sinking ship.

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