My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Hey, so have you heard of the latest craze among guys in my age bracket? A show by the name of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I don't want to bother getting making an Imageshack account and uploading a picture right now, so just trust me... it's exactly what it sounds like. Here, I'll post a link: http://www.avclub.com/articles/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic,55168/

Wait. That links to another blog, with a different review. No, don't read that one. Read this one. Look at the picture that he bothered to upload, and then come back.

For emphasis, the main cast includes characters with the following names: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. And it's really mainstream. If you talk to any young adult male about it, you're expected to know.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's nice to see guys during their machismo-focus years learning to value qualities which are, but should not be, considered exclusive merits of the female gender... Qualities like honesty, sharing, kindness, loyalty, friendship etc. I was way ahead of these guys on watching girly kids' shows, too. I started up as soon as it looked ironic (16).

But that's the thing... All these guys like this show unironically. For instance, I knew these two guys who got into a pretty bad tussle over something... They both walked away feeling sore. One of the guys left and watched some My Little Pony to cool down. Then he remembered the value of his friendship, gained perspective on his friends feelings, and came back to sort things out productively. My Little Pony actually helped these guys overcome an actual, real-world conflict that would have likely otherwise been damaging.

And that's great. If My Little Pony helps make this a world where people can reach out and understand each other better, who am I to complain?

In fact, it's not so surprising that it would be quality... It was created by the makers of Powerpuff Girls and Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, both little kids shows with a surprising amount of appeal.

But, after watching two episodes, I have to say, I think both PPG and Fosters are vastly superior. It's not that My Little Pony is bad... It's just really, really average. It is everything you'd expect of a show that preaches basic morals to little girls. I don't see the appeal at all.

And I want to... I want to see the ground-breaking series that turned a bunch of hard manly-men to seriously consider the values of more a more sensitive and considerate lifestyle. But whatever they see in it, it just flies over my head.

I should have probably posted this in my reviews blog, but I won't.

Oh, I'm going to be in Toronto this weekend, and probably won't be able to update.