This is a legitimate question for adult, male fans of the show. Seriously, its not sarcastic or anything negitave at all so please dont get on the defensive. Anyway, ive always been somewhat confused, but then over in the "what annoys you" thread someone mentioned something like "when people dont like MLP FIM because its a girl show" and now I just have to ask.

For adult males, what is the appeal? I watch the show with my daughter, and its pretty good, for kids, (and as my wife agreed) for girls. But not in a way that I (28 year old, guy) would want to put pics as my sig and avatar or buy the toys. I am VERY open minded and will admit to liking all kinds of "kids" shows, but can always think of justifications as to why an adult would like the show. But with My Little Pony, I just dont get it. I want to give it the benifit of the doubt and think thats maybe there is something I am missing? So if anyone could enlighten me, it would be great. And like I said, im not asking to poke fun or judge, im just a very curious person, its just my nature, I like to know "how and why". Thanks!

Also want to add that I am not sexest in the least bit. I know guys and girls can like things that are "supposedly" ment for the oppisit sex, and I dont like it when the kids are givin a hard time about it. I know that people are people and may like whatever they want. But in this particuar case, I just dont see the appeal of My Little Pony to male adults.

(sorry about all the precautions, I just want this to be a friendly conversation and I know how some people can be)

 

Look, I swore I'd never watch it. I thought it would suck. Then I watched it, and I fell in love with it. The story is deeper than I expected. It's rich in backstory. Second, the characters! They are just so lovable. Twilight and Pinkie especially. Plus, the voice acting is spot on. Anything Tara Strong is a part of deserves a watch. Plus, after the vast disappointment of Prime, I needed something good from the HUB. Now, I do not buy the toys. I'm more of a casual Brony. But I still love the show.

 

First of all, thanks for being open minded. Always appreciated  

I can't speak for all of the fandom, and there are certainly others who can speak far better than I can, but here's something I posted quite a while ago.

 

For me at least I like the show because its so different from what I'm use to watching. Plus I was raise with a genderless view on life, I don't see why any guy can't like a girl's show. Also some characters are very relatable for exsample I'm very shy and I love animals just like Fluttershy! Hopefully this answers your question.

 

Short answer: It makes me LOL like it's supposed to and looks purty.

Long answer: My brain works in a very artsy way when it comes to animation. As such, I'll generally enjoy a cartoon for how it contributes to animation as an art form on the whole, which Friendship is Magic does on several levels. For one, it pushes the boundaries of what flash animation can do. If you watched an episode without knowing it was done in flash, there'd be no way of knowing. The animation is exceptional, throughout the series, with errors being very few and only noticeable if you're looking for them. Second, it features a predominantly female cast that is well written and breaks female character cliches. In fact, more often than not, the male characters are the ones who get the shaft when it comes to development and complexity, which for someone who watches a lot of cartoons, serves as a wonderful subversion of conventions. Thirdly, it's refreshingly devoid of cynicism. So many cartoons, in an attempt to appeal to adults, end up injecting a lot of cynical elements, thinking that makes the show more mature, which is not necessarily true. Friendship is Magic has none of that. It's lighthearted through and through. It serves as a pick-me-up from the bleakness not only of our own lives, but of the large majority of other media we consume. And fourthly, it's funny as hell without devolving into crude humor.

 

Thats cool, all of your answers definitly make sence. Thanks guys! Maybe ill have to watch it with the perspective that you guys have mentioned. In fact, my daughter is watching it right now!

 

Fact: The guys on the MLP:FiM forum actually asked me to past this here. I've never felt so needed.  

For whatever reson, the videos won't embed here, so here's a link to the origional post with embedded videos: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/movie...le-pony-friendship-magic-374.html#post6659539

 

My pants need changed from the awesomeness of the SW ending.

 

If you post on mlp forums, do females react the same way when we find out that there are females on these boards? I mean how do they react when they find out a grown man is posting on a forum about a show aimed at little girls?

 

Sadly, I'm fairly certain male fans outnumber female fans on the Internet. Scary thought, right?

 

No sir, thank you for listening to us and not calling us weird or insulting us.

Certainly for Friendship is Magic (or at least the males are more vocal), but if you go back to the older generations then you find less and less guys interested in them. We have a poster here who is into the older stuff and has been around the MLP fandom for longer than the rest of us, he might shed some light onto this...

 

As a parent of a little girl, my alarms are ringing at the thought of grown men posting in forum like that. unfortunately, nowadays, you what you just stated isn't true any longer.

 

Do you worry about younger female members posting on boards like TFW, where the members are mostly men? It's the Internet. I understand your concern, but problems like you're thinking of are everywhere.

 

I'm pretty sure the females here get their fair share of guys constantly hitting on them.

 

I so know where you're coming from, dude! I've got to admit with the increasing amount of users on this site with MLP avatars and what not I became curious with whole MLP so I decided to watch the older version and to my surprise it was somewhat dark at least not as I had anticipated but I found the voices irritating but all in all it was the same thing that hindered me from watching this as a kid, my masculinity, plain and simple! I mean if I were to start watching this, where would I draw the line, why not try barbie and ken, totally spies or even Pokemon for that matter..ewwwww!

Like yourself, I simply can't see the appeal of MLP to male adults but to each his own!

 

honestly, i use to watch it as a kid, only because the "cool" cartoons weren't playing at the time. i don't even remember their names. i don't see the appeal of it either especially now. no offense to those who love it. collecting toys is another thing. it would be the same reason for guys who collect barbie dolls i guess.

but i'm more curious to how mothers, older sisters etc react when they find out a grown man probably in his 30s is posting in a forum about a show for little girls. these guys probably get their fair share of flaming in there or least angry private messages.

 

At this point, the brony phenomenon is so well known that I doubt many people would be surprised to see guys on a MLP board. I can see why parents of young girls might be a little freaked out, but internet-savvy people are probably expecting it.

 

We welcome guys! It's great to have guys on the forum, luckily no one is acting like a "brony". I mean the trolling 4chan type of brony. So nothing in the MLP forum has changed at all since bronies started joining. I think there are only like 4 of them anyway.  . And just like the girls here, no one shouts out "HEY I'M A DUDE". So you don't know who the bronies are mostly.

 

Do girls on MLP boards constantly hit on guys? Like here on TFW, only reversed?

 

I participate on an MLP forum that's been running for years, and actually the sense I get is that there aren't little girls on these forums. Maybe a few teens, but as far as I can tell they seem to be grown women, college students, moms, etc.

Im a dad, but I don't let my daughter "surf the Internet" or participate in online forums, maybe there are more parents than I thought that feel the same way about letting their pre teens online. For the record she hasnt expressed interest in it.