The cartoon show “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” is most often associated with children. That is not the case anymore. The show and the fandom surrounding it has risen to become an Internet phenomenon, Jake Harper, president of the Wyoming United Bronies Club, said.
Harper, a sophomore at UW, created this club in October. It is the newest Recognized Student Organization on campus. He is a brony. A ‘brony’ is an adult fan of the show MLP, according to bronystudy.com.
The club meets on Saturday in the classroom building room 209 to watch MLP in a social setting.
“The purpose of the club and the show is to give people an opportunity to get involved with leadership. It allows people to explore working together for a mutual goal,” Harper said.
The episodes of MLP reflect the pillars of a progressive society, Harper said. Those pillars are honesty, loyalty, kindness, happiness and generosity, Harper said.
The club of approximately 30 members had its first meeting on Saturday. It watched the premiere of the new season and allowed members to meet each other.
The timing of when episodes are released facilitates when the group meets, Harper said. The group is social and built around group viewings of MLP, Harper said.
Right now, the club is focused on “hanging out and being social together,” Harper said.
The brony culture grew from the Internet savvy, Harper said. Harper has been a fan for a year and a half now. According to bronystudy.com, 85 percent of the fan base who answered the survey it conducted was male. Another statistic states that the average fan is a 21-year-old male.
Harper said that fans actually are very social and outgoing. Most are daring and they are confident in who they are, Harper said.
It is a little strange that adult males are drawn to a cartoon show aimed for a drastically different target audience.
“The irony and the fact that it is so completely different sets it apart from other shows,” Harper said.
Harper’s favorite part of being a brony is the inside jokes and culture. What originally drew him to MLP were things that fans made, he said. Memes, videos and pictures intrigued him, Harper said.
Brony culture has been around for two years now, Harper said. It just celebrated its second anniversary.
“We, as a culture, are at a very cool spot right now. We are at a peak-point where we are no longer underground but we are not mainstream yet,” Harper said.
