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Soleron on 22 January 2012
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Zim said:
Soleron said:

My point has never been the show is bad. My point has been that it is not intended for, aimed at or adult in any way. My annoyance comes from Bronies such as yourself who try and act like it has animation that puts the rest of the industry to shame, features deep comedy and character development. There is no shame in liking something intended for children and I can understand why someone would like a childrens show in a childish way. However it is deeply shameful to try and pretend that a childrens show is something it isn't and to pretend you like it because of features it doesn't have.

My original post states that beyond making them feel like a child again I don't understand the adult appeal. Liking it in a childish way, fine. Pretending it's high art with amazing animation, fantastic character development and stories etc intended for adults.... well you are only fooling yourself.



I could individually reply to your points again but apparently this is what you're really trying to say so I'll address that. I'm going to back off from being adversarial so you can understand I actually do agree with you.

Is it intended for adults? Yes, it was intended to be able to hold adults' attention. No, they didn't have 18-25 males in mind when they were planning the show. Their real achievement is not to aim it at kids so narrowly that no one outside could appreciate it. That is what it does differently to other cartoons.

Is the show the greatest thing ever made, objectively? No. Of course not. It just has the effort behind it that is lacking in much of modern television, and a very rich premise (that is different to the actual plots having depth, which they do not).

In fact I think it is ridiculous to say that depth is an inherently good quality in a show. It is a design choice, guided by the nature of the show. Soap plots do not have depth but they attract and hold loyal adult audiences of tens of millions. For FiM, the humour works very well in the context of the show, the animation works well in the context of the show, the music works well et cetera. 

I think this is the equivalent of console graphics whoring. We play games for the worlds they contain. The art, music, cutscenes, narration, dialogue and so forth all serves this. As long as they are good enough to serve the premise, they do not have to be the best. This is what I believe happened in games like Super Mario 64, Portal or Minecraft. None of them had state of the art anything. But it worked so, so well as a complete experience. If nothing else FiM is the best show it is CAPABLE of being.

Character development. OK, I will quit arguing it has real development. But the characters' reactions are precisely why I watch the show, and I haven't found this level of attachment to that in anything else. I don't really understand why, but clearly it is a function of the script and the expression through animation.

I'm also not thinking (as I see other bronies doing) that they are currently making the show 'for' us. I hate when people point out the popculture references because it isn't part of an intentional plan to appeal to us.

The one thing I disagree with, completely, is that I am watching the show to be a child again, or because it is aimed at children. I know this can't be true because I never did watch cartoons growing up, and I have always been cynical about anything aimed at children. I was too embarrassed to read Harry Potter for years since book 1 because I thought it was beneath me.

I am watching it because of the rich, consistent world it created. It happens to be one with unicorns and rainbows, but I get equally involved in very realistic science fiction universes. It is no accident on the part of the creators, they really understand the science of making good art. I don't believe in a high art / low art system, I have great respect for "trashy pop artists", for soaps, for reality TV, because the people who make it are craftsmen of great skill and not luck.

The adult appeal is to escapism, which is true for anything adults get obsessed about (sports, soaps, fashion "scenes", drinking), not a pure childlike quality.