I fear this post may get me in trouble with some of my friends, but I’m going to be honest. This week’s League assignment:
What piece of pop culture did you HATE as a kid?
Oh boy. Here goes.
I was a typical ’80s girl. Sure, I played with He-Man and GI Joe, but my room was filled with Strawberry Shortcake, Jem, Rainbow Brite, Princess of Power, Sweet Secrets, Sea Wees, Barbie, and all manner of other girly toys. There was one line, however, that I hated.
I despised My Little Pony. I never got the appeal. I kinda hated the Care Bears, too, but something about those damn ponies that just escaped me. My classmates were wild about the brightly colored ponies with the creepy faces and butt tattoos, but I liked my toy horses like Swift Wind or Starlite (Rainbow Brite’s steed). “But they have hair you can brush!” So? “But they have personalities!” Look, I’m weird, OK? I get it. They’re girly and silly, and they represent a lot of the things I hated about girls’ toys when I was a kid. My Little Pony and Care Bears didn’t have the darkness other toy lines had. (I know, neither did Strawberry Shortcake or Rainbow Brite, but I was little when I liked those.) Even when I was six or so, my favorite cartoon was Dungeons and Dragons or Blackstar. I required more than My Little Pony could offer.
Full disclosure? I don’t get the current MLP craze either. Yes, I’m sure Friendship is Magic is hilarious, and everybody has a favorite pony that matches their personality perfectly. (Oh, wait, I’m sorry. Everypony. Ew. I feel dirty even saying it.) But I tried to watch the show. The shrill voices gave me a headache. And I’m a huge fan of The Powerpuff Girls, which is chock full of shrill voices. I didn’t get the humor. (I mean, I got it. I just didn’t want it.) At the end of the day, they’re still ponies. Give them all the personality you want, they’re talking ponies. For some reason, I can suspend my disbelief for a lot of things, but ponies with dynamic personalities miss me completely.
So if you’re into My Little Pony, it’s cool. I can dig it for other people. Just don’t ask me to come over and brush Moondancer’s mane.
Adventures of a Geeky Vixen 
Not trying to win you over to the MLP camp (I’m more or less ambivalent to the property), but I will say that the first set of 80s MLP episodes (maybe it was the movie) has some pretty awesome villains in it. It’s gets Dungeons and Dragons dark. But just for those episodes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_at_Midnight_Castle Tirek has a bag full of black rainbows that beats like a heart. It’s creepy…
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80s ponies had many details that made it lame, specially for today’s standars: lack of personalities, lack of good animation (mainly the tv series) and lack of explanation about how they built an entire house, with furniture, a working kitchen and a large bedroom, out of the open country.
On the other hand, I liked the movie “Rescue at Midnight Castle”. They turned a king into a horrible monster and forced him to battle against ponies! That’s mind torture!
Cool!
Did I watched the series? yes, I had to, there was nothing else to watch. After all, In 1980s it didn’t feel so bad.
Up until a few months ago, I would have been right behind you expressing my hate for the MLPs. I never understood their purpose, nor the fun in ” brushing their hair”. Then I got some of the G1s at the flea market. There is something about their goofy expression that has kind of grown on me. Since I am older and more mellow, brushing their hair is kind of relaxing. But when you can find the right person to trade, they are golden! I started to write about these as well, but I did a quick post about how much I hate the pee and poop dolls.
I loved the toys, but I am with you on the cartoon. For the most part that original cartoon was terrible. Just terrible. But Shawn is right, there were some really great episodes that did have that feel of evil that really needed to be in the show to make it interesting. There is the Rescue at Midnight Castle like Shawn mentioned and the Escape from Katrina. They were pretty good and basically all I will watch from that show.
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