Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony, the movie

[kunio18]

It was fine when I saw the digital copy on my laptop, but when I put it on my PS3, i did notice the lipsync was a bit off. I don't know why it would change just because of it being on a PS3.

EDIT: yeah, scratch that, it is a bit off overall. If you have VLC player and are playing this from your computer, all you have to do is go to Tools>Track Synchronization and mess with the timing until you get it perfect. Its only a quarter of a second off, if that.

ahhhhhhhh so i was not just the only one, i thought so that the documentary was a little out of sync when it came to the interviews and such and other parts of it the sound was like a second out of sync with the lips movement, i do i VLC player and windows media of course,

whats the best way to sync it please buddy without mocking it completely up ?

[Rosewind]

Alrighty! Finally finished this (thanks River!):

Stuff I didn't like:

Too much focus on individual bronies in the first 30 mins or so. Did they really have to bring Asperger syndrome into this? I know lots of people with Asperger syndrome, and I think it's fantastic that FiM gives them a way to connect and communicate with others in a meaningful way, but it seemed out of focus to include in this.

The crazy psychologists trying to explain the fan phenomenon. This also seemed out of focus for me, because everyone has their own reasons for liking pony.

The animation (while well done, it was produced by the same talented person who did the Picture Perfect Pony video) that grouped the bronies into three subtypes. Yeah, no.

Maybe a bit too much of the convention scene. I love conventions and all the insanity that goes with them, but from an outsider looking in? It might not be the best way to represent the fandom.

Too much focus on the guys. Even though the animation nodded to female pony fans, it would have been nice to see more women giving commentary on how pony has affected us. I think we saw, what, two? Adult fans include males and females.

Mentioning clopping? It's not even hidden enough to be relevant in a funny way.

Stuff that was awesome:

Lauren Faust's segments. It was great getting an up front and personal point of view from her. I can only imagine her thoughts as she walked on stage for the first time at Bronycon. I definitely teared up watching this, and it made a great segment. It was great hearing her talk about how she designed the show and her time playing with the toys as a little girl herself, and how the cartoon is making such a big impact on people.

John De Lancie representing the spirit of the culture like a boss. I never would have imagined he would be so involved and amazing.

Tara Strong being awesome. Her visiting soldiers and highlighting some of her charity work was fantastic, especially that little boy with brain cancer. That's the kind of thing I want presented about pony fan-culture.

In summary:

I think it gives a good picture about FiM fan culture, but some parts were awkward and unfocused. I think this could have used better editing to present the fandom to people who want to know more about it, coming in with a completely blank slate and no understanding whatsoever of what FiM is. I think they should have explained more about FiM and explored different theories about why it's so popular. It's a bit self-indulgent with some aspects, but the presentation is good, even if it lags in the beginning and fails to present a wholesome and complete point of view with what FiM and the fans behind it are really about. Would I show this to someone to introduce them to my obsession? Probably not. I'd rather show them an episode of FiM and let it speak for itself.

[weesh]

Rosewind, I think you nailed on the head the things that made me uncomfortable with the episode. The Asperger thing was ok for me though, because it inspired him to go out to the convention.

[SteelEagle]

I was fine with the brony with aspergers being one of the focuses, actually. It rounded out some general stories: Normal dude, Guy and Girl who found love, kid, someone with a disability. Many different perspectives. I was fine with that.

It does lack focus, however. Tries to talk about too much and because of that it has to do some broad stroke type stuff(the different categories, nothing more than a nod to female fans). The psychologist stuff and some of the big-picture/perhaps-looking-into-it too much stuff is good- but there isn't much time devoted to it, which makes the whole segment off a bit. Basically, they had more than enough material to make a documentary for bronies and a documentary for the general public about bronies. They tried to do both. I think that for the most part, they succeeded.

Would I show it to someone who has no knowledge of bronies? No. Then again, I wouldn't show most documentaries to someone who doesn't know/care about the subject(s) in question either. If someone was curious about bronies, the doc does a good job hitting the salient points.

[Rosewind]

I was fine with the brony with aspergers being one of the focuses, actually. It rounded out some general stories: Normal dude, Guy and Girl who found love, kid, someone with a disability. Many different perspectives. I was fine with that.

It does lack focus, however. Tries to talk about too much and because of that it has to do some broad stroke type stuff(the different categories, nothing more than a nod to female fans). The psychologist stuff and some of the big-picture/perhaps-looking-into-it too much stuff is good- but there isn't much time devoted to it, which makes the whole segment off a bit. Basically, they had more than enough material to make a documentary for bronies and a documentary for the general public about bronies. They tried to do both. I think that for the most part, they succeeded.

Would I show it to someone who has no knowledge of bronies? No. Then again, I wouldn't show most documentaries to someone who doesn't know/care about the subject(s) in question either. If someone was curious about bronies, the doc does a good job hitting the salient points.

I've worked with Aspergers plenty, and we have several community members here that deal with its challenges. I think my main problem with giving it focus is that it throws fuel on an already bigger stigma about the community as a whole. I know this should not matter, but they could have picked any of the hundreds of other disabilities out there to represent the "person with a disability able to deal with it better because of pony." If this segment was done better, I don't think it would have been as bad. It was mostly a mash up of the guy saying "I'm feeling really anxious," as he made his journey to the convention.

With that said, the opening really lagged because of the specific focus given to the random brony representatives. It was interesting seeing John de Lancie talk to the father -- and introduce him to another father that was really into it. That part could even be helpful to a parent that is confused why their child is so heavily obsessed with a cartoon designed for girls and/or a younger audience.

I don't think they succeeded in painting a whole picture. Maybe they should have done a "for the fandom" documentary OR the crash course on what FiM is and why it spawned the following it did for the pony layman. Also, take out the creepy psychologists spouting off theory and struggling to label the community culture. Ultimately I think the tone comes off really awkward -- there is so much cool stuff they could have highlighted outside of some random bronies and the convention -- stuff that makes the culture shine as it spills over into everyday life. Maybe showing off legit pony graffiti or signs of pony impact on other fandoms, a huge collaborative art project, or a meetup? Maybe more about the community's charity work? How about parents connecting with their kids instead of treating it like something awkward? I know we kind of had that with the kid visiting the con with his mum and "conservative" father. How about a daughter connecting with her father as they watched the show together?

This movie wasn't bad, but I can see why it's getting a lot of odd looks. With better editing I really think this could champion what our community is about without all the awkward.

[LyraXHarp]

Everyone always told me we were depicted as perverts in this. I haven't gotten around to watching it yet...I just want to know if there is any truth to that claim?

[SteelEagle]

Everyone always told me we were depicted as perverts in this. I haven't gotten around to watching it yet...I just want to know if there is any truth to that claim?

No. There was a short segment near th start where they got outside views that weren't and clopping was mentioned once for a moment. 99.9999% of teh doc was overwhelmingly positive.

@Rose- when home, shall deploy text wall bomb against you!

[Hippo]

No. There was a short segment near th start where they got outside views that weren't and clopping was mentioned once for a moment. 99.9999% of teh doc was overwhelmingly positive.

@Rose- when home, shall deploy text wall bomb against you!

Well, the mark of a good documentary is one that speaks objectively, provides useful information, and then lets you decide for yourself. This documentary isn't really supposed to shine showers of positive things to say about bronies, but it does anyway, usually from the perspective of the people involved with the stories, so it fits. The worst documentaries are the ones that put propoganda and spins and stretchings of truth in order to make the viewer feel a certain way about it. This movie seems to be more neutral in the line of making you feel a certain way, which is good.

That said, there are people who think this movie is rubbish, and the things they see in the film convince them that the stereotypes are actually true with things like cosplay, nerdy guys and girls, and the ocassional glimps at the dark side of the fandom so they can say, "Ah ha! See, I told you they were pervs."

And lets not forget some of the things that do happen in this fandom that lots of people inside the fandom don't necessarily agree with, yet acknowledge and tolerate its existence. Case in point: (not in the documentary)

http://youtu.be/EO6c_htATck?t=28m45s

There's nothing wrong with acknowledging a bad light in the fandom. People who are going to be receptive to the movie, are most likely going to be people like us, people that desire a wide view angle and look at everything closely with understanding, before we cross judgement on an entire fandom because of a single unfiltered Google search.

[LegendaryEmerald]

I think as a documentary, it failed. The focus was all over the place, with characters dropping in and out seemingly at random. I can't see most people who aren't already bronies enjoying this film.

That said, if you are a brony, there's a lot to like. The doc certainly brought back a lot of fond memories of the convention livestreams for me, and the animated bits were very high quality. And all of the people who had focused placed on them seemed like good enough fellows, though I think the German couple might rival Sugarcube Corner for chief cause of equine diabetes.

Also, hearing an animated pony, even in a non-canon context, mention _that_ has to be one of the funnier moments in FiM history.

[elsporko]

I don't know if I will bother watching this. A documentary disconcerting the fans, good and bad parts and looking into why they are fans sounds very interesting. I am very much not interested in watching videos of people hanging out at conventions and talking about how awesome bronies are

[Hippo]

I don't know if I will bother watching this. A documentary disconcerting the fans, good and bad parts and looking into why they are fans sounds very interesting. I am very much not interested in watching videos of people hanging out at conventions and talking about how awesome bronies are

This is very valid. Not everyone likes to watch others. I think I'm that kind of guy that just likes to watch people. AND NOT because I'm a creeper, lol, but because I find the lives of others interesting, and always try to see things from other perspectives.

[RarityDash]

I wasn't going to, but Rosewind kinda forced me to watch this, so I did.

Hmm... I was skeptical going in. I wasn't sure this was a good idea from the start. For me though, this actually ended up kinda working. I like how it's a collection of personal stories and not some overreaching attempt at an overview of the fandom. I think most of the stories were worth telling and most of the people they talked to were likable enough. It was a good series of glimpses into the lives of people affected by the fandom. I think the convention focus also worked, especially given that was the entire scope of the project initially.

It did have some issues though, mostly when it did try and be more of an overview. I don't think the animation's categorizations are very strong, especially when the documentary itself doesn't care to explain what they are. The opening bits of explanation were also a bit clumsy and awkward. Some of the stories did get a little lost in the mix and the production values could have been better.

Overall, I'd call it a good film. Maybe not great, but entertaining enough and certainly not a bad picture of the fandom. I probably won't be re watching it much, but it was worth at least seeing. Better than I expected, I'd say.

[Th3WiseAssassin]

original:

does anyone know if there is a place where i could watch this online?

edit:

nevermind I was able to locate a few extra dollars to buy it can wait for it to finish downloading, but i could still use a place to watch the extras that dont come with the digital copy

another edit:

This was amazing and was well worth the $12.99 just make sure that you don't waste your available downloads because once they are gone you will need to buy more, but don't let that discourage you since you get

4 downloads of each quality (1080p, 720p, 480p).