# My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511 "2012-05-30T04:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/21 "2012-05-30T11:34:18Z")
I’m still mystified my this whole MLP thing. Eventually I’ll get some time to take a peek, but I’m scared. Meanwhile, I’d like to drop **Adventure Time** down as one of the best cartoons on the air right now. Maybe ever. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/22 "2012-05-30T20:17:22Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > God help me for asking this, but… linky? Sure thing. Take a look at the numbers in this scene: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1C0HuaZLM8#t=10m28s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1C0HuaZLM8#t=10m28s) It’s very low-key. Twilight, the alpha geek, is wearing the number 42 for the race. The _Spinal Tap_ reference is more dodgy, but Rainbow Dash, the pegasus with a rock leitmotif and a tendency to excess…goes to 11. If the show didn’t also have nods to Star Wars, possible Potter puns hidden in Greek etymology, and an utterly shattered fourth wall, I would be more inclined to dismiss it. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/23 "2012-05-31T02:30:05Z")
It also opened The Cutie Pox with a Big Lebowski shout out. I think one thing not mentioned in this thread that is a big plus is its music. It’s super catchy. I like that there are well-developed female characters that are all different from each other, but also that they’re not perfect and all have flaws and work through them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/24 "2012-05-31T05:06:54Z")
I do standup comedy and tape my big sets, but of course when you’re your own cameraman you sometimes don’t cut it as nicely as you want. For instance, I have an MP4 right now with about 7.5 minutes of footage I want, but an extra couple of minutes on the beginning and end I don’t want. I just want to trim that off. What can I use? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/25 "2012-05-31T07:00:32Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Sure thing. Take a look at the numbers in this scene: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1C0HuaZLM8#t=10m28s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1C0HuaZLM8#t=10m28s) > > It’s very low-key. Twilight, the alpha geek, is wearing the number 42 for the race. The _Spinal Tap_ reference is more dodgy, but Rainbow Dash, the pegasus with a rock leitmotif and a tendency to excess…goes to 11. If the show didn’t also have nods to Star Wars, possible Potter puns hidden in Greek etymology, and an utterly shattered fourth wall, I would be more inclined to dismiss it. About the fourth wall. Aside from Pinkie Pie, who obviously is bound by no law of nature or pony, what other 4th wall breaches have there been? What are the possible Potter puns\* hidden in Greek etymology? \*Always alliterate allocutions. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/26 "2012-05-31T07:29:10Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > What are the possible Potter puns\* hidden in Greek etymology? The wizard Starswirl the Bearded(hairy), inventor of the amnio(pot)morphic spell. IOW, a hairy potter ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/27 "2012-05-31T07:30:41Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Bronies, though, seem to go on and on and ON about it. Its like the show suddenly becomes 110% of their identity. I could care less if someone likes something. If a 35 year old guy wants to spend all his time watching, blogging, and fan-ficcing MLP more power to him. But folks like this get a creepy obsession and the need to divulge every detail about the show to people. I think it’s perception bias, you only know they are bronies when they are talking about MLP, so you wrongly perceive they are obsessed about it 24/7 ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/28 "2012-05-31T07:31:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Twilight Sparkle is secretly murdering other ponies and hiding the body parts or something like that. Not Twilight, but google MLP “cupcakes” if you dare. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/29 "2012-05-31T12:50:59Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I think one thing not mentioned in this thread that is a big plus is its music. It’s super catchy. The show’s composer Daniel Ingram has been nominated for [2 Emmy Awards](http://www.straight.com/article-682326/vancouver/vancouver-composer-daniel-ingram-scores-two-emmy-nominations-bronies-go-wild), for ‘Becoming Popular’ and ‘Find A Pet’ (the linked article has youtube embeds of the songs). Also, the episode The Perfect Swarm is an obvious tribute to Star Trek’s The Trouble With Tribbles. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/30 "2012-05-31T13:20:53Z")
> [@Mr.Me](#): > > The show’s composer Daniel Ingram has been nominated for [2 Emmy Awards](http://www.straight.com/article-682326/vancouver/vancouver-composer-daniel-ingram-scores-two-emmy-nominations-bronies-go-wild), for ‘Becoming Popular’ and ‘Find A Pet’ (the linked article has youtube embeds of the songs). Yep… and that’s not even his best stuff… "The Day ‘Aria’ " in the season 2 finale is puts most of the Disney animated films’ music to shame. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/31 "2012-05-31T14:00:04Z")
Thirty-two-year-old male here. I myself don’t get it. I watched one episode with my girlfriend when it was on, and found it only mildly interesting. The animation is pretty good, I’ll admit, but otherwise, it looked to me just like another kid’s cartoon. If there was any subtle adult humor in it, I missed it. This thread has fallen victim to other threads I’ve seen on the internet where people ask why MLP has such a large following of adult males. “It’s a _really_ good show!” seems to be the only answer. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/32 "2012-05-31T16:09:36Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > This thread has fallen victim to other threads I’ve seen on the internet where people ask why MLP has such a large following of adult males. “It’s a _really_ good show!” seems to be the only answer. …Really? > [@Bosstone](#): > > I believe the current My Little Pony got hyped all out of proportion to the other childrens’ shows due to the cognitive dissonance of guys liking what was firmly established for the last 20 years as a little girls’ show. The actual show may not be of any greater quality than other decent cartoons out there, but it got kind of a slingshot effect due to how far back it sat in the public consciousness beforehand. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Besides the other reasons mentioned here, I’ve felt that it has the advantage of not being a grim, cynical, gritty, despairing “grimdark” show at a point in time where shows like that have become common to the point of many people being tired of them. > [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I think one thing not mentioned in this thread that is a big plus is its music. It’s super catchy. > > I like that there are well-developed female characters that are all different from each other, but also that they’re not perfect and all have flaws and work through them. I mean, _really_? I don’t care if you don’t like the show. I severely dislike evangelists of all stripes and I think this show has more than the average which bothers me. If you don’t like it, more power to you. But don’t make things up and ignore facts in order to reinforce your own opinion. It’s a reasonably well-written show with attractive animation and music. It’s funny and at times clever. And because it’s coming out of a known crappy girly merchandising property, its non-suckiness is all the more remarkable. How that translates into people only being able to say “It’s a _really_ good show” baffles me, unless you’re intent on making it out like people who like the show are idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/33 "2012-05-31T17:45:24Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > …Really? > > I mean, _really_? > > I don’t care if you don’t like the show. I severely dislike evangelists of all stripes and I think this show has more than the average which bothers me. If you don’t like it, more power to you. But don’t make things up and ignore facts in order to reinforce your own opinion. > > It’s a reasonably well-written show with attractive animation and music. It’s funny and at times clever. And because it’s coming out of a known crappy girly merchandising property, its non-suckiness is all the more remarkable. > > How that translates into people only being able to say “It’s a _really_ good show” baffles me, unless you’re intent on making it out like people who like the show are idiots. Overreact much? Me not caring for the show and me wondering why it’s so popular are two completely different things. “It’s a well-written show” tells me _nothing_. But if you were to say, “It has a lot of risqué adult humor I find funny in addition to childish humor and life lessons my 8-year-old daughter can enjoy,” then that’s a much more qualitative statement. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/34 "2012-05-31T17:46:47Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Overreact much? Hey, make easily disproven statements and they’ll be easily disproven. Really, if you’ve seen it and you don’t like it, I don’t have much of an interest in trying to persuade you. This is true of anything. I’m not going to break down a critical analysis when bullshitting online; if you asked me why I liked the show Castle I’d tell you because it has witty writing and likeable characters, which isn’t any more substantial than what you get here. But those are still reasons why I think it’s a good show. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/35 "2012-06-01T00:19:40Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > “It’s a well-written show” tells me _nothing_. Which is why Bosstone went into more details and quoted Fair Rarity and Der Trihs who themselves went into more details than that. You try to make it appear that Bosstone only said “It’s a well-written show” when anypony who’s actually bothered to read his post can see that he said more than that and quoted others saying more than that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/36 "2012-06-01T03:54:08Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > This thread has fallen victim to other threads I’ve seen on the internet where people ask why MLP has such a large following of adult males. “It’s a _really_ good show!” seems to be the only answer. First, “It’s a _really_ good show!” should be lots of points in its favor. Second, where did you find MLP:FIM fans who could keep their responses to a single sentence? The ones I know, and my home is infested with them, including one who met her sorta fiance through it, will talk for hours about why MLP has such a large following of adult males. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/37 "2012-06-01T10:34:33Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > anypony _reels back, flinging cape over face protectively_ **HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS** ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/38 "2012-06-01T13:09:16Z")
The show does that relentlessly. If it’s not changing common phrases for horse terms (“on the other hoof”, etc) it’s making a terrible horse pun out of a location name (Manehattan, Cloudsdale). It’s hard to watch umpteen hours of it and not assimilate it. I can’t read Hornblower-style fiction without having Georgian phrasings leak into my speech for a week or two, either. As for my two bits, the show has likable characters with life and dimension to them, fantastic art and animation, pretty good music, a huge amount of attention paid to world-crafting, and reasonably good, if fairly generic, episode plots. That’s enough on its own, but I think that the mood of the show is what really sets the hook for its cross-demographic appeal. It’s got a hard-core optimism, that everyone’s life can be good if people are just decent to each other. That’s not special; every kid’s show is happy-joy idyllic bliss. The difference is that the ponies’ world is not sterilized. There are mortal dangers everywhere and even quiet, out-of-the-way Ponyville deals with existential threats on a regular basis. The ponies don’t have their cooperative worldview because they never encounter any problems, but because they -do-. When a natural disaster hits them, they don’t start looting, they start working together to make things better. Because of that, the optimism doesn’t feel naive, but like something that could actually work. Add in some tolerance and pro-science themes, and it’s pretty much tailor-made to grab geeks by the heartstrings. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/39 "2012-06-01T15:12:10Z")
> [@Mekhazzio](#): > > It’s hard to watch umpteen hours of it and not assimilate it…As for my two bits… I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511/40 "2012-06-01T15:42:48Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I’m still mystified my this whole MLP thing. Eventually I’ll get some time to take a peek, but I’m scared. > > Meanwhile, I’d like to drop **Adventure Time** down as one of the best cartoons on the air right now. Maybe ever. Agree about Adventure Time, my sons and I love it, but we also find Regular Show to be just as funny and entertaining, albeit obviously more lowbrow. Amazing World of Gumball also gets regular rotation from us (The Silence Snake episode is awesome). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/623511.md?page=1)