A Brony Tale
There’s a documentary about adult men who dress as My Little Pony characters, and it follows Ashleigh Ball, who voices two of the characters, through their world. If you somehow missed the decade-long internet phenomenon where a show made for little girls got adopted by a specific demographic of grown men in elaborate costumes, here’s everything you need to know about bronies: it’s real, it’s organized, and it goes way deeper than anyone wants it to.
The documentary doesn’t mock them, which is maybe the most interesting choice. Ball genuinely seems to care about understanding these people, which is either generous or naive depending on how you feel about the whole thing. They talk about community, about having a place to belong, about creating art and music and costumes that cost more money than I spend on anything in a year. The sincerity is real. So is the absurdity. Both things are true.
What gets under my skin is that I can’t decide if I respect it or find it completely ridiculous, and I think that’s kind of the point. These are people who chose to commit totally to something weird, and they built an entire world around it. The effort is undeniable. Whether that means anything depends on whether you think effort and sincerity make something meaningful, or if the object of that effort matters more. I’m genuinely not sure.