>>2520982To answer that question, I'll repost something I typed up for someone once.
I’ll explain in the best way I can why I watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, making the assumption that the reader is someone outside the fandom, and is either curious, concerned, or incredulous that I, or anyone else, could be drawn to a show like this, as if it flies in the face of logic or propriety. Everything you might think you know about this specific generation of the show, is wrong. This is not to any degree the same My Little Pony that we remember from the 80s or 90s. As completely vapid, insipid, and intellectually deficient as the brand has been the past 30 years, this particular incarnation is the exact opposite, and that’s what I’m watching. Not anything else, just this. Let’s just get it out of the way right now. Yes, this was, and still is supposed to be a cartoon marketed to sell toys to 4-7 year old girls, but it’s written for everyone’s enjoyment, and if you look at the finished product, you’d never imagine that something this good could be for a demographic that can barely form words, never mind comprehend even a mildly complex storyline, or appreciate the fantastically high quality voice acting, animation, music, and script writing. The show itself is produced mainly by people in their 30's and 40's, who grew up on Stars Wars, Star Trek, and other typically nerdy shows, so they know how to connect to an audience that you'd usually find on the internet, which is where the fandom kicked off and mainly exists. While this isn't always true, generally, the same people who would watch this show are the same people who would attend an anime or comic convention.
I've been watching this show for almost a year and a half now, and I’m still dumbfounded that so much effort and expertise would be put forth for a show that only exists to sell toys. Hasbro created Hasbro Studios a few years back, so they could bring excellent animation like this into existence. They insist that any project that is greenlit for production should make a great cartoon and toy, otherwise one would compromise the other. They also wanted this to be a show that parents could get into as well. Parents are far more likely to buy a toy for their kid if they are invested into the show even in the smallest amount. So really, when the show's creator, Lauren Faust, set out to prove that little girls could have a really great cartoon to call their own, she was a perfect fit with Hasbro. They wanted high quality animation, and she wanted to shatter the culture of dismissing the plausibility of girl's cartoons being anything other than garbage. What the world got was characters who bear real intelligence, personality, and meaning, and the extent of this caught the attention of those who are well outside the target demographic. All credit for the success of the show is due to Jayson Thiessen's team at DHX, and the freelance writers who by all accounts were aware from the outset that they had to step up their game for this show, because this wasn't going to be the typical 22 minute toy commercial. The work performed here has earned my vocal and financial support.
As long as you can keep an open mind, and look past the show’s history of being something you or I would never in a million lifetimes want to watch, and the stigma of watching a cartoon not marketed to your demographic, the show’s value and charm becomes abundantly clear. The characters come to life through the excellent voice acting, the catchy songs, and the expressiveness of the animation. They're given intelligence through the writing, and given a huge potential for where the show can go, both personally, and through exploration, from the massive world building that takes place in the show. Every aspect of the animation process is an unparalleled success. You can tell just by watching that DHX and Hasbro Studios actually care, and actually believe in what they’re doing. They love the show they’re putting on TV, and are fans of it themselves, which should mean a lot considering what the show is, and because a lot of these animators are guys. To be honest, for all the reasons that I have stated so far, and will below, MLP becomes almost a purely emotional experience. To put it succinctly, it’s really nice to like something that’s nice. It’s refreshing. It simply feels great. I feel more complete, as if my very essence is infused with the best parts of humanity when I reflect upon, or watch the show.
MLP:FiM exudes sincerity in a time when that virtue is largely absent from society, especially in our entertainment. Our culture by default seems to always be fed violence, negativity, and sex as a foundation for almost all of our entertainment, in place of something good hearted, and pure of spirit and intent. But it’s not a foundation at all, it’s more like a crutch employed to gain popularity with a populace that has been largely morally bankrupted by those who control what we see and hear. We’re treated like morons who can’t appreciate anything beyond what’s puerile. We’ve been indoctrinated into a society that rejects goodness completely, in favor of sating more primal desires, and those who do find happiness in something that can only be described as beautiful and intelligent, and doesn‘t draw upon the darker side of humanity, are mocked, or regarded with disgust. It's ironic, because normally if you pictured an audience whom the creators talked down to, the first thing you might think of are the little kids who are supposed to be watching this show, but if you're an adult, and TV executives think so little of you that to get your attention they feel obligated to dangle sex and violence as a carrot, as if that's all that could or would appeal to you, then who is really the one who is acting wrongly, or being wronged here? I can’t use words like sincere, or genuine enough to describe this show. The world that is created here is completely bereft of cynicism, while not losing any value by just simply not coming off as naive, or too idealistic. This is not some perfect, bubbly utopia. The characters have real, relatable flaws and character traits. FiM has great value, not only for the intended demographic, but also for any viewer, because the characters are role models and pillars of moral fortitude, who learn life lessons that are relevant to everyone. The best qualities that I see in myself, and try to put forth the most, are a perception of honesty, integrity, a strong work ethic, and generosity, and some of the characters in this show embody those characteristics better than anyone else I know. In fact, part of the reason the show is so popular is because the main cast boasts six characters, each with a strong, deep personality. If we were talking about a main cast of just one, or a few characters, the show wouldn’t be as popular, but because of the diversity of personalities, and the way those personalities are brought to life so well, without adhering to any stereotypes, the characters become endearing, and from there you become invested in the characters, and the show in general. Each episode ends with a valuable lesson, and most recently, that lesson was a kind of "lead by example" as the main character became a princess through 65 episodes of study, hard work, and selflessness, which itself sounds cheesy, but the execution of such a stereotypically immature storyline is what sets this show light years apart from other forms of animation, and has become a hallmark of what the fans have come to expect from DHX. I won’t claim it to be the best show of all time, despite my lengthy and perhaps over the top explanation, but it's one that I appreciate greatly, and am glad I gave it a chance.