Read this: Nazis are tearing the brony community apart
Given the chance, Nazis can and will ruin anything. Case in point: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Today’s essential read is this piece from The Atlantic’s Kaitlyn Tiffany, which details the upheaval in the community of adult and mostly male fans of the series, known as bronies. It is both very specific and broadly applicable to the state of the world at the moment, folding in issues of free speech and “free speech,” moderation, as well as complicity, hypocrisy, and much more.
There’s enough going on here that it’s difficult to neatly summarize or break down to one important point, but we can’t resist highlighting this little section here:
What’s clearest from talking with those on either side of the argument is that the My Little Pony fandom has developed a totally nonsensical hodgepodge of values. Many fans who specifically support Black Lives Matter, for example, are also fans of Aryanne, a fan-invented Nazi pony with a pink swastika on her hip. They do not acknowledge a contradiction. “I love Aryanne,” a 25-year-old My Little Pony fan named Sam told me. “It’s just cute, funny, sexy art.” Then he added, “Black Lives Matter art is great. I welcome it.” (Sam asked to go only by his first name to avoid harassment.)