Talk:Fame and Misfortune/@comment-10390252-20170812165307

As I predicted some time ago, this episode can pessimistically be perceived as an attack on the more intense parts of the Brony fandom by DHX and I'm sure it will be criticised as such. Oddly enough, it is my view that such a criticism would probably be missing the point. As the song said, none of the characters are intended to be perfect and it is certainly not reasonable to expect them to change and never backslide.

That said, an episode this meta (and it is interesting that this is from the pen of M A Larson, the writer of Slice of Life, the other über-meta episode of the show to date). If Slice of Life was a love letter to the fandom, this is an angry slap in the face of 'fans' who simply demand what the writers consider too high standards or things that the story, characters and concept simply cannot deliver. It makes me wonder if Larson (who said that he isn't happy with this episode being broadcast with his name on it) may have originally dropped the concept at an earlier stage because it was too defensive in its rejection of fans' criticism.

This meta concern aside, the episode was hiliarious in its portrayal of ultra-fans and haters in a way that suggests to me that Larson has been very, very focussed on what is posted on various forums and social networks about the show. I loved how the Mane Six's reaction to their fans (and anti-fans) reactions.

The song was okay and a nice ensemble piece but pretty much fits in with this season's "only barely average" song quality.

It's the final scene that sadly struck home the hardest with me. Two fillies - the 'target demographic' of 5- to 10-year-old girls - are the only ones that really 'get' the lessons of the Mane Six's lives. Meanwhile, the vast majority of fans, most of them adults - representing, I think, the adult brony and on-line analysis commnity - argue about careful analysis of the characters or mindlessly scream "Best Pony!" or "Worst Pony!"

Jim Miller infamously lashed out at the adult Brony community on Twitter, saying that they're not writing for us but are writing for the little kids. So, at the end, the Bronies representatives are left outside, arguing and excluded.

The moral? "You older viewers are not welcome here and we don't care what you think. Leave the show for the kids."

This episode gets a techical overall rating of 7/10 from me. My fears about the subtext made it somewhat hard for me to fully enjoy.

Oh, please note that, as far as I could tell no-one else other than M A Larson was credited for this episode. So much for his denials! What's going on with that?