Book Review: Ponyville Confidential · 1:53pm Aug 18th, 2017
It should come as no surprise that I like to read. On top of that, I like to TALK about (or, well, given the internet, type about) what I'm reading. Unfortunately, I don't have too many real life friends who are into pony, and so I usually don't bring it up to them. (The term 'closeted' comes to mind). And so, lacking any other outlet ... how about a book review?
I'm a bit late to the party here-- I only found out about Sherilyn Connelly's Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016 recently. The book itself was released in March, and even featured on EQD around the time (complete with terrible discussion in the comments). Still, I'm a sucker for overthinking cartoons, so I snagged Ponyville Confidential off of Amazon ASAP.
It's worth noting that Ponyville Confidential is an academic book, meticulously researched and with a rather lengthy bibliography at the back. Thankfully, this doesn't make the book dry or lifeless-- in fact, Connelly writes with something of a chip on her shoulder when it comes to My Little Pony. Ever since the brand's creation in the 80's, “My Little Pony” has been a derisive term, used against anything deemed too girly/commercialistic. Connelly refers to My Little Pony's Original Sin (capitalized, even): being a cartoon for girls is unforgivable in the eyes of many.
Connelly makes it a point to defend the franchise against some of the worst criticisms, and clears up a couple of points here and there (for example, My Little Pony was shown primarily in weekday syndication, not as a Saturday Morning Cartoon). Connelly often compares My Little Pony (somewhat dispargingly) to more prominent boys franchises like GI Joe or Transformers. Which, given they're all under the Hasbro umbrella, makes sense.
Just for comparison's sake, it's worth noting that GI Joe and Transformers both had central 'series bibles' developed by Marvel comics writers. (Larry Hama and Bob Budiansky respectively). I have a vague theory that the long-lasting appeal of those franchises stems from the comic-book foundations. It's something you can see come up in a lot of enduring stuff from 90's cartoons, as well: Ninja Turtles, Batman, and even DuckTales all draw from comic book sources. (Power Rangers is something of an outlier here, but that's live action so it might not count). In comparison, MLP didn't get the same kind of cohesive background and identity until Lauren Faust put together G4.
This said, I think the book could have done a little better with a little more information on Hasbro, and some of the inner workings behind the creation of the My Little Pony franchise. Connelly quotes various articles, press releases, and movie reviews throughout her meticulously researched book. This said, a lot of her sources are just things that have been released to the public, whether it's a press release or a tweet. There aren't, for example, any direct interviews with key figures in the brand's history. Which, again, owes more to the format of an academic book than anything else.
The majority of Ponyville Confidential is devoted to Friendship is Magic-- and again, the book doesn't offer an inside look into Lauren Faust's creation process, instead highlighting the various reactions people had to Friendship is Magic through blog posts and the like. Ironically, it was the Original Sin that led to the growth of the whole Brony fandom, when an article decrying the increasing merchandising of animation sparked some attention on 4chan, and things snowballed from there and you're reading this. Go fig.
It's worth noting that, while Ponyville Confidential mentions Bronies, and even discusses them in depth, it's not about Bronies. Or, rather, Connelly is more concerned with Brony reaction to the show (for better or worse) rather than some of the fandom's creative aspects, or the metatextual nature in which it went to influence the show. In fact, she's rather disparaging of the whole concept, giving “Slice of Life” an F in her listing of episodes. Or, in another part of the book, she describes the use of the word “Brony” in convention names such as BronyCon as solipsistic-- which seems a bit much, considering there are also conventions named Otakon, Geekcon, and NerdCon, but I digress.
I don't want to make it seem like Connelly is out for bronies-- in fact, she lambasts the stereotype of Bronies being creepy weirdos, and mentions the charity fundraising they do. This said, the last section of the book centers around fandom drama, which never ends well. She first delves into the whole Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Do/Bubbles/Muffins thing (which, again, culminated in “Slice of Life,” which Connelly hates), and then the whole kerfluffle that came up when Equestria Girls was announced. In particular, Connelly takes a couple of pages to absolutely tear EQD's Sethistro a new one (albeit in an academic way), which honestly may be worth the price of the book alone. Still, I imagine going elbows-deep into fandom drama is an easy way to sour one's opinion on bronies, or even on humanity in general.
So yeah! While Ponyville Confidential wasn't quite what I expected, it's still an interesting read. And while Connelly doesn't go as in depth into certain subjects as I'd like, I still learned a great deal from the book. Not just about ponies, but a lot about marketing and social reactions to it. Ponyville Confidential is well worth picking up if you've got an academic bent.
I just hope Connelly hasn't gotten horribly spammed by brony-trolls for the book. (I mean, shit, it seems like a woman can't do anything on the internet these days without getting death threats). I may disagree with her on certain points, but I'd still love to sit down with her sometime and talk about cartoons, cause she really knows her stuff. Heck, if I were in charge of pony-con (which, thankfully, I am not) I'd invite her to be a guest, though I don't know how well that might go over.
At least Connelly and I agree that Rarity is best pony.
Definitely interesting, not quite up my angle because it sounds like she really attacks folks I count as friends and that always gets my hackles up. But very good to hear your take :)
Sounds interesting. Do you have the Amazon link handy?
Gives slice of life an f? :(
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Ding.
It's cool to learn that GI Joe and Transformers had series bibles written by comic book creators, thanks for sharing that.
Don't we all.
What the hell is her problem with Seth? He's a saint!