Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony

My biggest disappointment is that this film isn't at all funny.

It's primary reason for existing seems to be to proselytize the virtues of the cartoon and justify the reasons grown men are fascinated by it. If you aren't a brony, you aren't going to find much in this film, because it doesn't have a sense of humor about itself.

There is room in the market for a film like this, and because it was for a group of fans that seem a bit obsessive, it will probably make a profit. I can't really say it shouldn't have been made, simply that it does not speak to a broader audience.

The one thing that I did take away from the documentary was that even simple stories, if made with quality, can find an audience. People that have trouble relating to one another and develop real world friendships find a lot to love about a show that explains why friendship is magical. At least that's what I saw as the plot of this film.

Okay, now why the summary headline. . . I found this movie a bit disturbing for one main reason. Every My Little Pony obsessed man in this film felt they needed to tell us "I'm not gay." Like that makes their passion socially acceptable. They might as well be saying, "Sure, I like pink unicorns, but it's not like I like men! THAT would make me weird a pariah!" It's a rather homophobic view, in my opinion, and totally undermines the movie's supposed message of acceptance.

So it's not entertaining, particularly educational, or social conscious, but if you obsessively collect everything with a pony on it, you'll probably like it.

This film presents itself as a documentary, but it is more of a one-sided fluff-piece that celebrates Bronyism as purely magic, devoid of discord.

Notably missing from this fluff is the more provocative, dark side of adult MLP worship. Sure, one could technically divide MLP adult fans up into two separate categories, but this misses the point. Bronies misses the opportunity to present this odd realm of adult fandom in all of its dimensions, so is shallow and boring.

The film avoids the truth in favor of the magical, and as such seems more childlike than MLP itself.

I am not a Brony. I have never seen an episode of My Little Pony. Before seeing this documentary I was aware of the Brony phenomenon, but was relatively removed from it. I watched 'Bronies' to try and learn a bit more about the people behind the fandom, and was hoping to find an unbiased account of Brony culture, warts and all. I think overall this documentary was successful in a few ways, but was mostly overshadowed by it's failures.

It's a very self congratulatory piece of film; plenty of discussion of the community aspect, the creativity and fun of it all, the feeling of 'fitting in,' but it's all at a very cursory glance. People say they like the morals and apply them to their lives? How about a few examples? You think the writing and animation are well done? Why not go a bit more in depth? There was very little that needed to be said by this documentary, yet we're consistently fed what feels like a party line.

If you're looking for an objective documentary, this is not it. There is superficial lip-service paid to the female fans of the series, but it comes in the form of a short musical number and one documentary subject who is never on screen without her male counterpart. For a fanbase which has taken up a decidedly masculine moniker, I'd expect some discussion of how it effects women who want to be involved. Additionally, there is no discussion of the darker sides of Brony culture, like the fan- produced My Little Pony pornography known as 'Clop.' The documentary goes so far out of its way to avoid this subject, that it actually even includes a reference to 'clop' in a musical number, but immediately changes the subject.

It feels at times like the documentary was never intended to explain Bronies to outsiders at all, but rather to be a celebratory exploration of the growth of Brony culture, to be viewed and enjoyed by Bronies themselves. This would be easily explained by the creative crew, and the Kickstarter funding. There's nothing wrong with this, but why phrase it as though it were intended for outsiders? Why even add the animated sequences with the professor teaching us about MLP history?

It's not all bad, honestly. The creator of this documentary clearly knows how to pace a film. Scenes go as long as they need to, dialogue is generally moving the film along, and overall it's quite well shot. Some of the characters are quite compelling, and the creative side of Brony culture is very well represented.

I think if there was one major takeaway from this film, it's that people who like MLP are producing a lot of content for the fan community, and that creativity is a major tenet of Brony culture. The film is very successful in conveying that there is a strong community, and a lot of creative content being produced. It's major failure though, and what causes the whole thing to fall flat is that it doesn't successfully convey why the Bronies become attached to MLP to begin with.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It follows some good individual stories, and I really enjoyed the original animation created for it by JanAnimations and others. One of the things I enjoyed about this film isn't even in the film itself - it's how responsive the filmmakers have been to input. The film was funded through Kickstarter, and all through the production process, backers were given details about how things were going, and the crew took suggestions and feedback. Not only through Kickstarter, but through their Twitter accounts, YouTube replies, and e-mail.

I look forward to the day that this film becomes available on Blu-ray, film festivals, and perhaps more! Go buy this film now at their website if you're curious, or wait a bit for those other methods of distribution! /)

Just when you thought that "A Brony Tale" didn't meet too many expectations, this documentary will go down a treat. It heavily relies on the bronies and the convention, rather than being slow- burned and relying on ONE person making part of this fandom possible: Ashleigh Ball. Would recommend for the whole family. In spite of some profanity - the movie would've been given a PG- rating either way.