My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Article: Top 5 Reasons My Little Pony is Overrated, and That's OK

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Top 5 Reasons My Little Pony is Overrated, and That's OK

posted by btflash

The show that defined an entire generation of not simply adults, but people, is actually not as good as you think it is.

I, going back to my roots of... let's say a year ago, am going to be the asshat that tells you why. I do this mostly because I was inspired by a really shitty article I found while lazily scrolling through facebook.

Not saying it's a bad thing to watch this show, of course. I'd be a hell of a hypocrite for saying that, and even I know it.

I'm also not claiming this show is bad. I'm just being an idiot and claiming it's not AS good as it's hyped up to be.
(these are also not in any kind of order of importance or anything because I'm too lazy to decide on stuff like that).

5. Right Place, Right Time

Let's be honest, the entire brony phenomenon was the result of an accident in the first place. The only reason the show blew up as much as it did was because some idiots on 4chan decided to piss off the wrong mods by posting the wrong images in the wrong places at the wrong times.

You can, of course, claim that the show may have still blown up without the intervention of a bunch of autists. Hell, I don't know, I'm not a damn time traveller with some knowledge of alternate timelines

The show, while having some interesting writing at certain points, is still a kid's show at the end of the day. The only reason people took it seriously is because the right people reacted in the right ways. A fandom slowly grew that cried out "Try our show! It's not bad, we promise, we're not ignoring blatant flaws with it!"

Fandoms in general, not just bronies, have a tendency to outright ignore any flaws in the objects of their interest. At the same time, they hoist it up on a pedestal that no other media, to them, could ever reach. In doing so, they blow their media out of proportion, making it look better than it actually is, and any future installments in the series in question is usually defended by nostalgia. You look back on where the series has been and you say to yourself "I still like this" no matter what kind of shit you watch in the future.

4. Platform Against Grain

One major reason this show is popular is very much a similar tactic that led Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination here in America.

Have a controversial fact, and take ADVANTAGE of it.
Stop me if these two statements seem somewhat similar.

"I'm gonna be the first woman President!"
"I'm gonna be the first girl kid's show that's not shit!"

The funny part here is how they're both related to females. Yes, that does sound sexist but I'm not changing it now.

What we have here is a platform that involves a change of pace. Something different. You can also say it's similar to how Obama became president, but now we're getting a tad too political up in here.

In addition to 4chan blowing this show UP, there was the precedent of millions of fully grown males thinking to themselves "Wait, I'm watching ponies... and I like it?"
Despite what I've been saying, this show is indeed good. That surprised a LOT of people. It was a fact worthy of news coverage. A girly kids show that wasn't shit.

However, this soon became kind of backwards because this then resulted in the adult male audience of this show heavily outweighing the young female audience and this show became less of a kids show.

That didn't stop us from using that excuse for the writing, though.

Tell me if you've heard this one before.

"Of course the writing is dumbed down, it's a kid's show!"

Seems less powerful these days, doesn't it?

3. Dumbed Down

I'm not the first person to say this, but if you're treating a show like it's God, it deserves to be treated at the same level as one.

The show's writing is childish.
You can, of course, say that it's meant to come off as childish because that's the target audience and that's part of the charm. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that there's an entire analysis COMMUNITY that reviews the show on an episodic basis.

If a show is meant to be taken this seriously, I feel like the writing meant for children shouldn't really be excused THAT much. I'm not saying the show is stupid-levels of childish in the way of writing, but I'm definitely not saying that the writing is PROFOUND in any stretch of the imagination.

(although I'm seriously going to come off as a hypocrite because I am an inexperienced as hell writer)

The writings, good, yeah, but it's not shakespeare levels of good.

2. Cutting Cookies

Although the characters of this show have gotten plenty of development over time, at the time of the show's creation the main cast was very stereotypical.

Twilight - Bookworm
Rarity - fashionista
Fluttershy - Shy
Pinkie Pie - Comic Relief
Rainbow Dash - Tomboy
Applejack - Country Girl

Gonna be honest, kiiind of stretching for this one since this article started out as a personal joke of mine that kind of got out of hand because I was bored, but the character creation of this show isn't exactly groundbreaking stuff, people.

1. Different Strokes

Not everyone's gonna like this show. Obviously, we've gotten to the point in our fandom where we accept that on a regular basis. However, every fandom thinks their object of affection is better than it actually is.

Part of liking something (or someone) is accepting them for their strengths and weaknesses, and not everyone's gonna hash with what we're hashing with.

For a closing statement, I love this show. From episode to episode I find plenty of stuff that I consider "not good" (pretty sure triq can vouch for me on that one), but at the end of the day I still like it. That's what being a fan is all about.

Over the years, though, the nostalgia has kind of worn off, and I've come to accept that the thing I love has issues, and it's not AS good as I once thought it was. That's not gonna stop me from loving it, but it's best to accept something than simply ignore it.

candylover246 and Seanthehedgehog like this

triq267 >can confirm bt thinks the show is "not good" and that the fans are "a bunch of autists" or something like that

Canada24 I don't even really watch it anymore

candylover246 What ISN'T overrated these days lmao But hey why use the term 'autistic' as smth derogatory that's not cool man :v

triq267 "autistic" - relating to or affected by autism. One of the symptoms of autism, from the Mayo Clinic- Cognitive: intense interest in a limited number of things The way bt used "autists" isn't necessarily derogatory. An "autist" is someone who is "autistic" and "autistic" is something relating to "autism", and you can't even argue that many (if not most) horsepeople display the symptom of autism I've pointed out. Just because there are people who use a word derogatorily does not mean every instance of it is derogatory.

btflash Yeah for one thing, I don't often use autistic as an offensive term. Considering I actually have friends that have different forms of autism, that would be doing them a massive disservice. I don't know much about 4chan, but one thing I've heard is that the majority of them are self-proclaimed autists. If I'm wrong, sue me, but I think what IS wrong is thinking that every usage of the word "autism" is instantly derogatory. Like I said, I know many people with different forms of autism. My brother, in fact, has been diagnosed with Asbergers. I don't want to glamorize autism, but the people I know that live every day with it are pretty awesome people. Also, I made this shit at 3 in the goddamn morning, and I did not expect it to become a conversation about autism.

Windrises The show may be overrated, but Equestria Girls is underrated.

candylover246 Uh I know what autism is??? So like this isn't meant to start anything but quickly referring to 'autists' when referring to those we hold in low standars, or idiots on the Internet to be more specific, isn't exactly the best manner to inset 'autists' in, nor is it necessary. This isn't to say that 'autists'/'autistic'/'autists' or any other variations of the term can *never* be mentioned, nor am i in no way trying to get the point across that 'autist' is a forbidden taboo word or anything, however it's a very sensitive topic and could easily be taken as an offense if someone who actually has/knows someone who has autism if the term is thrown around loosely everywhere. Honestly i've seen way WAY too many instances where 'autist' or 'autistic' actually *has* been utilized as derogatory insults or in inappropriate situations and it's one of the most annoying & idiotic things i've seen. Tossing the term 'autist' around like nothing, while not necessarily derogatory, still holds some level of crudeness to a degree. Even *if* 'autist' isn't utilized as something degrading every single moment,, the fact that it was referenced in a derogatory situation doesn't make it suddenly out of the clear?? Idk *maybe* i'm just like this b/c i know a handful of ppl w/ autism.. i'm pretty sure 90%+ of us here know at least someone with autism. I'm not an expert on 4chan but i do know enough about it to say that's it's one huge cesspool and i wouldn't lump in anything related to autism (or any other disorders) near it or its users. But what IS rude is to just throw around 'autist' when describing any experiences with derogatory people met through the Internet. Plus this even an autism chat w/ like.. 3 comments abt it. I mean it doesn't *have* to be one. Now i'm sure that instance wasn't meant to degrade anyone w/ autism and if it sounded like i did imply so then excuse me for that,,, i'm just trying to later up some misconceptions this time around. // Ah crap this got super long again damn //

btflash No one said you didn't know what autism is. Evasive language isn't going to stop anything. The fact that the word "autist" is such a sensitive word is kind of the problem, honestly. Autists are people, too. They're people that have autism. What else are we supposed to call them? 4chan is well known for being self-proclaimed autists. What's wrong with that? When I described people on 4chan as autists, I believe you made an assumption that I meant it offensively. I will agree, my usage of the word "Autist" was not entirely necessary. If anything, it's nothing more than flavor text. However, I saw no reason to not use the word at the time, because I don't consider that word a sensitive/offensive word. Just because you have been in situations where that word has been used in a derogatory manner, does not mean that tossing the word around is crude. If anything, that only means your viewpoint on the word has been altered to the point where YOU see it that way. You're assuming that associating 4chan with autism is a bad thing. I just observed the association matter-of-factly and didn't even bring that much attention to the observation.

candylover246 *sigh* Alright look.. That part wasn't directed at you,, it was for your friend over there. Probably should've specified it but wtv Autists being humans is as universally obvious as the fact that the Earth is round. It isn't so much as the term 'autist' / 'autistic' being a sensitive forbidden word, it's *how* it's used and in what type of circstances it's being used. As i said, being around 4chan for some time will be enough to tell you that a bunch of idiots hang around there and can get as bad as listening to an sjw rant abt their BS on Tumblr. Personally i wouldn't use 'autist' to the users on 4chan but hey i can't control my surroundings so in the end does it really matter what i say?? Buddy over 60% of the word 'autism' is tossed around the Internet is derogatory, specifically to insult another person's intelligence. *someone states an unpopular opinion* "LMA0 UR STUPID UR MUST BE AUTISTIC!!1!" *somebody defends someone w/ different taste* "autism intensifies" Or how about when they use dyslexia in a derogatory manner as well? *someone has some issues reading quickly* "haha that person's dsylexic they can't even read lol" P.S. i'm not making this up there are actually people who say stupid stuff like that And yes, it's as you said,, this is simply my view on the matter which has been shaped by my beliefs & personal experiences. Same as with yours and everyone else's so is there really any reason for this to escalate into any possible animosity between users here??? I honestly do not come here to cause WWIII or wtv nor to come off as a huge b*tch who can't take different views b/c that srsly not the case here. I *did* state in my previous comment some sort of apology if i came off as overly judgmental but i'm not going to say "omg i;m so sorry for saying everything i said plz forgive me!! ;;;" b/c that's just all it is.. my personal view formed by my experiences

triq267 >your friend over there I have a name, y'know. And I also never said you didn't know what autism was. I was simply using the exact definitions to justify bt's use of the term. It wasn't intended to be new information. Similar to mathematical proofs, I would expect you to know what I'm talking about, I simply intended to show the flow of ideas to justify what was said. Also, maybe don't use the fact that the Earth is round as your example of "obvious", because as true as it is, there are still a number of people who would argue that fact with you. 4chan users call themselves autists. That's just objective fact. There's nobody trying to control anything here, so please don't get all "does it really matter what i say??" Finally, I don't see any animosity between anyone. This is simply a discussion. No ill will has been shared between parties. This isn't a fight.

candylover246 Generally speaking i hardly ever mention any other users by name unless speaking directly to them except if i've known them for a some time that's just how it is at first honestly,,, Either way it's not unexpected to interpret it as such when i can't see the real intentions of something, like... The 'Earth being round' was simply an anology to how obvious both cases are, because they are. The round Earth statement *is* obvious, it's a true fact that's been proven and those who fail to accept such a universally known concept are in denial and shouldn't even be bothered with. It doesn't matter how hard they try to justify their reasoning unless they have groundbreaking proof strong enough to overthrow all past evidence (tho it's highly unlikely). Tho this isn't a major point here so i'll just,, leave it at that..? ... Have you guys ever been to 4chan before? Specifically when it breaks out and there's some huge flame war going on?? No srsly i'm genuinely curious. Because by how it normally is i wouldn't put it past it that many of those users are falsely claiming to be autists purely to gain some sort of attention / or 'just cuz'. Some of them *might* be possibly be autists however not everyone that claims to be autistic is actually autistic. IIRC i said "i can't control my surroundings" not anyone's arguments nor the situation at hand. Hm I think that's something relative to each person instead of something objective. Ofc i'm not saying that there is any personal conflict between anyone here but i did state my desire to avoid any *possible* animosity and, if it gets too bad, any ill will. A debate is fine although if it manages to last over 2+ pages then it just becomes p pointless. My only hope is it doesn't get to that point in this case since in majority of Internet discussions it become flame wars even w/o realizing it.

triq267 >those who fail to accept such a universally known concept this is an oxymoron but that's not as important as the fact that you've missed the point I was making about what constitutes an example of the "obvious" PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF The timing on this question is just too perfect. buttpoke up there should get why. But the answer is yes. I do browse 4chan. And yeah many of the self-proclaimed autists on 4chan aren't diagnosed with autism. But it's not to get attention or, as you put it, "just cuz". It's quite often because of exactly what I was saying before, that by definition an "autist" does not necessarily need to be someone diagnosed with autism, it can also be used to refer to someone who is displaying autistic behaviors. As for the last point, really in this case the only way animosity would be possible is if you felt animosity towards me or bt, because as stated before I don't hold any hostility towards you at all and unless bt got real sensitive to people not liking his word choice all of a sudden then I don't think he does either. As such, I really don't see a problem in continued discussion, at least not in the sense of needing to avoid conflict. Not that I'm saying I would expect that of you of course. In regards to length, I don't see any reason limits should be placed, so long as it isn't devolving into a back-and-forth with no real expansion on the topic from any participants. Flame wars, also, require anger or abusive speech between involved parties, so I would assume that there's nothing to worry about in that regard with this discussion.

candylover246 The term obvious, meaning something that's easily understood & is evident to nearly everyone, does seem to fit in this case. I honestly don't see how there's anything contradictory abt it?? I mean the whole 'Earth is round' thing has basically been embraced as the truth by basically everyone thus making it self apparent proved by the evidence discovered to prove it (i.e. obvious) But the thing is,, majority of the times someone isn't officially diagnosed with something and is purely self claimed does not actually have that disorder. Same with autism. Even if someone does show some autistic tendencies does not equate to them being autistic. Ofc the symptoms for autism are spread out into a huge range & can vary however having only some of those symptoms doesn't make them an actual autist, especially when the case is about some users on the Internet. It's as if someone who gets gets nervous before a presentation or someone who is easily irritable means they have anxiety disorder; although it's more probable that they do not & simply happen to have few symptoms of it w/o having said disorder. Then again i haven't been to 4chan in a while since then so idk if the whole '4chan users self proclaim themselves as autists' thing is still ongoing. Ahh crap i guess i let it get to me then Honestly,, no. I don't feel any animosity or ill will towards any of you either. Hell not even from anyone on this site and even with those i have gotten into actual conflict with i no longer hold any grudge against them. It's all simply a personal constant worry in the back of my mind that there's some form of /imaginary/ animosity coming from the other participant, even in simple debates that have no reason for any antagonism at all. It's probably the effect of having experiencing so much of it even when it feels like it was all a 'friendly debate' and i just.. ... Actually why am i even sharing this nobody cares this is stupid forget this last point

triq267 "self apparent proved by the evidence discovered to prove it" right there, oxymoron. something which is self-evident by definition should not need to be explained. in other words, it needs no evidence. And this is why I gave my explanation on definitions earlier. By definition, "being autistic" and "having autism" are two different things. one is a behavior, the other a diagnosis. To use your own example, it's the same as someone "being anxious" versus "having anxiety". And like see you did the thing. The "write something out, change your mind, and then instead of getting rid of it say 'why am i even sharing this nobody cares this is stupid forget this' thing. Like, I completely understood where you were coming from, I've felt that way before too. The imagined animosity thing, I mean. If you want to provide context on why you feel that way, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine too. But please don't get all 'nobody cares this is stupid'. Like c'mon, give yourself some credit that what you say will be fine without having to give some retraction in the same post. That's why we can delete and re-type things, and even edit in this case. So that we can be sure we've voiced ourselves to what we believe is the best we can.

candylover246 That's.. i still don't see your point tbh. Honestly there rly isn't such a thing that exists *without* a reason, that reason needing proof to be explained in order to be completely understood. Even the most basic of things that exist have been studied & have had to be proved in order for us to comprehend those basic concepts and use our knowledge of said things in order to understand more complicated things. Simply b/c something might be regarded as "self-evident" doesn't mean it has NO evidence at all, it just means its evidence is easier to comprehend by a wider range of people. Also having 2 contradictory words in a statement doesn't contradict the main point; an oxymoron can be used to *make* a point. Well if that's the case,, shouldn't it make more sense to say "being autistic-like" or "having autistic-like qualities" instead? It would clear the misconception thinking straight away someone is actually autistic due to "being autistic". The difference w/ using "anxious" as well is that being anxious is an emotion; it's more common experiencing anxiety without someone having being diagnosed with anxiety. No no, you see.. it WAS stupid. Like srsly tho,, no one *actually* cares abt this so there's honestly no point in writing out an essay about it. I meant it to be a reason as for *why* there's this lingering feeling of imagined animosity so it would not sound like baseless rambling however when it started to get kinda personal that's when it started to become off-topic. Ofc it's extremely hard to explain why without getting a little personal (still struggle to this day) but even then better not write abt it then go off on a tangent. As for the end i just didn't care enough to fix it so i just left it at that. tl;dr: Majority of times in a discussion i tend to feel imagined animosity however if it's explained that there actually is none then i get less wary and can focus more on the topic at hand (such as now)

triq267 >i literally used the dictionary definition of "self-evident" no, it wouldn't, because it'd be redundant. "autistic" already implies that something is "autism-like". as for anxiousness, what matters is not what the condition itself is, but the use of it. anxious is an adjective used both to describe a behavior, and a condition. the same goes for autistic vs autism. good to know.

candylover246 Providing the definition for the term doesn't *fully* explain how my previous statement was contradictory enough to invalidate the main point here. Tbh this entire endless loop hasn't really added anything to what "obvious" actually means, which came from the 'Earth is round' statement, which came from an analogy of how it's clear how autists are people too, which originated from the usage of the word 'autists' in this case. Simply using 'being autistic' doesn't make any more sense honestly.. it's easier to assume the misconception that someone is *actually* an autist if it's said just like that. If someone were to simply say "that person's /being/ autistic" the first thing to pop into the mind would be mistakenly thinking said person actually has autism,, thus further blurring the line between 'acting autistic' and 'having autism'. Ofc i don't mean to include the "-like" part all the time, but it is easier to discern the difference at least. The issue is that "anxious" is an emotion. Someone can feel anxious but not have anxiety disorder, however someone can't "feel" autistic since it's not an emotion; they can however experience some autistic tendencies.

triq267 Fair, the whole "what does it mean to be 'obvious'" debate is probably unnecessary for the discussion, so although I do have more to say on the subject, I'll drop it so we can stick with the more important part. And see, therein lies the problem. The mistaken idea you've mentioned. Yes, it's entirely understandable that some people will mistakenly take use of the adjective describing the condition as an indicator of the presence of said condition. But in that case, does fault fall to the author, who should have predicted the reader's mistake, or to the reader, for making the mistake. Although I believe a writer should generally try to predict mistakes a reader could make so as to avoid them, I would say that, if fault lies with anyone, which even then is not necessarily so, then it lies with the reader. As for "anxious" being an emotion, I mean you're not wrong. However, that changes nothing. What type of thing the word is is not important, what is important is the part of speech. It's an adjective. It describes qualities. It's not about "feeling", it's about "being". You can "be autistic" without "having autism", you can "be anxious" without "having anxiety", you can "be depressed" without "having depression", you can "be controlling" without "having control", you can "be manic" without "having mania"... etc.

candylover246 K. Fair points. Good to hear. Not trying to be rude or anything but like,, no one's actually "in the wrong" here so it's basically just a difference of views on the same matter tbh Honestly i've been having some irl issues going on atm + it's near the end of the school year so it's been getting more intense so i don't really have the time or 'leisure' to keep up w/ this anymore,, which is why my replies have been getting slower & slower each time. If circumstances were different i'd probably still go along with this but i just can't see it happening currently. Anyway i won't be getting on this site as much anymore so i guess i'ma drop out on this one. https://postimg.org/image/87pwav2j7/

triq267 Yeah no I get that at the end of the day it simply comes down to a difference in what we think of the issue. And I completely understand real life taking precedence over a debate with some dude on the internet. Go on, best of luck both with your schoolwork and whatever the other issues are. This discussion's definitely been a good one though. Have a nice day.

candylover246 Mhm yea it'd be boring if everyone thought the same way tbh Thanks,, i mean it rly wasn't a bad debate after all OK i'm out for real now :v

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Awesome pony pics

added by NocturnalMirage

Source: facebook, joyreactor, EQD

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Awesome pony pics

added by NocturnalMirage

Source: EQD, joyreactor, deviantart

Awesome pony pics

added by NocturnalMirage

Source: original owners, EQD, tumblr, joyreactor

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MLP FiM human male version

added by MKlovesBoog

Source: Zerochan

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types twilight sparkle

added by purplevampire

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My Little Pony Colouring Sheets - Twilight Sparkle

added by 2436racbuc

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My Little Pony Colouring Sheets - Nightmare Rarity

added by 2436racbuc

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Fluttershy

added by Hairity

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Crystal Ponies

added by Tawnyjay

Source: Rightful Owners on DeviantART

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AppleBloom

added by sweet_cream

Source: Mlp:fim wiki

Rainbow dash

added by Seanthehedgehog

Source: me (sorta)

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squishy_princess cadence

added by purplevampire

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Fluttershy

added by noahnstar1616

Source: Not me...

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Akatsuki Ponies

added by hidan141

Source: deviantART

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Cupcakes 2 : Apple Bloom's Revenge (if you dont like cupcakes, dont read this)

posted by clancker1223

Silver Spoon suddenly woke up. She was on her back and couldn’t move. She couldn’t see. Where was she? Freaking out, she was just about to scream when the pony from the bakery appeared in front of her.

“Hi!” she giggled.

“Where am I, what’s going on?” The frightened little filly asked.
    “Oh, well, you see, your number came up and I gotta make cupcakes.” Pinkie explained
    “W…wha…what does that mean? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing. I wouldn’t...