CBC News
Posted: Aug 25, 2013 7:39 AM PT
Last Updated: Aug 25, 2013 7:36 AM PT
Hundreds of fans, many of them grown men, gathered in Richmond, B.C., Saturday to show their love for the children's animated show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
The event was the first national Canadian convention for the fans, who call themselves "bronies" — a portmanteau of "bros" and "ponies."
Nearly 800 people from across Canada and the United States attended the event, which featured a "Ponyville Idol" contest, a pajama party and various panels featuring voice actors, writers and musicians on the show.
The bronies, who came bedecked in costumes inspired by the show, say they hoped to spread the My Little Pony message of tolerance, inclusion and friendship to non-bronies who may not understand the show's appeal.
"As a man, you think to yourself: 'What am I doing with my life?'" said fan Alex Atley. "As I kept on watching it…my heart, so to speak, became lighter and softer and ever since then I cannot be happier."
'Colourful and innocent'
"I don't think you have to have bad intentions to like little girls or to like the things that they like," Faust said. "And it's upsetting to me that people jump to those conclusions. I think it's unfair to men and I think it's unfair to girls and women."
To set the record straight about Bronies, Faust, John de Lancie and others are producing a documentary that filmed over the weekend at BronyCon. De Lancie is the voice of Discord on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and is perhaps best known for playing the character Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Zac North travelled from his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to be with fellow Bronies in New Jersey this weekend. He dressed as his favourite character, the antagonistic Discord, wearing a hooded and multicolored costume complete with a dragon tail, since Discord is a pony-dragon hybrid.
Why does he like the show?
"It's colourful and innocent, which is something I don't have in my life," the 26-year-old Sam's Club worker said. "I like the community away from the show."
Twenty-year-old My Little Pony fan Gabby Pantaloni of Hershey, Pa., said she was kind of shocked that so many guys like the show, as she stood in a line at BronyCon to get her picture taken with other enthusiasts dressed like her favorite character Rarity.
Faust told The Associated Press at BronyCon on Saturday that she never imagined the show would be such a hit with teenage boys and young men. She said her main target was little girls, but she hoped to draw in moms and perhaps some boys with strong characters and compelling story lines.
"We live in a society where saying that something is for girls is the equivalent to saying that something is stupid, or saying that something isn't worthwhile," Faust said.
"I think that's awful and I think that kind of attitude needs to be changed," she said. "And these men are doing it. … They're proud that they're forward-thinking and modern enough to look past this misogynistic attitude."
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