The Bronies Get Their Own Charity

blackbearnh writes "There's a long history of media fandoms organizing fundraising campaigns, donating blood, and doing other charitable activities. However, even large and well-established groups such as Trekkies/ers and Star Wars fans usually work with established non-fannish charities like the Red Cross or Toys for Tots. Some may see them as a plague on the Internet, the Brony community has taken their charitable endeavors to the next level by going to the trouble of creating a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity. The Brony Thank You Fund received word from the IRS last week that, after nearly a year of work, they had been granted tax-exempt status. The Fund is currently raising donations to endow a permanent animation scholarship at CalArts, and is the same group that made news last year when they became the first fan group to purchase commercial time on national TV, for a 30 second spot praising My Little Pony and encouraging donations to Toys for Tots."

Comments

Call me a neigh sayer

[SWroclawski]

I guess it's good they're doing charity, but it's just so creepy.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ClioCJS]

So if a girl likes a guy thing like football or wearing pants that aren't skirts, that's normal.

But if a guy likes a girl thing, it's clinical fixation disorder.

You are what is wrong with society.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

So then a guy who fills his house with sports memorabilia and always wears the team jersey has clinical fixation disorder?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

> In short, you can like my little pony all you want. But when you go so far as to modify your life such that it now revolves around that show, and you feel compelled to convert others to your obcesson, then there is a problem.

What about religious people whose lives revolve around the religion and they try to convert others to the religion?

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's just skip to the end: Anyone who likes anything I don't like has a mental disorder.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[ChromeAeonium]

Assuming fandom equals obsession is rather absurd, don't you think? No one is saying obsession is bad, but jumping from MLP fandom straight to obsession, as if trying to imply they are somehow more linked than other obsessions and baselines, is pretty silly. Sure, there are obsessive bronies. There are also sports nuts, crazed foodies, people who played video games to death, animal hoarders, and all sorts of other obsessions out there. The obsessive minority does not define the baseline.

You average brony is basically just another person, going about life just like everyone else. Everyone likes different things and has different hobbies, just like Trekkies, Whovians, ect. This just so happens to be something we like.

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there only two levels of interest that you can see: "like" and "obsess"? Is the world so black and white to you that you don't see any middle levels where someone may like something a lot, or say above average, or acknowledge that they would like things enough to make it a hobby or pursue it beyond just the typical means, but not necessarily obsessing?

A lot of people like video games and play them from time to time, it shouldn't be surprising that there are people who want to identify beyond that, but without claiming to exclusively play video games and do nothing else. Is someone who calls themselves a gamer, plays above average amounts of video games and maybe reads the occasional video game news piece obsessed, especially considering they have other interests and still live out their life? What about people who don't just like food, but want to try to learn how to make it better? Or even more esoteric stuff, while most people probably think Tesla coils are cool, is it obsessive behavior to make a hobby out of building one and calling yourself a "coiler" so other you can quickly communicate your interest with those of similar interests?

You might as well argue that people should only like things and not have hobbies. Or at least not have hobbies that have a simple name for participants...

Re:Call me a neigh sayer

[wierd_w]

It is really quite simple, really.

When your thing of interest occupies more resources than your other interests, it is becoming unhealthy.

This is a spectrum, where "perfectly fine" is on the left, and "seriously, see a therapist" is on the far right.

People who like MLP have a socially questionable preference, but are on the left. People who aggregate to watch MLP, and make group associations with the show, are trending towards the right.

People who give each other "brohooves" or whatever, feel compelled to denounce people who honestly tell them that they are being excessive as "haters", rather than people who are concerned about them, and who enshrine aspects of MLP in their personal philosophies are well into the right hand side.

It is hardly black and white.

Re:Just shoot me now

[quasius]

People trying to make the world a better place- it's awful!

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[blackbearnh]

How about people who are genuinely appreciative of an animated cartoon with all-ages appeal, quality animation, and great voice work.

Not everything needs to be some kind of snarky ironic entity. There's room in the world for sincerity, as much as the Internet tries to beat that sentiment into oblivion.

And for the record, less than 20% of bronies self-identify as furries, the vast majority are heterosexual, and the fandom has nothing to do with pedophilia.

Re: Can someone explain bronies?

[femtobyte]

Real sincerity is the new ironic fake sincerity.

Actually, the show writing isn't the horrible syrup you might expect --- it's actually made to be tolerable for a parent to watch alongside their kids. There are frequent joke references that would go *completely over* the head of the "target" demographic age, but are thrown in for 20 to 30-year-olds. The voice/character acting is high quality. There is surprisingly little blatant "buy all our playsets and toys!" pushy in-show merchandizing (especially for a kids' TV show produced by a *toy company*). And the main character is a "nerd" portrayed in very positive light --- the show has a refreshing air of anti-anti-intellectualism, and is the opposite of "math is hard! let's go shopping!" Barbie.

Re:Brohoof

[femtobyte]

To be fair, I think the show is well written to work on "dual levels": both the little girls watching it, and the parents who might be dragged in to endure spending some time with their children. From actually *watching* episodes, I can attest that the writing has enough to offer to keep an adult entertained, too (so long as you're still capable of appreciating storytelling without constant gory violence, profanity, and explicit sex). It is indeed a matter of taste --- but for folks who enjoy absurdist humor, genre spoofs (which would often be over the head of "target audience" girls), character acting, sight gags / slapstick comedy, running jokes, etc., it's an enjoyable show. Yes, there are plenty of other great hobbies besides watching a TV series --- but that is true of *every* TV series.

Re:Brohoof

[serviscope_minor]

In fact, a bunch of adults forming a fan club for a cartoon and calling themselves "bronies" is creepy too.

How is it any more creepy than a bunch of adults forming a fan club over a TV show and calling themselves trekkies.

The "brohoof" stuff is kinda creepy though.

Live long and prosper, dude.

Re:Brohoof

[jythie]

Considering what I see sports fans do....

Re:Brohoof

[N0Man74]

They are both equally disturbing.

Neither is preferable.

I'm in neither group, but I've seen my share of Star Trek and was at least curious enough to watch an episode of MLP to see what the fuss was about.

I think that many people find the Idealism of Star Trek appealing. It's not just about spacemen and phasers, and it's not just about exploring space. It carries a lot of idealism about what humans can overcome and become culturally (not just technologically). The idealism resonates with many of the fans.

Likewise, My Little Pony seems to convey a certain optimism and promotes compassion and empathy (and it was at least mildly amusing).

I wouldn't go to conventions or anything, but people who are fans of things that are pretty benign and encourage empathy, compassion, idealism, and the bettering of humanity aren't really a bad thing.

So, when people want to shit on them because the fans don't conform to societal norms of being aggressive, self-serving, materialistic, dominating people kind of come off seeming like assholes to me.

Maybe they are weird or eccentric, but it a lot more harmless than a lot of things we idolize in this culture.