SURVEY: Derpy Hooves and Derpygate

[Flutterbee 92]

1.  January 2012

 

2.  Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and TGAPT

 

3.  I like Derpy and I like looking for her in episodes.  Especially when she peaked out of the curtains in Hearthswarming eve and the Bobbing for Apples scene in Luna Eclipsed.

 

5.  yes

 

6+.  I loved seeing her in Last Roundup.  It was an awesome episode in of its own but the scene with Derpy was great.  The original is so much better than the edited version.  I was very bothered by those attacking Derpy, the show, and the fans over her.  I found those people to be very narrow minded and hypocritical bigots.  Handicaped people are a part of our society and should be apreciated for who they are, not censored.  That should be the same in the show.  We love Derpy for who she is.  To have a few bigots say that she shouldn't be allowed because of her handicap is extremely offensive.  I can't blame Hasbro for the way they handled it, but I wasn't happy with it either.  I wish they had made the same stand that I do.  We should love an apreciate all members of society and not censor the ones who do not match the description of "normal".  I'm not normal either and I don't want to be censored.

 

7. 9  I was very vocal about it and argued my point with others even to the point of angering them.  Any on the other side that got angry at me for my views... I wasn't sorry for them then and I'm not now.  There was no reason to censor her.  I'm not buying the excuses those haters made.  I don't care if you are offended by my reaction to it.  If you are the problem is with you.  I've been silent about the thing ever since the "cease fire" of sorts, but that hasn't change how I feel.  It has always nagged at the back of my mind and it bugs me now that she is removed from the show.  Now I still love the show and it isn't that important that she is there, that isn't my issue.  My issue is that there are people that feel that handicap people should be hidden away and that we should pretend they don't exist.  One of the people that I got into it with even had some kind of special term that she claimed was "politically correct" that was very offensive.  I don't remember the exact term but I remember thinking that if I were related to someone that had someone call them that, we would have a fight.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

1. Late August 2012

 

2. Fluttershy

 

3. 7 - I think that Derpy has an adorable design and finding her in each episode is always exciting.  I tend to be fond of background ponies mainly because they can be thought of as ours.  I also love her depiction in Dr. Whooves and Assistant, even if it isn't canon.

 

4. 7 - When I learned of it, I looked into it, but I think I was seeing a sort of biased view on it with the bronies being the heroic stand against the reign of the evil soccer moms.  Only more recently am I learning how the brony community itself was divided as well as the slinging of death threats.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

1.end of March 2012

2. Luna

3.7 Derpy is more or less a background pony to me, believe me it used to be a 9 but then I stopped caring about Derpygate around April

4. 10 I read a lot about it and watched videos about it

 

When I joined I was interested in learning about the entire history of the fandom, and Derpygate was one of the things I researched.  Around that time I used to care.  

[Dark Qiviut 22,177]

I think it's time for me to answer the survey.

 

1. Approximately when did you become a Brony (Month and Year, if you remember):

I became a brony in the summer of 2011, but I wasn't as heavily invested in the community as I am today.

 

 

2. Who is your favorite pony?

Fluttershy, but Derpy (NOT "Ditzy," as Faust confirmed both Ditzy and Derpy to be two different characters) is right behind her. (Read the next answer below.)

 

 

3. On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your opinion of Derpy Hooves?

A huge 10! Derpy Hooves is my most favorite background character (and my second-most-favorite character, period) in the show. Of all of the background ponies, Derpy is the one where she has the most untapped potential that can really fit the canonical scope of the show. More than Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Colgate, Bob Bon, and Dr. Whooves combined (and they're popular characters themselves.) She's clumsy, hard-working, aloof, but will do whatever it takes to get the job done. If she derps like she did with Town Hall, no worries. She'll pick herself up and do better the next time. She's goofy, but lovably goofy. Her wall eyes just make her much cuter, and her voice in the original "Last Roundup" and many fan videos (even Tara Strong's nasal voice impression of her) fit her very well.

 

But even if I didn't like her, I'd still give her a ten. Why? Because she is that beloved in this fandom, and she's objectively that great of a character with so much untapped potential. She was a plain background character, but a simple animation error took her off into one that the general fandom absolutely adores. She's an important character and is the main connection between the staff and fandom. When the official Hasbro Derpy toy was announced, Equestria Daily's traffic exploded, and the toys sold out before Sethisto posted the announcement of the toy was up for sale. When the Funko vinyl of Derpy was released, it sold out within an hour. She's THAT beloved and deserves the appreciation and adoration. The fandom was able to officially CREATE a character, and that's not something you see at all. If gotten more and more screentime to the point where she eventually gets a larger and larger role, she might've become one of the most memorable characters in children's television history, and we have MLP:FIM has a very great team with the creativity and intelligence to do this.

 

 

4. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you know about the events of “Derpygate”, the controversy over Derpy’s speaking role in “The Last Roundup” that took place in January and February of 2012?

I would say a good eight. I wasn't following the Derpy drama when it first began, but then I researched her, watched "The (Original) Last Roundup" on YouTube, and looked her up throughout the Internet about her and her popularity. I began to respect her for who she is, and so does the fandom. And I followed it as it went on in January through February. But when Derpy got censored, I was ANGRY. Really angry.

 

 

5. Did you know about the Derpygate crisis as it was happening (January-February 2012)?

That I did. I heard about it and then got involved in speaking out against her censorship.

 

 

6. At the time, what was your opinion on Derpy Hooves’ appearance in “The Last Roundup”, the censorship, and the following crisis?  Is your opinion any different today?

When I first watched Derpy's appearance in "The Original Last Roundup," I laughed and awed. She was clumsy and derped a bit, but if she wasn't clumsy, she wasn't being DERPY. Then, when I read about people's actions against Derpy, I critiqued them.

 

Then when Derpy's censorship was released, I was FURIOUS! Derpy is a great character, and to see the bronies' gift being massacred was a complete insult to me and those who cared about Derpy for who she is. The only thing might've altered in future episodes was the male voice, but the tone in the original version of TLR fit her to a "T." The censored version of her was degrading to me as someone who's unofficially diagnosed with Asperger's (I have various symptoms, but never got it diagnosed nor do I care), and a lot of people in this fandom absolutely cared for her, including those with strabismus, Asperger's, autism, etc. I remember reading that post on Equestria Daily detailing about how he saw a girl who saw his drawing of Derpy and how she was extremely upset when she was censored. (The poster gave her the drawing in response.)

 

Back when I first entered the MLP Forums, I made a collective post in response to various circumstances in the Derpy drama. You can check it out here. (There was also a huge collection of screenshots detailing the OP who had strabismus and loved Derpy in TLR, followed by other posts saying they loved Derpy in the scene, too. Unfortunately, I can't find it.)

 

Today, the boycott has affected me somewhat.

1. I've grown to HATE it when Derpy is called "Ditzy Doo," especially after Faust confirmed Derpy and Ditzy to be factually two completely different, unrelated characters. The name "Ditzy Doo" does not fit Derpy one bit because it's one-dimensional. "Ditzy" means "scatterbrained," but Derpy is much more of a character than that. "Derpy" is a more rounded, looser name, and it fits her personality and quirks better.
2. I only watch The Original Last Roundup online; I'm boycotting the TV version of the episode. The first time TLR re-aired on The Hub, it contained the horrifically lazy and out-of-character fandub-like portrayal of Rainbow Dash and Derpy, and I immediately changed the channel. To this day, I still refuse to watch TLR on live TV because the first scene disgusts me so much. Until they change it back someday, I won't watch TLR on TV (or Netflix) again.
3. I've grown to adore and understand Derpy more and more since then, and she's risen further and further up in my most-favorite character list.

 

7. On a scale of 1-10, how involved were you in the events during Derpygate?

I was one of the vocal critics of Derpy's censorship, but my involvement is more or less a seven. My involvement was being a very vocal critic and debater of Derpy's censorship, but nothing more.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Dark Qiviut

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

1. September 10th, 2012. I joined the forum two days later. ^^

2. Lyra Heartstrings.

 

3. I'd say a 5. Derpy is a cute design, I guess. Gray and yellow work surprisingly well as a color scheme. It's as a character that we run into problems. I think she was meant to be seen as a klutzy space case, not a 'mentally challenged' pony in a positive or negative way. But MLP occasionally tries too hard to be funny, and Derpy's appearance as a distinct character was one of those times. I think a few people saw her exaggerated behavior and took it too seriously. Because of this, I like Derpy a little less than I would otherwise. She's one of the BG ponies I still can't get into. ^^

 

4. Oh, maybe about a 5. I don't know the ins and outs of that whole thing, and I don't want to. The gist of it is bad enough. Bronies saw Derpy as 'slow' and went way off the deep end with it, some interpreting it as a sympathetic gesture, others seeing it as an insult to disabled people. The already unnecessary controversy became more heated when the voice was changed in reruns and the show got complaints, leading to Derpy's removal even as a background pony in Season 3. It wasn't exactly our finest hour from what I hear. It sounds like there were arguments everywhere over something that wasn't important to begin with.

 

5. No. I wasn't a brony yet and I wasn't here to witness that, thank Celestia.

6. I think it was blown way out of proportion on all sides. The Last Roundup was an episode about Applejack. And an excellent one at that. I think we do it a major disservice by remembering it only in the context of 'Derpygate.' I think both Derpy voices are fine and she was a cute BG pony, but it won't bother me if she doesn't come back.

 

7. At the time? 1. Possibly 0 since I wasn't there.

Edited January 26, 2013 by TailsIsNotAlone

[Magpie 621]

1.  I can't quite remember, but I know it was early S1, as I remember hearing Faust was involved, and deciding to watch. Didn't get into the fandom till about S2 though.

 

2. Tough question, but I'm gonna say Twilight, although Applejack and Fluttershy are close.

 

3. . I really don't like or dislike her. She has no personality, and no character. So 5 I guess.

 

4. Not supposed to answer this one.

 

 

5. Yes.

 

6. I found the changes offensive. I wasn't offended by her originally  but if anyone was, wouldn't you agree censoring her for her differences make it worse? Not to mention they stole the spotlight from Applejack, and that was quite a good episode.

 

7. 1. I really didn't care for Derpy, considering she was a background character with absolutely no personality or character.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Brosparkles

[Alex0461 33]

1. I'd say July 2012

2. Derpy Hooves without a doubt.

3. 9 or 10, she managed to show that being different didn't mean you weren't accepted, that was a big deal for a lot of people and one of the reasons I love her so much, censoring her totally threw the whole love, tolerance, and acceptance thing right out the window. Great message, "someone too different for your taste? Well we'll just crumple them up into a little ball and stick them in this mold to remove any of their uniqueness or what makes them special to fit that societal standard of normal." Sigh.....horrible. 

4. A 10 for sure.