Thoughts on the Past and Future of My Little Pony

It's finally here.

After months of teasers, press release images, toy leaks, and impatient counting of the days, we finally have a full-fledged trailer for the 5th generation of My Little Pony.

(And to say that I'm excited is the understatement of the year.)

I would think plenty of skeptics in the brony fandom should be very reassured as well, since everything in this trailer looks very promising. It doesn't reveal anything about the plot that we didn't already know from official synopses, but we do get some long-awaited glimpses at our main casts' personalities in action as well as the adventure they will embark on. The new 3D animation style is beautiful, colorful, and easy on the eyes - exactly what you'd expect from My Little Pony - and the casting felt perfect just from this one trailer (I especially can't get enough of Vanessa Hudgens's down-to-earth tone for Sunny or Kimiko Glenn's bubbly performance as Izzy). The tone is notably more lighthearted compared to the darkness present in the 2017 Friendship is Magic film, as numerous fans have pointed out, but a lack of darker elements shouldn't be a problem as long as the story is still told well. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this trailer, and no matter what the full film looks like come its release in September, I know that I at least will have fun with it.

I also know that comparisons to MLP's 4th generation, the Friendship is Magic era, are by design inevitable. I completely understand why this is, and I won't blame anyone for viewing A New Generation and its trailer as 'inferior' to Friendship is Magic. But I also appreciate that A New Generation is taking on its own identity rather than try to copy what Friendship is Magic did; it's different, and although people will compare the two regardless, it'll be interesting to see the varying reactions when the full film comes out. It'll most likely be a matter of tastes; some people will love the new MLP, some won't care, some will enjoy it without becoming that invested, and some will dislike to outright hate it.

But, regardless of your own opinion, I believe we can all agree on one thing: A New Generation will never have the same impact that Friendship is Magic did.

That statement might come across as a little pessimistic to some, especially from me, but it's just a fact; by design, there's no way A New Generation will affect people the same way that Friendship is Magic did. I say this because of the culture shock the phenomenon of "bronies" caused throughout the show's early years from 2011 through 2014. What Lauren Faust and her team created as a passion project to defy expectations became a fandom with a demographic not even she could have predicted. Friendship is Magic was not only a testament to what creators could do with toy-based properties, but an inspiration and an eye-opening cultural experience, especially for male fans.

I still remember the first time I came across Friendship is Magic and the idea that men could enjoy My Little Pony at all. Back in 2011, I was more confused than anything else why one of my favorite channels on YouTube was suddenly uploading clips from MLP:FIM season 2 and even creating a new channel for his own MLP compositions. I had grown up playing with the first generation of My Little Pony figures, but after age 8 I didn't care that much for plastic ponies anymore; thus, I was shocked not only to discover that there was a new MLP cartoon airing, but that apparently it was good, good enough even for teenage to adult guys to enjoy. You can forgive my confusion, especially since the My Little Pony I had in my mind at the time was the bland, sweetness-saturated, stereotypically hyper-feminine Generation 3 toyline that I had seen on store shelves way too often as a kid.

This amazed my eleven-year-old brain, the idea that guys could enjoy My Little Pony without any irony or shame; at my school I remember plenty of guys still calling each other 'gay' if they dared to wear pink or purple. I thought there had to be something to this new show if guys could get into it, it must have done something right.

So I watched a few clips. Then I watched the two-part premier. Then I binged all of seasons 1 and 2, and tuned into the finale of the latter when it aired in 2012.

Honestly, if I told my childhood self that I would become obsessed with My Little Pony as a teenager and that it helped me become the artist and writer I am today, she would think I'm lying.

I'm far from the only one who feels this way, too. Ask any MLP fan if they ever expected their lives to go down the path of ponies, and they will most likely give you a hard "No". But many of them would also mention how much their lives have changed for the better because of the show and the fandom; my time in the brony fandom has introduced me to countless talented artists, writers, musicians, animators, actors, and other creatives that probably never would have pursued those talents had Friendship is Magic not inspired them. I've read tons of stories and even witnessed firsthand how Friendship is Magic made an impact on people's lives, regardless of gender, age, sexuality, or any other human categorization. In the optimistic, lighthearted and compassionate spirit of the show, bronies have come together for many enormous conventions, many of which still run today, and to raise thousands upon thousands of dollars for charitable causes. People have turned their lives around, made lifelong friends, fallen in love, started families, built careers because of their shared love for cartoon pastel horses.

But I understand now that, as a woman, I had an easier time admitting to my friends and family that I watched MLP; as John de Lancie puts it in "Let's Go and Meet the Bronies", "when girls like little ponies, that's very much expected". Boys and men unfortunately still don't have that kind of luxury. Especially in American culture, men are expected to act tough, aggressive, and emotionless; they're supposed to be the breadwinners, the leaders, the stone-cold walls of society. They're taught that "boys don't cry", that if they're struggling then they should "toughen up", that showing emotion is a "weakness". If they don't fit this mold, if they are sensitive, kind, or introspective, people tend to assume that there's something wrong with them. These sentiments become stronger when the man in question shows interest in anything even remotely feminine; if they do, they're bullied, ridiculed, called soft and weak, or they're told that they aren't "real men".

Disturbingly, this stigma and humiliation isn't limited to schoolyard bullying; when the news of the brony fandom reached mainstream media, it didn't take long for pop culture outlets to target them for their culture-defying interests. They saw men openly enjoying and engaging with something traditionally feminine - in this case, the My Little Pony franchise - and assumed the worst in them. They treated bronies as deviants and freaks without even attempting to understand or empathize with them.

These media outlets, and mainstream society as a whole, didn't take the time to understand why these guys were interested in this new generation of MLP. To be fair, this was the first time that an MLP cartoon had this much love and care put into it; they most likely had the soulless husks of Gen 3 still in their minds when they thought of My Little Pony, and hadn't experienced Friendship is Magic themselves yet. However, this doesn't excuse their ridicule and it's an upsetting reminder of how unwilling mainstream society is to accept feminine men.

But this judgement is only surface-level; if these people were to watch the show themselves, they would have likely understood why it attracted such a diverse audience - not just its intended audience, but older men and women too, from all walks of life. They wouldn't know until they experienced Friendship is Magic firsthand how much effort the show staff put into every episode, how hard they worked to keep the animation fluid, the stories well-told, the characters 3-dimensional, and the continuity consistent. They wouldn't have seen how fun and unapologetically optimistic the show was compared to lots of adult media, and how anyone could see themselves reflected in the characters.

The brony community's atmosphere mirrors the themes present in Friendship is Magic; barring the tiny minority of exceptions, the fandom has been overall just as positive and open-minded as the series. I've seen plenty of people who have become more open and have felt more accepted in the brony community than in their personal lives. They lift each other up when they struggle, and stick by their friends just as Twilight Sparkle and her friends do.

Obviously, no group is without its bad apples, and the brony fandom is no stranger to that. But, from my experience, the majority of the MLP fanbase are some of the most welcoming, generous, and passionate people I've seen on the Internet.

I was still neck-deep in the fandom when the popular artist and analyst Keyframe revealed her abusive home life with her mother, and her friends and the fandom came together to fund her move to her new home with her boyfriend, GoldenFox. I still remember the heartbreak I felt first reading the tale of Michael Morones in 2014, who attempted suicide because of the bullying he'd received for enjoying the show, but I also remember the joy and pride I felt seeing the fandom and even some of the show's voice actors reach out to the boy's family and support and fund his recovery. This community has done so much good over the years, and it has changed countless lives for the better. In Friendship is Magic's hopeful, positive, and welcoming spirit, these people have made an effort to make the world a happier place by supporting those who need it.

This is what I mean when I say that A New Generation will never have the same impact that Friendship is Magic did. Nothing quite like it has ever happened before. Friendship is Magic represents a lot, to the animation industry, to Internet and mainstream culture, to gender roles, to people's careers and their personal lives. It defied the expectations of soulless toy-based media and was made with as much love and care as any other creator-driven cartoon. It helped inspire people to discover their talents and build their careers. It sparked conversations about men and the cultural expectations that still restrict them. It opened people up to one another and inspired an enormous community that not even the show's creators had planned for.

This type of phenomenon just can't be planned, and nothing like it will ever happen again; the chances that it could are so slim that they're nonexistent. Even if A New Generation is good, even if it surpassed even skeptics' expectations, there's no chance that it'll affect people the same way that Friendship is Magic did. The concepts that a feminine toy-driven cartoon could actually have quality, that boys and men can enjoy a franchise traditionally marketed towards young girls, and that they could form a community around such a franchise have definitely worn off their novelty by now.

But, in a way, these facts are actually a good thing. Compared to 2010, at least in my social circles, loving My Little Pony is far more accepted now no matter your gender; most people don't care either way. Activists right now are making progress to break the stigma surrounding feminine men and other men who don't conform to strict gender roles. Obviously, this stigma is still very prevalent, but it has changed significantly since the brony fandom's conception. It's because of this that I believe the reception to both older male and female fans enjoying A New Generation and its supplementary materials will be far more lax and open-minded compared to the reception the brony fandom received when it first came to media attention.

It won't mean the same as Friendship is Magic, but I'm still super excited to see what happens in A New Generation and I can't wait to discuss the full movie with my fellow MLP fanatics. With hope, it will still be an enjoyable, fun successor to the previous generation.

My Little Pony: A New Generation comes to Netflix on September 24th. You can watch the full trailer here:

If you enjoy my work and want to support me further, please consider leaving a like or a tip, checking out my Patreon, and sharing this story on social media! Thanks so much!