Talk:Derpy/@comment-5081250-20120505212037/@comment-89234-20120508063024

...well, I can answer his question, anyway. Nobody, to my knowledge, is offended by "embracing a character with derpy eyes", but...

Personally, I've been clinically diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. Social interaction has been something I've had to learn in a way that most people take for granted -- more so in person -- and it remains a challenge today. How much that has to do with Derpy, I'm not sure, although you've probably seen how many people claimed that Derpy was a positive portrayal of someone with a mental disorder. (As it is, I've heard from people with actual mental disabilities who were offended by Derpy's appearance. At least one mentioned use of "derpy" as a slur dating back to before the Derpy Hooves phenomenon.)

So, I'm sympathic either way. However, when it comes to lazy eyes... well, it wasn't just her lazy eyes. She's gotten along with those eyes for a little over a year now and I don't remember any complaining. Unfortunately, when she came into the limelight, several other things came together and turned her into something other than "a clumsy pony with two lazy eyes". (Contrast her first intentional cameo in "Feeling Pinkie Keen", where that is basically her appearance. I'm curious: Did you have any particular feelings about that?) The problems only arose when those eyes became part of a larger package that looked like a crude caricature of something else entirely.

I wouldn't say that the people who complain about seeing these stereotypes are also the ones keeping them alive. Obviously, I don't personally know them, but I don't think that they meant any harm. Lazy eyes were one element of a larger, genuinely unfortunate image. A real person -- even, say, a girl with crossed eyes, clumsy behavior, and a slow, male-sounding voice, although the name "Derpy" is a stretch -- might not be able to help the way they are designed, but a character in a show designed with intent and forethought is another story, and often has been.

Honestly? When you put it that way, I'd like to see more of her... but I think that more than anything, the fans' backlash has scared them off from risking putting her up front again, no matter how she looks. She has become, herself, an extremely touchy issue.