Monday 1 July 2013

The Toronto Star has a go at understanding the fandom

And, to be fair to the paper, its report isn't bad. Okay, so there are a few errors, most notably the notion that you have to be male and over 18 to be a brony. But on the whole, the piece is fair-minded and not sensationalistic. The picture  they use to introduce the article shows a normal-looking guy with his merch collection... which, wonder of wonders, is actually from the right generation. (I'm pleased to see The Elements of Harmony book there — good man!) Rather too many journalists have seen "My Little Pony" and just slapped on a photo of a G3 pony.

It's not all rainbows and cuteness: a seven-year-old's mother does admit to having felt a bit uncomfortable watching Equestria Girls with a bunch of older males. She doesn't seem to have come across bronies before, so I hope that discomfort won't last once she reads the Star's article. On a brighter note, there's a fascinating comment below the line from "a 74-year-old documentary filmmaker" who suggests that bronies operated in a similar way to some of the 1960s hippies whose "core values, when finally understood, were powerful and had a generally positive effect on society".

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