Good on Hasbro.

[nenena]

Hasbro edited that horrible, horrible scene from "The Last Roundup" and just made it a thousand percent better:

Of course the internet has been exploding today with bronies pissing themselves with rage over the fact that Hasbro "killed" Derpy. And sending death threats to Yamino and other fans who spoke out against the original version, etc.

Jesus pony-collecting Christ, the grossness of this fandom sometimes. If this had been the original scene in the first place you know the bronies would have been creaming themselves over how much they loved it. Does changing the voice and removing one mention of her fandom nickname from the scene really "ruin" it in any way?! The new voice is way cuter and who the fuck cares if your (arguably quite offensive) fandom nickname is mentioned in the show or not. This edit is probably the best possible way that Hasbro could have fixed the problem - it barely changes anything about the scene at all, but still makes it way more adorable and way less ableist, so hooray because EVERYBODY WINS - yet the bronies are really determined to throw an internet temper tantrum over this, aren't they.

Oh well. Hasbro is great, this show is pretty great, but the fandom has gotten horrible over the past year, news at eleven.

Comments

[kamdensl.livejournal.com]

This version of the scene is much better, even though it doesn't completely right the previous error in the first place. Though, for better or for worse, I'm impressed at how responsive Hasbro is to the fans.

Speaking of the fans, I'm gonna put this out right now: the "Derpy Hooves" obsession is one of the grossest things about the fandom. While the fandom is wonderfully enthusiastic and creative, this aspect alone has prevented me from getting too involved in this fandom. I really don't get offended by many things, but oh my God does this part of the fandom offend me so much.

Although I don't talk about personal stuff online too often, I will say that I've been pretty involved with nonprofits that help those with disabilities throughout my life. I've been around these communities often enough to know them pretty well, as well as how the people outside groups like Best Buddies react to them. I spent every day in high school my junior and senior year watching my kindhearted friend Guillermo get teased by assholes who would teach him to say or do inappropriate things, pretend to be his friend and put him into uncomfortable situations while laughing derisively at him, or straight-up make fun of him. They found it funny; I found it disgusting and cruel. The brony obsession with Derpy Hooves and all of the macros, fanart, reaction, etc, in my opinion, derives from the same vein of that behavior, sans most of the intentional malice.

"Derpy" people are funny, and its silly how they can't seem to do things right, bless them!<=NOT A TOLERANT DISPOSITION BRONIES. Don't kid yourselves. All of these comments about how the portrayal of Derpy Hooves is tolerant because it portrays those with disabilities in a "positive way" are ridiculous. How was the original scene "positive" to those with down syndrome? Was Derpy able to do something productive and helpful, or was she portrayed as a sweethearted screwup? Was Rainbow Dash understanding or was she agitated at Derpy? Actually, I want to mention something about the "sweethearted screwup" thing, since that's what most "tolerant" people think of those with disabilities. Yes, the people with disabilities that I have met and befriended are among the kindest, most life-loving people, but using that trait coupled with the "screwup" bit doesn't make Derpy or other special needs characters more well-rounded as a character (or less stereotypical, seriously guys). Derpy was still shown to be wrecking havoc and costing the city lots of money for the damage. Um. Most individuals with special needs aren't blissfully happy all of the time; they can also get frustrated at themselves and feel upset or angry, and their temperaments and attitudes are just as diverse as those in the general population.

Quick side note: why are people comparing this to shows like "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" and "Spongebob Squarepants?" Although I haven't really watched either of these shows (and don't care to, to be honest), any "special" characters in these shows are NOT comparable to Derpy Hooves. Those characters were designed that way from the onset and are not created from a fan reaction to a background character's animation error (was it originally an animation error? I could be wrong about that). Secondly, those shows, to my knowledge, base their humor on things that appeal to the lowest denominator, whereas MLP is more clever with its writing. And MLP, unlike the previously mentioned cartoons, tries to impart important life lessons about friendship, kindness, and acceptance for its viewers. It's so stupid to say "if its 'okay' for those other shows, why is Derpy offensive?!" We're comparing apples to oranges here, and I should mention that most shows that feature characters with disabilities either present them one-dimensionally or botch the character royally. Most characters with special needs in media aren't done well, period.

Next time Derpy Hooves appears in the show (though I personally hope she doesn't, since she only feeds this ignorant ugliness), she better be doing something that reveals a talent of hers, or something like that. Like my friend Guillermo, who is using his love for movies and theater to study it as a Theater Major at UCF (the second largest university in the nation). Or another friend, Robert, who's fascination with weather patterns and hurricanes led him to pursue a career in meteorology. That would be a truly positive portrayal, not a gross caricature.

[nenena]

THANK YOU. Yes, this, this, ALL OF THIS.

...Are people really trying to compare "Derpy" to Ed, Edd, n Eddy and Spongebob? WOW. I can't speak for Spongebob but in the case of Ed, Edd, n Eddy I'm going to guess that people are trying to argue that if the character of Ed is acceptable then "Derpy"'s original portrayal should be too? Except that Ed is NOT comparable to "Derpy". At all. You're right, it's apples and oranges. According to the words of the creator of Danny Antonucci, the creator of Ed, Edd, n Eddy, the character of Ed was BASED ON HIMSELF and not intended to have any sort of disability, despite having a deep voice and being a dim-witted space case. Homer Simpson has a deep voice and is a dim-witted space case too, but (as far as I'm aware) nobody reads him as having a disability. He's just a dumb, lovable screwup because sometimes cartoon characters are dumb, lovable screwups. The same is true for Ed in Ed, Edd, n Eddy and Spongebob in Spongebob Squarepants. These aren't characters that the audience associates with having disabilities, and it's bullshit to assert that they are. "Derpy," however, IS a character that the Derpy-obssessed part of fandom has always associated with having a disability - from the very beginning nearly all of the fanfic about her has portrayed her as having either a physical or cognitive disability, some of it much more positively than others - and yes, it is REALLY GROSS how a certain portion of the fandom is acting as if they're being fucking oppressed because their "right" to laugh at a character that was portrayed as a gross caricature of a disabled person is somehow being infringed upon. Ugh.

[kamdensl.livejournal.com]

From what I read from the comments on that video you shared, yes, people are comparing Derpy to other perceived "special characters." I think another one that was mentioned was Cosmo from the Fairly Odd Parents (now THIS one I watched, and wow, really?). Characters like these are made outlandishly dim-witted or silly to make children laugh and "get the joke;" they are not supposed to be representative of any real demographic. Derpy Hooves is, and even some bronies have unwittingly admitted as such.

I probably shouldn't even bother reading Youtube comments at this rate; 95% of Youtube comments are mindnumbingly inane, offensive, or just outright pointless and stupid.

It's good to know that some fanfic authors have been able to portray her with a disability in a positive manner (though I imagine you'd have to wade through pages of failtastic attempts to find a gem). I think that MLP could've made something good from a character with a disability. With how they've built up the Ponyville community, it's not out-of-place to give Derpy a role that emphasizes a strength of hers. At my high school, Robert did the morning weather report as part of the school's morning news. He loved to track hurricanes and cold/warm fronts, and he could answer almost any question about weather that you could think up. Especially during Hurricane Season, that's an extremely valued skill in Florida, and many students went to him for advice and updates.

Why can't they try that for Derpy? After this fiasco, Hasbro probably isn't going to touch the character with a 50 ft pole in any meaningful way, so my hopes aren't high.

[anitheanimaniac]

This.

I work for Prudential as a field worker and I work with a girl with down syndrome, who happens to be the daughter of one of my mother's long time friends. Seeing the fandom's reaction, what little I've seen of it, about the change in Derpy's voice makes me sick. And you're absolutely right, people with disabilities aren't always happy. They get frustrated, especially when they cant convey their feelings.
Everything you typed are my exact feelings on this matter.