Nah, just sounds fucked up and wierd! I really hope these guys are not playing with the Pony figures??
None of which I consider healthy. I post only when I have a bit of free time and I occasionally play an MMO (a few hours a fortnight usually). But that's about as far as I take it. I think that anything taken to an obsessive degree is unhealthy. But that is not to say that every object of obsession is the same and has the same effect.
I agree that obsession can be unhealthy. That's an established baseline for this discussion. Nut are some obsessions worse than others?
The strange part isn't thinking a show is entertaining. Spongebob Squarepants has been brought up as another example of show that is aimed at children, but has lots of jokes in it for adult viewers. Spongebob is entertaining and if I am flicking channels and come across an episode I might watch it. Very few people take issue with something truly being aimed at all ages (that's something Pixar has managed to master) Talking about life lessons from the show, people identifying themselves by their love of it however, that's strange.
Arguably yes. An obsession with, say, homicide accounts is arguably different from someone who religiously follows their sports team around the globe. The mental motivation behind the obsession is clearly relevant and different for different obsessions.
Hmmm... Bronies aren't bound into what constitutes a manly pursuit and enjoy something they can bond with women over. Sports fans enjoy watching a bunch of physically superior men wear shiny costumes and grapple, usually outside of (or grudgingly) the company of women. What do I know though? I'm the guy in his 40's with a lego collection.
^This. He didn't even issue a rant this time. His "Fuck you all, I'm never coming back!" rants are so much fun...
To be fair...how many who obsess of pro or college sports actually play them? That's one reason I dislike most sports fans, they act like watching sports and talking about them all the time makes them athletes.
Still a massive difference between a man obsessing over sports and a man who obsesses over My Little Pony.
My favourite sports for watching (football and golf) I play both, sadly not at a pro level. I also enjoy watching F1, Rugby, boxing and various athletic based events such as triathalon. Keep it on the downlow but I have a good chuckle watching the WWE as well, although the wife gives me a good slap if she catches me watching it. I would suspect a number of people who watch but don't participate in pro sports do so because their bodies can't participate any longer either through injury, too much of the good life or just plain getting too old.
To a non-sports fan not as much as you might think The best part is when two coworkers watch the game and come to work and tell each other about it in great detail. Then there are the fantasy sports...which is D&D for people who think they aren't geeks.
Playing with wrestling toys, playing with plastic ponies, trading baseball cards, getting together to play D&D, going to football games every weekend, these are all ways for people to have fun, and relax. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of that. You're talking about obsession, and that's generally unhealthy for anyone if that obsession begins to cause mental and physical harm. Enthusiasm, though, is completely different. I am enthusiastic about many things, and can talk about them at length. I'm a Trekkie, I'm a Brony, I'm a Browncoat, I'm a Whovian, I love to read, play chess, and I enjoy writing fantasy novels. I can be introverted, and extroverted whenever the feeling hits me. Having enthusiasm for something, to the point where one wishes to purchase memorabilia, watch the shows/movies, and talking about it with their friends on the internet is how a fandom works. You talk about obsession, but the point you're standing on can be applied to all pastimes. You also neglect to consider that plenty of people, such as myself, have a number of pastimes. You can enjoy sports, and still watch My Little Pony. Hell, you can have a dangerous job, go home, lay back, and crank up the volume on the DVDs if you wish. There are a significant number of military Bronies, just as their are military Trekkies, military Browncoats, and so on. What you do in your free time has nothing to do with your level of commitment, professionalism, skill level, or maturity. People like what they like, whether it be anime, legos, or giant space battles, and as long as they aren't so obsessed that they cause mental, or physical harm to themselves, then there isn't a problem.
Interesting that John is being hounded about being unhealthily obsessed with My Little Pony when we have no idea how much he watches it, talks about it or collects it.....yet people applaud the hundredth picture Forbin posts from his basement workshop where he spends hours and hours making little starships, spends thousands of dollars on supplies, has pitched fits over minutia such as font and watches old Star Treks and movies over and over and over again. No other fandom gets this kind of derision. The terror that a tiny subforum will send hordes of Bronies our way and then....what? I mean even if it did what is gonna happen? A bunch of people who value friendship joins Wordforge? So what? It just seems so silly.
Playing with wrestling toys and playing with plastic ponies is neither cool nor normal for grown men dude!
The seas will turn to gravy. The ground will turn to cardboard. And Linda Blair will show up and vomit pea soup on each and every one of us, one right after the other. (Or so you'd think from some of the rending of teeth and gnashing of vestments.)
I don't care if it's cool, as cool is entirely subjective. "Normal" is something else entirely. 35 year olds playing X-BOX isn't's normal, is it? Why aren't they out having families? Why aren't they getting drunk at the bar? Having a barbecue with friends? Of course, that's what normal was 50 years ago. Things change, times change, people change. What you feel is "normal" may not be to others. Your points hold merit for you, but for other people, they have little weight because they may find some of the things you like to be outside of "normal."
Was steve buscemi normal in con air? He was playing with dolls! Not that im saying you and your bronies are up to anything wrong, its just wierd! Surely you are only watching the show and not playing with these toys?
Hey, the era of the depression, and WWII is considered the most rugged and manly time of the U.S., and yet, at the same time, almost everyone was a "Bronie", for Little Orphan Annie. No one called it anything, because it was "normal".
