The tremendous enthusiasm of fans is amazing to those who are not part of this world. From Star Wars, comic books, baseball cards, quilting and stamps to A Brony Tale instance of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, fanaticism can appear strange and sometimes unsettling. Brent Hodge’s film about grown-up males obsessed with My Little Pony dares to engage these stereotypes directly and as an outcome it becomes more than a look at a specific form of fandom but rather a general representation of what the concept of fandom in anything is supposed to be like.
Hence Hodge’s film tracks one Ashleigh Ball, a friend and voice actor for Rainbow Dash & Applejack on My Little Pony; as she attends the Bronycon in New York City. This is something new from the word go – how someone has actually experienced massive celebrity status through simply doing voices for an animated show that went viral somewhere along the way. It proves how much influence the Bronies have had on her career including growing her band’s popularity with dozens attending their shows because they are bronies.
Thus while Ball’ journey might seem like an inside scoop which separates A Brony Tale from other films covering this subject Hodge manages to find different types of brony culture represented by a diverse group of fans with some very touching stories. The movie covers everything from socially inept high school kids through military men serving in Iraq, DJs, fitness instructors, musicians or even psychologists; all sorts of people calling themselves ‘bronies’.
By rights Hodge seeks to dispel the most controversial misconception about being passionate about any television show which “boys don’t watch,” namely that it makes you weird or creepy if you’re an adult male who loves a show intended for little girls. Our first brony is introduced as Harley riding “manly man” who drinks beer yet loves MLP.FIM. It answers not only the most important question non-fans would like to ask but also hints that the film is not just about a love of My Little Pony, but rather an exploration of how society dictates gender roles.
According to one of the military guys who has My Little Pony sewed into his gear; “a man is defined as a human male with X and Y chromosomes. That’s it.” Although the documentary mostly avoids delving too far into this larger issue, focusing instead upon its relevance to My Little Pony fandom, it does leave viewers pondering about changing gender roles on a greater scale.
It’s like the only problem with the movie is that it doesn’t have any insights from the people who actually make the show, though it’s somewhat compensated by the participation of professional psychologists who are studying fans of My Little Pony. Even though these interviews give scientific information which may interest us to some extent, it mostly allows us to relate this film with other fandoms. The bottom line is that Hodge stresses how much this group becomes a family for many people who do not belong anywhere else. A Brony Tale has an overall message of positivity, just like that of its source material. It demonstrates their solidarity as fans, the social groups they form and their impact on each other.
The primary narrative of this movie revolves around Ball; nevertheless one interviewee – a lovely Iraq vet soldier named Bryan – can be as captivating. He tells us why he started enjoying art again through My Little Pony and that his goal is to be able to send a piece of his artwork to Nicole Oliver who voices Princess Celestia in MLP:FIM. We watch them meet at Bronycon, and share an affectionate instance before any further word is given by him about what transpired afterward. This aspect was disappointing in one way as we were not informed what happened thereafter when Bryan had a touching journey cut short by Ball displaying all her gifts from fans made during allegiance.
Verdict
In briefest terms possible, A Brony Tale is a film about positive fan culture in today’s increasingly cynical world full of interesting characters from every walk of life. Perhaps more information could have been extracted from individuals involved with show or further comments should have come out from Bryan about his expectations; still, there are questions concerning gender roles in contemporary society raised by this movie. The latter does not contain answers but confirms without hesitating that we should do away with “pink” and “blue”.
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