For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a serious connection
to all things associated with Cartoon Network, in particular growing up on the
legendary Cartoon Cartoons block. From the pre-pubescent spy antics of
Codename: Kids Next Door, to the superpowered comedy of the Powerpuff Girls, to
the mad science capering of Dexter’s Laboratory, even the surprisingly
emotional and poignant messages of Whatever Happened To Robot Jones?; these
shows and others helped shape a lot of how I approach and appreciate media, and
likely explains why I still hold a lot of respect for what children-centric
entertainment is capable of.
Where am I going with all this and what does it
have to do with anything? Well, considering my own liking for cartoons,
including several that aren’t exactly aiming for my demographic, I have never
really understood the disdain for bronies. And this isn’t even with hindsight;
even at the height of its backlash, the seeming hatred for these people never
made sense to me. Hell, I even joined in out of sheer social necessity, but it
was always me playing to the crowd; even as the words “screw you, bronies” came
out of my mouth, I still didn’t get the rationale of that statement.
With all that in mind, when today’s film was announced, I
knew that I’d have to give my two cents on this whole thing before stepping
into the realms that traditional masculinity seems to hate with a passion. Sure,
I’m not all that familiar with the My Little Pony franchise myself, but I’ve
watched a couple episodes of Friendship Is Magic and it’s honestly pretty good.
Let’s get into this thing and see if there is something to it beyond “it’s
based on a girly show”.
