Oct
14th
2012
The biggest challenge so far... My father · 5:34am Oct 14th, 2012
I don't know if any of you are having this problem, but my dad isn't taking the whole brony thing well. I tried the best I could to explain but I don't think he seems to get it. He kept saying I was obsessing over a little kid show and that its unhealthy. Then I told him that the show has plenty of older viewers like myself. I don't think he took that well. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what he meant but he is afraid for my safety because he thinks that by participating in the community that someone somewhere is hoing to hunt me down or something. He got the wrong idea completely. As much as I hate to ask but I think I need help.
hhrrmmmm quite a predicament you have there bro. Think he's gonna try to make to stop watching completely?
Ugh. My sympathies, man. This is why I don't bring it up with my dad anymore. Fortunately, he has a REALLY shoddy memory, so a few days after hearing about it, he forgot it. My father happens to be a retired US Marine. He tried to 'solve the problem' in the same way he tries to solve any interpersonal conflict. Fortunately, it didn't escalate to physical violence, just lots of belittling, threats, etcetera.
Sounds harsh, and it's unfortunately somewhat common from what I've seen and heard. I'm lucky to have a dad that's fine with it. His explanation was "It's no different than me liking Spongebob". He may not understand it all the time and teases me occasionally, but he's cool with it. He's just worried about my safety. I'm not good with advice, so let's turn to Ask The Ponies for this. (Totally shameless plug 'cause that site needs more people. It's literally me and five other people in the forum.)
I've no experience with this problem. Sorry, I was cursed with parents that don't care what I like so far as it doesn't lead me to harm myself or others.
tell the guy its a cartoon then ask him how watching 22 minutes of tv and talking to other fans translates into kidnapping? it the same as saying drinking water forces you buy a box of crayons.......[completely stupid and ridiculous] (the brackets are optional but not recommended)
that is option four on my list options
1) laugh and ignore him
2) ignore him and not laugh
3) tell him he's an idiot
5) have him watch it
believe it or not me and my dad have a good relationship and we refuse to pull punches with anything so the upside is when he's being a fucking retard i tell him and he backs off and rethinks things the results
4.2/10 yep that was stupid
3.8/10 he rebuttals and shows me that i in-fact am the fucking retard
2/10 we're both stupid
but to help you better understand me here are the top five words used by my friends, family, and co-workers (and before you flip i'm only 20) to describe me Deceptive, Cold, Malicious, Kind, and Caring..........Deceptive is on occasion replaced with Nice or Loyal or Handy in a Fight...but the rest are pretty much a constant and no the order is not important nor reflective of anything
Well, I don't know how old you are, or what your situation at home is. But to be perfectly honest, it's a personal choice of yours, and he needs to respect that. Regardless of his feelings on the matter, you are the one who gets to decide the course of your own life. My own dad is a principal at an elementary school. When I told him, he immediately associated the whole thing with pedophiles, until he learned more about it. For a while, it was tense, but I made sure he respected my choice.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's your life, he doesn't get to live it.
in response to someone asking me if I was serious in liking MLP: FiM
We are serious about the message that my little pony has become. it is overwhelmingly about acceptance, friendship, and being a good person, where every other show, movie, and game has left those all to rot.
We are as serious as the average gamer is about gaming. its not our entire being, we are people who have other interests and joys in life, but its our hope. Its our thing that we look back to and smile because the customer screaming at us cant ruin it for us.
People are so stuck on the fact that it was designed for a different audience, they fail to see the message. if little girls were watching an educational show aimed at teenagers, we wouldn't berate them for it. This show simply teaches lessons the world has told men they don't need to know, like friendship, kindness, loyalty, generosity, honesty, and how to laugh. It is a shame more shows don't bother with any of that.
Feel free to use this, anyone who needs a good explanation to give to others. good luck!
Try showing him all the GOOD that has come out of the fandom:
[youtube=j6pYVUtCMa4]
[youtube=7O3tAhQVU3k]
http://www.fimfiction.net/
http://20percentcooler.net/
http://www.derpyhoovesnews.com/
http://equestriadaily.com/
http://reddit.com/r/mylittlepony
Depending on your age, http://reddit.com/r/clopclop with the explanation being the headline: "Because /r/mylittlepony must remain pure!"
http://massivesmileproject.com/
http://broniesforgood.org/?page_id=485
http://broniesforgood.org/
tons more, but those are all i know/recall at this time.
[youtube=UaG-JijAr-c]
And the ole' staple explanation videos: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic
[youtube=a27oq09lhPw] (although I only recommend this one if your father's a cynic, as blunty3k tends to be a bit of an arse)
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/cr/ff/32594-episode-58-my-little-pony-retrospective-g4
Wish I could help, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I haven't ever been put in such a situation thus far. I think my dad nearly went the same route as yours dad went when it first started to go around that I had become a brony...but eventually he got interested in the show too, and that solved that.
I would hazard to guess, though, that a good move, or at least one that could help, would be to find someway to show to him what bronies are really like on average, and that there really isn't too much to worry about.
Tell him the show is about a scientist doing reasearch on eldritch super weapons at the behest of the god-empress that rules her home.
422349 THIS
But yeah. My dad isn't exactly down with the whole 'Ponies thing' but at least his reaction wasn't this bad...
I dunno what I can do to help. 
To be frank, I'm not a good choice for this sort of advice, so feel free to ignore the following:
1. Is your dad in any way qualified as a psychologist?
> If YES: Tell him that he's jumping to conclusions and should gather more data before making a diagnosis.
> If NO: Tell him he has no idea what he's talking about and should gather more data before making any sort of decision.
2. Is your dad reasonably capable of logical thought?
> If YES: Tell him to sit down and shut up while you show him the first two episodes, then discuss the damn things and what they mean.
> If NO: You're fucked. Best bet is to never bring it up and dance around the subject because, frankly, I don't have enough faith in humanity to believe that you'll ever reconcile.
423742
In all seriousness, everything I would suggest already has been. The one thing I might add: Tell him that it's a show that has amazing writing, beautiful animation, and that since that's better then most of the other stuff that's on right now, that's what you'll watch.
Alternatively, there are a few stories written by bronies who have actually had their lives saved by MLP:FIM, if you want to try to find one to convince him.
425253 I tried the first, but he didn't believe me.
Gearshed, try showing him an episode or two. He'll prolly react negatively, but he might not. And choose some of the really good ones, like any of the season pilots, Party of One, or It's About Time. At this point, you want to ake the best impression possible.
(And I should follow my own advice)