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"Bronies" (bros who love "My Little Pony") is apparently a thing now
By EJ DicksonNovember 7th, 2011, 1:30 pmComments (26)
The latest Internet subculture to receive media attention isn't furries or Juggalos, but a group of dudes who enjoy braiding the manes of pink, plastic horses. According to the Wall Street Journal, bronies, a portmanteau of "bros" and "ponies," are young men (mostly users of the Internet forum 4chan), who assemble at conventions to wax rhapsodic about Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and other characters from the TV series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
WSJ reports that after the remake of the 1980s classic premiered in 2010, it slowly amassed a devoted fan following on 4chan, where users posted clips from the show and carried Pony cutouts in their shirt pockets. The bronies, who are mostly heterosexual, tech-savvy dudes in their teens and twenties, insist that their love for the show is completely sincere. "The characters aren't one-dimensional," one user insists. "They have flaws, they have backgrounds they're ashamed of." (What, did Rainbow Shy steal a dead Korean War officer's identity or something? If so, I should probably start tuning in, because that's awesome.)
For their part, Hasbro Inc., the toy company who produces the show with Discovery Communications, seems somewhat bemused by the phenomenon, referring to the bronies as "a small group of My Little Pony'fans who don't necessarily fit what one might see as the brand's target audience." It's called "people on the Internet liking things ironically," Hasbro, and it's been making the web world go 'round since Nora the Piano-Playing Cat learned her first Bach concerto.
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Commentarium (26 Comments)
The Reggie Watts and Kanye West themed music videos pretty much sold me that the creators, at least, are pretty hilarious on their own.
I like women. I like women. I like the concept of a woman.
Jesus, welcome to a year ago. The fad is come and gone.
No. We're still around, and we're not a fad.
indeed, /b/rohoof
If I were this ignorant of Internet phenomena, I don't think I'd write an article advertising it. Let alone one that's condescending toward the second-to-last people to find out about it, which gets more wrong than the piece it comments on. Get thee to YouTube and educate yourself!
I agree. For starters, he seems unable to differentiate between 1984 cartoons and 2010.
This guy must hate his job doing such a pisspoor job of researching the subject.
Heard about this one ages ago... and on Nerve. Get up on your internet/sub-culture memes!
When you're learning about memes from a newspaper you're a bit behind the curve.
Also all your pictures are from the wrong show.
Why can't we all be friends, friendship is magic :(
There's good magic, and there's bad magic.
"now" as in early 2010.
I'm sorry, I just thought I should point out....oh nevermind....well...It's just that, your article is a little, well biased. And, also, you don't seem to know what your talking about. Another thing is that, well, this has been going on since last year, I mean, well.....the second season has sort of already started. And well, your whole article is reminiscent of some college girl that has decided to settle for the factory made tv shows and pop stars that we normally get, and not someone falling on their knees to worship the greatness that they have found, even if they are a little late to the party........thats all....
What is this I don't even? This article is horrible. "but a group of dudes who enjoy braiding the manes of pink, plastic horses." Uh. . . no. Not all of them are pink. The vast majority of bronies don't collect the toys for being inaccurate towards the show. And my styling skills are non-existent. :P
yes, yes, yes, Hiptster Points all around for everyone who managed the marvelous insight of pointing out that the my little ponies reboot is a year old already. Congratulations, you're so incredibly with it. Thumbs on the fucking pulse of the internet, and, in fact, coolness in general.
a.) Friendship IS magic and b.) People can enjoy things with sincerity and without irony.
Wow... this article is terribly written. And somehow I get a feeling that the person who wrote it is against bronies.
And we are not being ironic about liking this show btw...
Hilariously written article. Guy seems like a troll.
It's imperative that more pelope make this exact point.
1Gd6N0 imhtizpsotpp
My god! Such cutting edge news! With hardline facts that are truly reflective of the story! Is that picture from next season or something? Wow!
My god! Such cutting edge news! With hardline facts that are truly reflective of the story! Is that picture from next season or something? Wow!
Rainbow Shy..? You mean rainbowdash and fluttershy? The two main Pegasus .. Whaat gurls can be bronies too.. Yes bronies. Not that other word.
I came here hoping to see some review about the show, and what a person personal opinion was of the reviewer.
What I found was a review of a guy who probably hasn't even seen the show and just talks badly about brony's.
Lauren Faust set out to remove the back palling mindset of people that seem to think " girly" will always mean "stupid or laam" and wurst "for gay people"
Not only did she completely shatter this wall with MLP: FiM, she build a new one of people defending her point of view.
*sigh* Another idiot who has no clue what they are talking about.
Some pointers, since you seem to be a bit lacking in the "researching things before you let your keyboard vomit nonsense" department:
- I have yet to run across anyone who likes this show "ironically." Seriously, people that say we like the show "ironically " are idiots.
- You could use a picture from the G4 series. You know, the one from 2010. Why the hell is this so difficult? I've seen this happen several times now. What gives?
- Also, get the names right you parasprite. It's Rainbow DASH.
- Since when does "now" mean over a year ago?
Seriously, I never thought I'd be having to point out stuff like this more than a year after the fandom emerged.
Like that kid in Teens React: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. The one with the maroon/burgundy hoodie who called us all trolls.