How Should Derpy Be Portrayed

[DarligPegasi 315]

I kind of want her portrayed as an oblivious, clumsy yet smart person or maybe just Luna from HP-ish. Or like the orange thing from Horton Hears a Who.

[Shanks 10,816]

With Derpy, I think the problem lies more within her voice than her actual behavior.

As much as I would like to believe that is the case as that is easy enough to fix and as I have said before certain fan voices like youtube user balddumborat suited her far better anyway as they represent her personality quite well without giving off that false impression but if it was than why didn't the complainers simply demand a new voice instead of calling for her head completely? That is one of the things that has bothered me the most about the Derpy complainers is that very few have made any constructive suggestions other than "burn her with fire".

 

The only ones I have seen make such suggestions were two users on here one in response to this blogpost I made linking to this youtube video where I say why I don't think Derpy was ever offensive and another where I asked this other user what a better way or portraying Derpy would be. I didn't agree with everything either of them had to say but at least they suggested something other than giving Derpy the boot. I and most Derpy fans in general wouldn't be so angry at the complainers if they did this and didn't try to claim to speak for disabled people when many of them love Derpy because though they realize she hasn't been confirmed as disabled one way or another know what it is like to be misunderstood for being different.

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

As much as I would like to believe that is the case as that is easy enough to fix and as I have said before certain fan voices like youtube user balddumborat suited her far better anyway as they represent her personality quite well without giving off that false impression but if it was than why didn't the complainers simply demand a new voice instead of calling for her head completely? That is one of the things that has bothered me the most about the Derpy complainers is that very few have made any constructive suggestions other than "burn her with fire".

 

The only ones I have seen make such suggestions were two users on here one in response to this blogpost I made linking to this youtube video where I say why I don't think Derpy was ever offensive and another where I asked this other user what a better way or portraying Derpy would be. I didn't agree with everything either of them had to say but at least they suggested something other than giving Derpy the boot. I and most Derpy fans in general wouldn't be so angry at the complainers if they did this and didn't try to claim to speak for disabled people when many of them love Derpy because though they realize she hasn't been confirmed as disabled one way or another know what it is like to be misunderstood for being different.

 

Well, I never paid a lot of attention to the Derpy drama so I could be wrong, but I know that she became an issue once she spoke in The Last Roundup, so I think that her voice was the primary problem that people took issue with, along with her name. There's a reason none of her trading cards have her name on it, and her name has been cut out of some versions of the episode. So now Derpy has a new voice and is nameless.

 

But when you say people are irrational and just want to kill her with fire, it's because these types of people can't think of any good constructive criticisms on how to make Derpy less offensive. They just want her dead, and unfortunately, that's the way people are sometimes. They have to ruin something that's supposed to be fun and harmless. The fans created Derpy, and it's the fans who have loved Derpy unconditionally. Most fans see Derpy as a lovable little mare who can be related to, not a character who pokes fun at a particular group of people. She's basically the Goofy of the series, and nobody takes issue with Goofy or the countless other cartoon characters who act just as clumsy as Derpy.

[Shanks 10,816]

 these types of people can't think of any good constructive criticisms on how to make Derpy less offensive.

They can't because they have no imagination and are completely unwilling to even try it is one thing to try and fail we all do that at some point but to not even bother is just closed minded and ignorant. Most of the people that complained were parents and other non fans and usually those kind of people don't notice background characters unless they have a speaking role like Derpy did in The Last Roundup. Simply put they judged what they didn't understand, and didn't even bother to listen to the people they claimed to speak for which is one the quickest and easiest ways to piss me off.

 

That is what motivated me to create this thread in the first place, I grew up with Autism and know what it is like to be singled out and misunderstood and Derpy to me though she hasn't been confirmed one way or another to be disabled to me represents the message of it is okay to be different a message which was first taught in Bridle Gossip and reinforced in some other episodes as well. I don't think Derpy is retarded but I think that is probably falsely perceived as being retarded by some of the other ponies due to her walled eyes, clumsiness and child like nature. I believe that if there is an episode where Derpy is portrayed this way that it has a good chance of pleasing the fans as well setting the record straight and avoiding another Derpygate.

[Ghost1O4 0]

She should be done the way the series had ;originally' done her. innocent, clumsy, funny, all the elements we created for her and loved before they even gave her a voice.

 

I wish they could bring back the Derpy that we created and love and nothing else.