Open Interview

[WebsterBrowse 3]

Hey everypony! 

 

I am working a school assignment about the brony community, and there is a section for interviews, and I thought I would post my questions here, so that you could all have a chance to answer!  Also if you have any suggestions for my question feel free to post those too!

 

Please try to give full answers because the fuller the answer the stronger my research will be 

Thank you guys and have great day! I am really excited to hear what you all have to say!

 

1)      Tell me about yourself.

2)      When did you first watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?

3)      What draws you to MLP?  What do you like about it?

4)      In your own words, what is a brony?

5)      How do people react when you tell them you are a Brony?

6)      Tell me about the community.

7)      Could you tell me about your first brony meetup.

8)      Have you always felt comfortable with the community? Was there a point in time when you hid your enjoyment of the show?

9)      Why do you think the show is so successful and why do you think it has such a wide appeal?

10)   Have you ever been harassed for being a brony or liking the show? If yes, could you tell me about that experience?

11)  What would you say to those who are uncomfortable with the brony community?

[Shanks 10,816]

1. I am 28 years old, go to school and on and off (I tend to burn out a lot) and work as a dairy clerk at a grocery store though I am trying to find another job because my bad knee is making it increasingly difficult to keep up with the physical demands of said job. Nearly everything I watch that is not a documentary or special on the Discovery Channel or Science Channel is animated but despite that I am still one of the last people I would have suspected of being into a show about cartoon ponies.

 

2. Maybe a few months or so before season 3 started which is sometimes around mid to late September 2012.

 

3. Strong, relatable characters, messages that are positive and not preachy at least most of the time. Quality animation, and plenty of moments that are cute without being too saccharine.

 

4. A fan of the show that falls outside the "target audience" regardless of how much of a fan or gender.

 

5. Mostly neutral along with a few positive but there are some people that don't like it but their opinions don't matter to me. For the most part I don't go out of my to tell people but I also don't go out of my way to hide it either.

 

6. It is a very diverse crowd from many different walks of life and different lifestyles and I think that is one of our greatest strengths. Sure there are sometimes some fights and drama but that is everywhere so you have to take the good with the bad.

 

7. It wasn't an official meetup it was more like a happy coincidence. My friend who I hadn't seen in a year that introduced me to the show (I have kept in contact with him though) both met up to see the Equestria Girls movie and there was this local brony meetup group that also showed up. We weren't officially part of the group but we did talk and joke around with them a bit before the movie and during the movie them along with us were quite the enthusiastic crowd. Not only was the movie better than I expected but the overall experience was a lot of fun.

 

8. Yes, I am a veteran of many fandoms so I have seen my share of strange, irritating and disturbing stuff so the only thing that has really surprised me about this fandom is the hostility toward the rule 34 and grimdark fans in the fandom. There are fandoms with even more R34 than MLP and yet there is no concerted effort among a signifcant portion of their fanbase to shun or scapegoat the R34 fans even with other franchises with predominantly non human characters. The only person I ever hid my enjoyment of the show from was my Mom because I wanted to tell her when the time was right because I didn't want to give her one more thing to worry about me over. Her initial reaction was positive until my brother told her about the R34 side of the fandom and this BS about pedophilia. So she is not accusing me of any of that but is concerned about my reputation and is also concerned about me getting my ass kicked which is kind of unlikely considering I am 6 feet tall, 315 pound bear of a man that most people don't have the guts to even think about trying anything with.

 

9. Because nobody saw it coming, most of the early fans were probably parents who watched it with their kids and older siblings who watched it with their little sisters and once they liked it and started talking about it on the internet people got curious and started watching. The flamers and trolls moved on and their hate caused the show to get even more attention creating more curiosity and bringing in more fans so I would like to thank them for that.

 

10. For the most part I have gotten the occasional WTF looks when I wear my pony shirts which I find hilarious but there was one incident that while it wasn't harassment was still awkward. I was buying grocies and the guy in front of the checkout line was there with his 2 young daughters and one of them asked me "why are you wearing a my little pony shirt?" I was going to answer her but her Dad gave me the evil eye and I kind of froze up not because I was afraid of him but because I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. When I didn't answer she asked her Dad and he in an obviously irritated tone said "I don't know why don't you ask him."

 

11. I would say that before they judge us they should consider watching the show and if they don't like it that is fine but all I ask is that they at least don't judge what they don't understand. 

Edited April 19, 2014 by EarthbendingProdigy

[StarSwirlTheBearded 356]

Since I am rather new and not open about being a brony, my answers won't be quite as complete.  Anyways, here are my responses:

1. I am a high school student in my teens.  In school, I'm a very good student.  Unfortunately, I have no more than a dozen friends at a time, with many people hating me.  I am a guy, and like most bronies, I am straight.
2. Last November.  I knew about the bronies for at least three months before that, and it took me another two months after watching that episode to become a brony.
3. It's overall a good show.  I don't know why, it just is.
4. A brony is a fan of My Little Pony: FIM that does not fit in the target demographic (girls, probably 5-10 years old).
5. I've never told anyone that I'm a brony.  However, there are lots of stories of that sort around the forums and across the internet.
6. There is lots of variety in the community.  While there are many stereotype bronies (fat neckbeards that live in their mother's basement), there are people who are the opposite, like myself.
7. I've never been to a meetup.
8. I enjoy being in contact with the community since it's just more people to talk to.  They are always interesting and supportive.  In regards to the second part of the question. I currently hide my interest in MLP (usually called a closet brony) because almost everyone I know has something against MLP, and I used to hate the bronies (commonly called anti-bronies or haters).
9. It's overall a good show with a good story and good morals (not all bronies follow them though).  The bronies tend to be very vocal about the fandom, which helps it spread, along with the hatred for it.
10. As I've said before, I've never told anyone about being a brony.
11. I'd say that a lot of people that are bronies are strange and obsessed, as is stereotypical.  Despite that, by no means is that group the majority, and all sorts of people consider themselves bronies.  Although MLP is for little girls, it does not promote homosexuality, as the anti-bronies makes it out to be.  I'd suggest watching an episode.  Although it isn't for everyone, you may be surprised and end up becoming a brony yourself.

I wish you luck on the assignment!

[Ribbonfree 2,383]

Okay I do it:

 

1)      I'm 19 years old, collage inbound (took a year off to study music in a technical school). Definitely an artist above all else, I have a fairly unique and expansive aesthetic sense. I struggle with trusting myself and often delay my work because I tend to be very critical of the material like music and art I put out. That said I think I'm getting over that speed hump, and I hope to be able to start making some real work soon. I'm definitely a total nerd, but ironically I don't drown myself in a ton of different animes and games. I usually stick to a few core series that occupy most of my time.

 

2)      Winter of 2012, a friend convinced me to watch a few episodes through our shared nerdiness and it was all downhill from there.

 

3)      I can honestly never be sure about why I like the show itself. I think it's alright for what it is and I love the characters, but it's clearly hardly the paragon of excellent story telling, etc. I honestly think I like the fandom more, or at least the potential of the fandom, as it's taken bounds of creativity I haven't seen from a lot of others, especially in the music scene.

 

4)      Anybody who wants to be a brony is one, simple as that.

 

5)      Nobody really cares and I usually don't go out of my way to bring it up. I don't really own a lot of merchandise either so it typically doesn't come up unless I want it to. I'm explicitly friends with people who dislike the show, they rib me for it but we're cool besides that.

 

6)      A diverse set of people from across the known spectrum of fandoms, along with a bunch of young guys who are new to it all. There tends to be an even larger variance among us than in most fandoms because of the many different crowds we've attracted, which may be why drama tends to be louder in this fandom than in most. I've seen collage athletes, pretty obvious basement dwellers, potheads, and high school boys all in the same gathering united by ponies.

 

7)      Summer of 2012, SoCal Bronies held the first Grand Galloping Gala for it's then ballooning population. I showed up and though I was really too awkward to talk to anybody I did rather enjoy my time there. We watched episodes, there were singalongs, group art.

 

8)      Yeah, I've never really felt the need to not associate with it. I'm the sort who takes tings as they are and doesn't let others ruin my fun, as much as I try to not be the guy who ruins other's fun in turn. That said there was a period of time where I did hide my association, in my technical collage, whose current class was primarily conservative collage age students who I didn't think would appreciate knowing I liked shows for little girls, so I kept it on the down low. I enjoyed their company besides, so it was never really an issue.

 

9)      It was a meme. The internet going all apeshit over it actually being pretty good for a little girl's cartoon gave it the exposure it needed for a bunch of different types of people to attract to the show and form the foundation necessary for a proper fandom. A lot of people credit the show with some thing or another positive in their lives, and more power to them.

 

10)   Nah. Nothing that wasn't friendly joking around. I'm the sort of guy who I think is expected to be into this sort of thing, pretty effeminate, definitely a total dork.

 

11)  Honestly? They have the right to be. Everything in this world has it's detractors, and bronies are no exception. I'm sure their reasons are at least sort of well thought out.

[repsol rave 2,963]

1) I am 18 years old. i go to school to become an mechanical engineer, and after that i'll specialize to become a offshore welder.

i'm also Dutch, and i live in a very small town, with about 60 inhabitands.

 

2) i don't remember the exact date, tough i suspect it to be somewhere around late April/early May last year.

 

3) i can realte to most of the characters, and i think it's really nice to just watch something so innocent and happy while the rest of the world is basically going to shit with wars and economical crisises.

 

4) a person that watches MLP FiM, and who is not in the target audience.

 

5) well, i havn't told anybody yet. that's mostly because here in the netherlands, bronies simply just don't exist so much. so if i where to tell somebody, they probably wouldn't even know what a brony is!

 

6) it's a very kind community. possibly the kindest out there. the people who count themselves as bronies are pretty much every kind of person you could imagine.

 

7) i went to the Freaqshow music festival, and another person from this site was visiting it aswell, so we met up there. tough i don't know if that counts as a brony meetup?

 

8) i usually hide that i even watch the show. tough i have never really felt uncomfortable with the community. 

 

9) because it was made to be entertaining to the target audience, but to the parents of that targert audience as well.

 

10) nope, can't say i have.

 

11) before judging, try watching a episode. 

i used to hate on bronies at first too. i mean, who watches a show for little girls right?

 tough when i tried an episode once, i was hooked pretty much imediately! 

[Freewave 1,145]

1)      I'm a 38 year old with a wife, house, and twin 7 year olds. I have a rather decent full time tech job that pays well but is rather dull and has a decent amount of online time to spare. I've been into various hobbies and interests through my life. Was into Star Trek: NG, X-files, and STK3000 and hit starcon a few times. Was a comics collector and local seller in high school and during college years (graduated) and went to San Diego Comic Con a few times. In my 20's I really got into music and worked at a used cd store for awhile, later wokred as a part time club dj and met most of my long term friends thru clubbing. The internet opened up a whole other world of music exploration in the 00's and i did several music blogs, got into live concert collecting, got deeper into several bands and explored a multitude of genres, and eventually into making music myself. I'm quite the music nerd and historian.

 

2)      A younger online friend of mine, who made music, made a pony centered album. He showed me a few albums by eurobeat brony, beatle bronies, and nacp and i decided to check it out and do an album or two. Since it was a cartoon that was the ideal age range for my kids we started watching the show and i was shooked. Since then I've stuck with making music only in the fandom because i realize its a unique set of events that have happened and an amazing community to be a part of. I've transferred a lot of my free time to documenting and assisting in the music fandom's development and helping out a lot of other people thru blogs (FIMM, BMD) and being an admin the mylittleremix forum.

 

3)      I really appreciate how passionate and creative this community is. I enjoy the artwork, fiction, and music that comes out of it and how they create so much more depth to these characters and plotlines. the show itself is fantastic but i find myself so inspired to make music about the show and these characters and that never gets tiring.

 

4)      Basically someone who likes the show that wouldn't typically be the target audience (young girls). Brony does include a wide variety of age ranges and includes many sexes, genders, and orientations. That diversity and acceptance is one of the best things we have going for our fandom.

 

5)      I generally keep my bronyness to myself. My kids and wife obvously know (my wife accepts but isn't a fan, my kids love it) . My family, work, and RL friends don't know about it. It's just easier to keep my RL separate from my Internet Life although it obviously makes it always a little weird being an older guy in a pretty youthful fandom. I try to not let that bug me too much because its take part of or be left out.

 

6)      I guess I've already talked about the community above already. But to me the love & tolerate thing is very similar to the PLUR credo that was part of the rave and dance music community in the 90's. Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. That's a big part of what makes this fandom different and special in comparison to more snarky and pessimistic communities. While clearly many bronies can be jerks and trolls i find they are hopefully the exception and not the rule.

 

7)      I've met a few musicians thru meetups (Stars in Autumn, Hackd, and  Mathematicus) and those have been closer relationships than most of my online ones. I did attend a local convention where i performed and helped out. On one hand it was a lot of fun hanging out several people, on the other hand they flew out several better known musicians and they had no interest in hanging out at the convention or with the local musicians. It was a mixed bag but hopefully the next convention will be better. I enjoyed seeing a ton of adults that equally love this show. A lot of us are introverts so that's part of the problem with piling us all in a hotel.  

 

8)      It's weird being in 2-3% of the community that's 35+ because i dont' ideally fit in with the majority and yet I'm also the target audience of the show (young kids and their PARENTS). So I have to hand it to Lauren for designing a show that was still intended for me to be a part of it. I am a kid at heart and I've never embraced getting older and getting boring. That doesn't mean that I'm not conflicted every time i open up about myself as I know to many people old is old and they might not easily accept that.

 

9)      It's a just a beautifully themed show; because it's about discovering your special talents, meeting people who are friends and getting out of your shyness, and just a breath of positivity and ethical behavior. It's also so much about creativity and finding inspiration in the show and through other fannon. It's about a community that comes from having people that have a lot in common through this show and not feeling like they easily fit in the real world. There is a level of escapism that happens with having an oc and plugging in to community daily and weekly. It's something we share.  

 

10)   I haven't been harrassed luckily. If anything my age at the bronycon maybe made it easier for others not to want to hang out vs being outright rude perhaps. But I haven't been harassed by other people online who know I'm a brony but aren't. If anything what i worry about is SOME of the fandom's tendency to harrass the so called "dark side" (rule 34 and grimdark) as those are the still fans who create their fannon that just examines other aspects that aren't as pretty and are equally adult themed. People should keep that away from the general community but freedom of expression is something we shouldn't argue against, try to censor, or drive out.

 

11)  There really hasn't been a community (in the US) that embraced a show that's female focused like this one and its important to know that the show is designed for all ages and sexes. It's also a feminist show (in the best way) and very much considered about talking about ethics. That's kind of why we take a lot of heat for being out of the norm and following a "girls" show. Japan with its manga is closer to what we're experiencing now over here, as cartoons with girl characters is way of life over there and its perfectly fine for many age ranges and for both sexes to enjoy. I see that cartoons now (Pixar, Disney, Cartoon Channel) are having a renaissance, comic books are now the biggest movies (Marvel Comics especially), and even children's literature (Harry Potter) are accepted adult entertainment.  All i can say is its ABOUT TIME that something like this is happening over here as it unites a lot of people who don't necessarily feel incuded in real life and in society and want to ejoy it. A lot of people want to take part and i don't mind if other people would steer clear as it's a straneg phenomenon and its part of a general "Nerd" culture. But If people want to make fun of that or target that then it really shows how bullying, conservative views, and social assimilation is still a big problem. You have to dream of the world you want to live in, you have to dream out loud. That's really what we are doing.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Freewave