Well, This is Awkward

So, I recently wrote a blog post in which I expressed the opinion that all the recent Equestria Girls controversy should most appropriately be met with sinister, maniacal laughter - a conclusion that I came to because of all the panic, rage, and... well, discord about a movie that hadn't even been released yet. It seemed to me that certain members of the fandom were getting worked up over something that wasn't a big deal, and that this would all blow over anyway, so the best thing to do would be to batten down the hatches, pull out the popcorn, and watch the resulting fireworks.

Of course, that conclusion had been drawn before I discovered that death threats had been made to members of DHX Media. With that new knowledge, of course, my previous suggestion in favor of gleeful inaction suddenly makes me feel like a first-degree asshat. As such, I think I'd better get serious and lay out what seems like the best thing to do regarding this whole regrettable fiasco.

To those of you who are getting all bent out of shape over Equestria Girls: please, just... wait and see what happens. Like what's been said about Twilight's ascension to princesshood, the Canterlot Wedding, and even the whole show itself, we can't really make any informed judgement on the movie until we actually see it. Yes, there probably were better directions that the first MLP: FiM movie could have taken. Yes, this could be a recipe for disaster. But we don't know anything for sure, yet. Sure, what little we saw in the trailer appeared to be pretty much a cookie-cutter high school plot with ponies shoehorned into it, but then again, trailers have occasionally been known to stretch the truth, and it wouldn't be the first time that this fandom's had a bait-and-switch pulled on it. Yes, Equestria Girls may turn out to be a cliched high school story. Or it could turn out to be a brilliantly clever satire of such tales. (I'm fervently hoping for the latter, myself).

This isn't to say that you should avoid expressing trepidation or withhold all criticism, of course. Just try not to do anything too rash. If you're willing to give the movie a chance, then more power to you. If you can already tell that Equestria Girls is a "vile abomination that should never have seen the light of day" without even watching five minutes of it first, then simply don't go and see it - as we probably all know by now, the events of the movie won't have much impact on the cartoon itself, so it'll be quite easy to ignore. But whatever you do, don't threaten to murder the people who have labored for three long years to bring us the best stories that they possibly can (especially considering that, what with the Hasbro marketing department's sovereignty and the prevailing societal norms surrounding shows for little girls, they've been fighting an uphill battle). Even if you don't mean such threats, then you're still missing the entire point of the show that you claim to enjoy. And even if you don't take the creators' feelings into account (and if you don't, then go sit in a corner and rethink your life), then at least hold back for your own sake: scaring away the people with passion and integrity will only let the greedy and the callous fill the resulting void. If that happens, then the universe created by DHX Media, the universe that we've come to know and love, will be driven into the ground without any regard for quality or integrity. And guess what: if things do pan out that way, then it'll no longer be the exclusively the fault of Hasbro, or their marketing department, or capitalism in general. The blame will also fall on our shoulders.

Sure, it's far too much to ask that we all join hands and praise those responsible for dreaming up Equestria Girls. The old motto of "Love and Tolerate" has become trite and stale, anyway. I'm not asking you to love - indeed, E. M. Forster (whose essay on tolerance is in my opinion a must-read for anyone who labels themselves as a "brony") realized that wouldn't work 70 years before the creation of this fandom. Just... try to tolerate, to be civil, to put up with this and future controversies in a reasonable and rational manner. And every once in a while, even if things have been rocky of late, do let the appropriate parties know that you appreciate their labor of love, this gift that they've given all of us who have been open-minded enough to accept it in the first place. After all, considering everything they've done for us, it's the least we can do in return.

Oh, and for those of you who have been acting reasonable and rational all along? Good on ya. Keep up the good work. Let's not let the vocal minority ruin this for the rest of us, okay?

Comments

[Starcat5]

I really should not be surprised by this. Our fandom has its roots in 4chan, after all. It really shouldn't surprise me that some of our numbers do things more fitting of XBox Live users. ...because some of them no doubt are. Not that everyone on XBL is an asshat, any more than everypony here is an exemplar of Love and Tolerance. It is like Agent K said in the one good MIB movie: "A person is rational, but people are sheep." As for myself, I'm no saint, but this is ridiculous. I'm going to wait until some reviews come in, and then decide if I should go see it. Like any rational thinking being should do in this situation.