Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates, TV | Tagged: animation, entertainment, Joe Ballarini, Megan McCarthy, my little pony, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, new york comic con, tv

The Rise Of Fangirls, Bronies And My Little Pony – The New York Comic Con Interviews (VIDEO)

By Shawn Perry

'Sup Bleeders

This article is for anyone who is just a little bit intrigued by the growing popularity of My Little Pony, which recently announced an upcoming feature film. As a number of fangirls explained to me at NYCC, it all comes down to having strong role models and the on-going evolution of geek culture.

Back at New York Comic-Con one of the most enjoyable booths I stopped at was the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic booth.  While it is not aimed at my demographic by any stretch of my emotionally subnormal imagination, My Little Pony is a clever program that follows strong female role models from and has gone to great lengths to prove once-and-for-all that ponies are awesome.

Judge not lest yee be judged, Bleeders.

During the past year I have noticed a rise in everything from branded merchandise to pop culture references to cosplay pertaining to the exploits of this band of ponies. Not only that, but the well-documented growth of the brony movement is further evidence that this show has a wide audience so it came as no surprise this week when Hasbro announced that the second film in their new Allspark Pictures label would be based on My Little Pony.

On that note, back at NYCC I spoke with an MLP expert to get some insight on just what makes this show so special. As she explains,

Of course it's a children show aimed at young girls but there are male characters on the show while the female characters just happen to be the ones saving the day. It's not a whole sexual agenda and that's what I like about it that it's just girls being awesome.

As has been said many times before on this site, the evolution of geek culture is all about acceptance and in recent years it has been a wonderful sight to see more female-driven stories permeate the geek-programming zeitgeist both for children and adults. Among the many fangirls that attended New York Comic-Con a few were kind enough to share their thoughts on the state of gender roles in geek culture, including Rowan Rand of Bushwick, New York:

Even though we all think that rights and equality have been fixed it still is fairly young. America is moving very fast but there are still areas of the world that are stuck in medieval ages. Comics and media are spreading really quickly and I think that the [evolution] of comics…of showing how it is all right to be equal…that the more that can spread then the more equality can also be spread.

Amen.

My Little Pony will be written by Joe Ballarini and Megan McCarthy who have produced and written for the television series and straight-to-video film My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.

Shawn Perry is a proud geek from East Hartford, CT who is striving to be here now. He enjoys yellow journalism, the varied mediums of storytelling, yellow sunglasses and  Weezer's new album. You can tweet him @thesperry or send him an email at Shawn.Perry88@gmail.com.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!