My Little Guilty Pleasure

Yep. This. I'm doing a blog on this. Lord have mercy, I'm doing a blog about...THIS. I suppose I have to revoke my Man Card now.

Hasbro is an interesting little corporate entity, ennit? In 1964, they found a way to market dolls to boys and changed the face of the toy industry forever with two simple words: "Action Figure". In 1982, they came up with a new whole new way to sell their product: the tie-in shows, which led to the rise of two juggernauts of the 80's, G.I. Joe and Transformers. They also tried to repeat their success by creating a toy line aimed at the female demographic. The result was 1986's animated series My Little Pony.

If internet critic Lindsey "Nostalgia Chick" Ellis is to be believed, the original MLP show is less fondly remembered than it's big brothers (when it's being remembered at all). The characters were ill-defined and the conflict ranged from petty disagreements to nonexistent (because girls don't like conflict in their stories, naturally). MLP survived as a franchise and had hiccuped now and then throughout the nineties and two-thousands with new toys or an animated special here and there, but never really found the same level of success as Transformers or GI Joe (which may very well be a blessing. Do you really want to see Michael Bay's My Little Pony?) (Actually, that could be hilarious). However, in Fall of 2010, something completely unexpected happen: MLP became popular. And it was all thanks to a new animated series on The Hub, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Developed by animation veteran Lauren Faust (late of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), FIM struck a chord not only with it's intended audience of young girls, but also with the very vocal demographic of males age 20 and up. The so-called "bronies" carved a strong internet presence for themselves and their fandom made the show far more well-known and noteworthy than it otherwise might have been. Being something of a media-soak myself, I was curious and fascinated by this new fandom, and wanted to know the reason behind it; why was a kids cartoon aimed at girls becoming so big with grown-ass men? What was the hook to it? Everytime I asked, I got the same answer: "It's just good writing." Not the most difinitive answer to my question. When I discovered that the series was now available for streaming on Netflix, I got to watching, and now, ten episodes in, I can safely say that I get the appeal.

Let me explain the premise in a way that won't lead to me wanting to shoot myself. In a mystical far-off land (where, much like C.S. Lewis's Narnia, the mythology is a hodge-podge mashup of whatever the writers feel like pulling from, be it Greek, Norse, or Bullshit), Pony Jesus rules benevolently over the anatomically incorrent four-hooved citizens of the realm. Her apprentice, Aspergers Pony, is exiled from the capitol and sent to live in a peasant village to get a real job. This job is basically keeping the citizens of the village from killing each other (Not unlike Hawke from Dragon Age II). Specifically, she must constantly make peace between the other core five characters: Redneck Pony, Social Anxiety Pony, OCD Pony, Compensating For Something Pony, and Habitual Crack User Pony. Together with Aspergers Pony's assistant, Closeted Gay Lizardman, the ponies defend the village from all manner of threats, include petty differences, racism, pollution, a plague of locusts, and the return of Pony Lucifer. And if I write the word "Pony" one more time, my keyboard may explode.

FIM has some good things going for it: For starters, the animation is outstanding. Fluid and dynamic, brightly colored, with consistent aesthetic. The characters, while often extreme, are likable and relatable in their own ways. And, god help me, the writing is actually good. There's genuine conflict (most of the time), the lessons are simple without being too preachy, and character interactions are dynamic enough not to be repetitive while consistent enough to be believable.

The best word I can use to describe FIM is "Harmless". It's a rice cake with powdered sugar: not really bad for you and sweet without being disgusting. Like I said before, the first season is up on Netflix, so maybe take a look and decide for yourself what you think. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hang my head in shame for a while. See ya next time!