Now to my point...
It kind of sucks being Catholic and liking these kinds of shows. First I get the standard accusations of being effeminate from the more conservative members of my faith. And here I mean conservative as opposed to orthodox. Worse, Catholics can't very well find solace or empathy in the communities for these kinds of shows. The vast majority of the online community for MLP or AT is fairly liberal college students and young adults. I am an outsider to virtually all people I could talk to about these shows. Case in point: In an episode of Adventure Time, which I'm not going to explain everything about, the character Marceline is singing a song which might or might not be interpreted as having a lesbian bent. This being the internet, people took it and ran with it. Very far if you're brave enough to google image it. (I wouldn't)
Likewise, My Little Pony is show about 6 ponies discovering, aptly, the magic of friendship. These characters are all female, as is about 80% of the population of Equestria where they live. Once again this has led to many things which cannot be unseen.
While this is all fine and dandy for those who take no issue for it, as a Catholic it is a distinct reminder of my outsider status. I'd obviously never value a TV show over my faith, but it's never nice to feel left out. Furthermore, I don't have the knee-jerk, disgusted reaction to common immoral situations portrayed in modern media. People sin, some people have no problem with it, and we're all human beings. However, thanks to the culture wars of the modern day I am disliked by most people on both sides. Like I said, I'm adverse to the throw-out-your-TV mentality, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw out my opposition to gay marriage just to fit in with the people I deal with the most.
And this can be applied to a lesser extent to my entire experience on the internet. I had depression (clinical, it was not a self-diagnoses) for several years and so had no real social life to speak of prior to my college life. I grew up on the internet. Yeah, I could restrict myself to the Catholic sphere of the web, but a lot of the people on those sites seem like fundamentalists, or worse, National Catholic Reporter readers.
I can't help that my temperament tends to coincide with 13-34 year old males who enjoy MLP; I just wish that I didn't seem to be the only social conservative who does.
I also take issue with calling myself conservative. 1. because I hate labels and 2. because I think there's a distinction to be made between the political positions labeled conservative and actually being a conservative. But that's for my next post.
Looks like we have some things in common; I watched a lot of cartoons back in the day ('Transformers,' 'Pokemon,' etc), including several of those same CN shows (like Faust’s PPG and 'Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends'). I haven’t seen 'Adventure Time,' but I definitely do admit that I became a Brony after DGD informed me of the Derpy brouhaha back in February; now all of sudden I’m watching FiM and wearing Derpy T-shirts. In fact, I’m even thinking of writing a fan fic on everypony’s favorite princess, Luna.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do sometimes get the feeling of straddling the line between the Catholic and secular worlds as a Catholic Brony, especially when you consider how prevalent is the tendency for Bronies to sexualize the show, making the “Mane 6” into lesbians (just look at all those RD ship fics). Nevertheless, I find the friendship message in the show to be un-ironically positive and a potential teaching aid for the Catholic virtue ethicist, so I don’t mind admitting that I’m a fan of the show and a bit of an eccentric. It doesn’t hurt that there’s some prominent Catholic Bronies out there like the sci-fi writer John C. Wright (I wouldn’t use myself as an example, as I’m a bit of a nopony at the moment).
Yeah, Equestria is definitely a mare-dominated world (the most prominent male character isn’t even a pony, but a baby dragon). I mentioned this imbalance once to DGD, who told me this was one major reason we see so many lesbian fan fics (along with common prurience of today's 13-34 male sort). I wondered how a society like Equestria could survive with monogamous marriages. Think of all those single mares who’ll never marry! Of course, if MLP were realistic, each stallion, every Big Mac, Blueblood, Dr. Whooves, Soarin', or Braeburn, would be a major stud…
I also share your dislike for political labels, especially of the modern sort, like “liberal” or “conservative.” I guess as an orthodox Catholic and a Thomist, I'd be a conservative of sorts, though more specifically a "realist conservative" in the manner described by Ed Feser here:
http://www.ideasinactiontv.com/tcs_daily/2006/01/the-metaphysics-of-conservatism.html
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll! I can see you also found the talented writer Marc Barnes.
"Nevertheless, I find the friendship message in the show to be un-ironically positive and a potential teaching aid for the Catholic virtue ethicist"
DeleteAnd I think that's the most important part for Catholic Bronies. You look around the same age as me, so I'm sure you've realized how very rare it is for our generation to express actual joy at anything, much less something with an unambiguously positive message. Everything has to be ironic or else it's lame. MLP has the unfortunate pull towards slash fan-fics and often "Love and Tolerate" is abused, but despite all this most bronies if nothing else seem genuine.
Thanks for the link to that article as well, too long for me to read and comment on now but definitely bookmarked for later.
YES! It is about time i found a circle i can relate to. i am a brony, and as much as i love the show and its fandom, i still get either angered or annoyed or sickened when "shipping" comes up. i tend to ignore it or scroll on but it still kinda get under my skin, also... being the typical college-aged person its hard to find someone with similar view of both MLP and morality.
ReplyDeletethank you for this post. it made my day
You are not alone.
ReplyDeleteYo! I'm no brony, but I do like MLP, and I am also Catholic. I feel ya, man. I really do. :) Sucks there aren't more Catholics in pony or pop culture fandom.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the Lone Ranger. It's fun at times, but it does get pretty lonely being the only one grounded in faith.
Take heart. It will get better someday.
You are definitely not alone! The main thing I love about MLP is the childlike innocence that is almost impossible to find these days.
ReplyDeleteSo, I figured out of all people, you would appreciate this. They pray the rosary at my church (appropriately, Our Lady of the Annunciation) before vigil Mass, specifically the Joyful Mysteries since it's a Saturday. I had this weird epiphany this weekend: the fruits of the Joyful Mysteries correspond to the Elements of Harmony (excluding Twilight Sparkle's Magic of Friendship).
ReplyDelete1) The Annunciation - Humility - Apple Jack's Honesty
2) The Visitation - Love of neighbor - Fluttershy's Kindness
3) The Nativity - Poverty - Rarity's Generosity (for my purposes, you could also consider Jesus as God's greatest gift)
4) The Presentation - Obedience - Rainbow Dash's Loyalty
5) The Finding in the Temple - Joy - Pinkie Pie's Laughter
I'll admit, some of them are a bit of a stretch, but I just thought that was neat. Perhaps something to consider when trying to reconcile MLP and Catholicism.