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Film: A Brony Tale

Director: Brent Hodge

Streaming On: Netflix

Primary Focus Of Study: Bronies

Secondary Focuses Of Study: Fan Obsessions

Many are morbidly fascinated by Bronies, those adults who broadcast their love for the kids’ show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was once widely perceived as a silly kid’s hokum for the young people. “Who are these people?” is the most genial sort question that gets raised about Bronies. “What the fuck is wrong with them?” is a less-civil sort of query raised about their lives. My first and primary frustration with A Brony Tale, a lukewarm exploration of the Brony phenomenon, is that its focus is less on the actual Bronies themselves but more on Ashleigh Ball, a musician, actress, and voiceover artist. She’s also the lead singer of the band Hey Ocean!, for which the film sometimes feels like a backdoor infomercial.

For Ball, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic isn’t a phenomenon, subculture, or act of rebellion against the conformity of traditional gender roles; it’s just a well-paying job with some very strange side effects. Director Brian Hodge focuses on Ball because she’s perky, appealing, and natural around the camera, but also because she provides an outsider’s perspective. She isn’t going to creep anyone out. Ball doesn’t know exactly what she’s in for when she accepts an invitation to the massive BronyCon for the first time, and the filmmakers tease that something kind of weird might happen there, while reassuring us over and over again that Bronies are lovely people who wouldn’t hurt a soul.

The Bronies themselves, who range from bodybuilders to veterans with PTSD, are a lot more interesting than Ball, but everyone speaks the same codified happy talk of magic, community, positivity, and the warm, humanitarian values espoused by this weird little kid show that matters so much to so many people. A Brony Tale ends up feeling hagiographic, less to fans who are depicted in an overwhelmingly positive, if unmistakably geeky light, than toward Ball. Ball is given way too much credit for not instantly assuming that at BronyCon, men in giant furry costume would abduct her immediately and force her to watch every episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange.

What was Ball specifically worried about? That men who worship a show she works on would be too deferential and adulatory toward her? That the intensity of their devotion would make her feel creepy and fetishized? Ball seems understandably wary, if not terrified, of the depths of the devotion fans feel toward her show, but the film is neither creepy nor unnerving.

That ranks as both one of A Brony’s Tale’s great strengths and one of its most damning weaknesses. It’s content to skate across the surface, never risking anything that might make Bronies uncomfortable, but also never peering deep down into what makes someone a Brony and what impact it has on their lives. So while A Brony Tale is a decent-enough primer for those curious as to what the whole Brony fuss is about, it’s begging for a much deeper exploration that explores the many side of this oddly deathless phenomenon, not just the ones festooned with rainbow stickers, glitter, and unicorn dust.

Educational Value: Meets Expectations (just barely)

Entertainment Value: Meets Expectations (also just barely)

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Beware Of Mr. Baker

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?

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