Sta.sh
So it has come to my attention that recently Hasbro has (possibly?) ordered a cease and desist letter to WeLoveFine.com for selling Derpy Hooves related T-shirts. This, coupled with the mysterious disappearance of the episode "The Last Roundup" (which is the one where Derpy talks) from iTunes has gotten fans freaked out and panicky. The general belief is that Hasbro wants to stop the cannoning of internet named Derpy from the MLP series due to the backlash of people getting angry for them for doing so in the first place. Petitions are going up ( www.change.org/petitions/hasbr… ) and blogs are being posted and everyone's going nuts over this.
Here's my two cents:
From browsing around WeLoveFine.com I could see a number of deviantart images being used for T-shirts. Specifically My Little Pony related. Now It's very unlikely that the artists or the website got permission to sell these T-shirts, and whether you like it or not, selling merchandise with copyrighted characters on them (as we've already discussed in earlier journals) is technically copyright infringement. So to me it looks more like a big corporation responding to illegal activity involving their property.
Also, on the iTunes store there are two episodes labeled as 11, as well as the missing 14th episode. This could easily be a mistake, a glitch, or something else. I think the fact that the DVD publishers have confirmed that the Season 2 DVD will contain all the episodes unchanged backs that up. derpyhoovesnews.com/hasbro-pre…
Shortly after the episode which contained Derpy's name aired there was a bit of a backlash. People complaining that Derpy was an offensive term, or that it demeaned the character to have her act like an idiot, or that being cross-eyed was an offensive jab at people who have medical conditions, etc.
Personally, I can't behind that logic. If you have to discredit Derpy for being a clumsy slightly goofy accident prone character, then you better be prepared to discredit every other stupid/goofy character in all of cartooning history dating at least as far back as 1932. If you're going to hate on Derpy, you should ethically also be hating on Homer Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Elmer Fudd, Goofy, Pinky, Scooby and Shaggy, Ed, Dee Dee, Spongebob, Patrick, Fry, Peter Griffin, Billy, Heffer Wolfe, and any other of the thousands of less than intelligent cartoon characters ever created. Derpy is no exception.
With the internet it's very easy for people misconstrued something and take it the wrong way. I haven't seen anything yet from Hasbro which suggests they're "offended" by the character of Derpy and are actively trying to remove it from the series. Please remember that this is a big corporation and they have to follow rules that the internet blatantly loves to ignore or dismiss. Don't get mad at Hasbro for trying to protect their intellectual property, even if it's over a character that was named and latched onto by fans of the show.
This reminds me of when the Ponyarchive was taken down. Hasbro sent a cease and desist letter, and while many of the archive's members were willing to remove the site, a few tried to retaliate against Hasbro under the flimsy excuse that it was "helping" them. While I loved the ponyarchive website for having all the episodes in HD and links to view/download them... technically that is copyright infringement and wrong and the way the members reacted to the legal form was extremely childish and disappointing.
Don't let this be the same sort of thing. Don't flame Hasbro, or the T-shirt website. Wait until you have more concrete information (and not assumptions or speculation) before you start making petitions. And for god's sake people... have a sense of humor. Derpy is one of the most remarkable things I've seen regarding fan interaction with a franchise and it should be applauded that so far they've handled it so well.
And if you still think that Derpy is "offensive" then maybe you should instead be focusing your anger on the whole meme subculture which tends to continuously be racist, sexist, judgmental, intolerant, and downright mean spirited.
Bottom line? Everyone needs to chill out.
EDIT: It's been brought to my attention a number of things since I posted this journal.
1. WeLoveFine.com had permission both from Hasbro and DA users to use their artwork on the T-shirts being sold. So no copyright issues there.
2. The episode and T-shirt being pulled probably had more to do with legal matters surrounding the word "derp" and whether or not the original creators would sue them for using it. In other words, totally boring and normal legal business associated with big companies who make lots of money and has nothing to do with trying to piss off fans.
3. The T-shirts that were pulled are now back up.
See? That's why when something happens and you don't know why it did, you don't freak out and make petitions and clamor that everything you love is being ruined. You wait for answers, you do research, and you try to find out as much information as you can from RELIABLE sources and not tumblr or twitter comments. This whole ordeal is pretty stupid to me and I'm just gonna pretend it never happened. Derpy is still Derpy, you're still getting new episodes, and the creators of the show still love all their fans. Relax.
- Listening to: SoulEye - PPPPPP
- Playing: Minecraft
layer_embedded&v=X2CRjPO73Dg#!
OMG KORRA AS A KID!!!! (she could bend fire at the age of....... 6?) http://thegadgetfish.tumblr.com/post/8028837780/kid-korra
Jinora http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/5/53/Jinora3.jpg
Tenzin http://avatar.wikia.com/index.php?title=Tenzin&image=Tenzin-jpg (Meelo biting his head, lol!)
Tenzin and Pema's family http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/c/c8/Tenzin_Family.jp
The episode on iTunes was censored, with Derpy's voice changed, and her name removed
She most likely won't appear in season 3
So we DID have legitimate reasons to be concerned
Thank you for giving people a false sense of security
I never liked Ditzy doo, first thing I thought was dumb piece of C*** when I heard it, and can be sort of offensive in it's own right.
Since she has blonde hair and all, and ditzy has been associated with blonde in a negative way.
Itunes has the episode without the Derpy name and voice, but you can may still get the original version (at least on Comcast) cable right now since it is listed in OnDemand channel and unchanged.
at least until March 01.
How about Derpina?
Give me one.
All I can say though, is this.
The Hub also runs Dan Vs. Can anybody think of any SANE moral one could take away from this show? The fact HUB is running Dan Vs to good ratings should automatically have said to them "They would simply not care about offending a handful of disgustingly censor-happy moralists"
Because that show is awesomely hilarious and feels at-home in the '90s' when cartoons were started to say SCREW IT WE DON'T NEED NO SISSY MORAL MESSAGE and therefore, yeah, they probably wouldn't have cared.
Hell half the time Dan winds up proven RIGHT in his paranoia and uninformed anger over everything (like the french restaurant and ninja episodes).
So yeah in light of that the moral guardians focusing on Derpy alone amuses me greatly...And I hope that continues to be the only part of HUB that they see, elsewise they may begin to notice that Dan is just a nicer kid-friendly Duckman.
Her name is derived from a word that has often been used as a slur against disabled people. Of course those people feel a sting everytime the word gets thrown around carelessly. I don't understand the aggressive blame they get for saying: "This word hurt me in the past, can you perhaps not use it?"
And the other characters behave rather unaccepting around her, I have yet to see a scene where a pony behaves outright friendly towards her. Everytime she had the screen to herself, others glared at her, held her back from what she was doing at the moment or even outright told her to "sit down and do nothing" in order not to break anything.
As silly as the other characters mentioned in this post are, they do not have slurs as names and most of them are depicted as still being capable of many things, especially of making friends.
Patrick Starfish and Goofy are my favourite examples for that: Patrick's quirkyness is barely noticeable in Bikini Bottom, since almost everyone is kinda goofy. As a result of that, he's got some really close and reliable friends who hold him very dear - and he can freely enjoy every second of his life.
Goofy is the closest example because of his name - but just like Ditzy, it's a way less offensive way to say "silly". And on top of that, he had an entire movie dedicated to him being still worthy of acceptance and capaple of raising a child. I think in a lot of ways, he's exactly the kind of character the creators actually aimed for, but missed with Ditzys representation in the show.
I for one don't want Ditzy removed. No, it's the opposite. I'd love to see her have more scenes, I'd love to see her make more friends and I'd love to see her cross-eyed and clumsy and maybe even a bit slow in the future. But I'd also like to see how other residents of Ponyville accept that as something that's okay and love her for that, and I'd like the creators to show that she is not limited to being clumsy or silly. They can make more of her. That's what I'd like to see.
It's a shame that they won't change the name back to Ditzy though, but it can't be helped I guess.
As for the way the characters act towards her, it was really only Rainbow Dash being mean. But Rainbow Dash always does that. I remember in the episode right after that she yelled at Applejack, causing the other residents of Ponyville to yell at her, too. The other residents were just a bit annoyed at Derpy for destroying town hall. It's not like they all hate her.
Later on, Nazis used it. And by using it - only in one country and only against one group of people - they singlehandedly turned a symbol of safety into a symbol of oppression.
This can happen to words too, you know. If you do not believe me, believe this person who personally experienced it: [link]
The group that is affected might not be very big this time, but does that really have to mean that their feelings are invalid or not significant?
And since I can already see "How can you compare the persecution of Jews to the usage of an internet phrase?" coming: Why do you assume that the abusers stopped at slurs? There's a reason for the links I put in here mostly leading to the blogs of survivors.
Certain words and slurs are not only offensive to them - they're *triggering*. In case you don't know what that means: A trigger is something that can singlehandedly pull your mood down to the level of clinical depression, throw you into suicidal or self-harming thoughts, or even cause actual physical health problems for you. For example I knew a survivor who responded to his triggers by collapsing unconsciously and without breathing for up to two minutes.
I am genuinely happy for everyone who doesn't have triggers, and I am happy about everyone who uses words like "derp" in a harmless context. That is good of you to do, and I have high hopes that people like you will one day reclaim the word entirely as positive and harmless. But that will not change that as of now, it is hurtful to a group of people big enough for it not to be thrown around carelessly. I'm not talking about you talking to some friends in your room, not even about your personal blog. But I think a children's TV show that also reaches a broad adult audience is public enough to be careful with language, because it actually reaches the people it can hurt.
Especially so since many people turned to the show seeking acceptance and tolerance in the first place.
I have no right to forbid you to use a word I know you handle responsibly in your life. But at the same time, I wish from you that you respect my feelings in return when I don't want to hear it because it seriously hurts me. I think freedom was originally defined as "The freedom to do anything that doesn't harm another."
About the other characters, okay, I am going to list her bigger scenes (basically the camera focusing on her) for that:
1.) She drops something, the pony apparently responsible for the delivery glares at her angrily.
2.) She plays this game where you fish for an apple with the other ponies on Nightmare Night, accidentally pulling the plug(?). The pony behind her glares at her.
3.) She waves from the curtains of theater into the audience. Another pony pulls her back, glaring at her.
4.) She tries to help with the weather (?) and accidentally wrecks the townshall, Rainbow Dash is not amused.
I am not saying that the other ponies all hate her, but I can't remember a scene with her in the focus where she was protrayed as being liked.
I am not even saying that her being clumsy or silly is a bad thing. I just think the creators are overdoing it quite a bit and it would be nice if they'd just balance it out by showing a pony that's happy about her presence or something. Wouldn't it be kinda cute if they'd use Doctor Whooves for that, for example? Just showing him being delighted by her shenanigans, or her taking care of another pony's problem?
I guess I'm just going to leave some things written by the actual people affected here, not to be all "bluh bluh privilege bluh" (I actually try to deliberately avoid as many of the words affirmative movements tend to use as possible), but I just would like you to see that people are not hating. They're hurting.
[link]
[link]
[link]
We are all members of the same fandom and I am sure that we all love the character. I would like to see her go places. I just don't want fellow bronies and fillies to be hurt for that. After all, this is about friendship, tolerance and acceptance in the first place, right? :3
What I will say though is there is nothing wrong with my eyes. There is nothing wrong with my friends son. There is nothing wrong with my cousin. There sure as hell was nothing wrong with Derpy. Love, Tolerance, and Acceptance? Goes both ways brony. Derpy wasn't accepted for who she was...
I like the character and I am honestly disappointed that Hasbro apparently chose to erase her resemblance to disabled people instead of fixing the unfortunate implications surrounding her. Officially declaring her disabled and just portraying her as a pony that is clumsy but has many friends in Ponyville? That would have been nice. I'm sure a lot of people would have loved that. Just leaving the question if she's disabled or not open (after all, not everyone with bright eyes is necessarily disabled and vice versa, I'm conscious about that) and portraying Ponyville a bit friendlier towards her would also have been awesome... it's always nice when the fandom gets to fill in some blanks.
But as it stood when I wrote my original comment, she was coming off as an adorable pony that yet was frowned upon just because she also happened to be clumsy. And as it stands now, it's coming off like everything resembling a disabled person too much is too much trouble to be done right and will therefore just be erased. That's disappointing to me, I won't lie. :/
Her name was an issue too, although I'm starting to hold back more on that topic because as a foreigner I have no clue how much exactly "derp" and "ditz" versus each other are an issue.
But mostly, I'm basically upset because I really like the character. There's nothing wrong with *her*. There's something wrong with the Flanderisation she went through, and there's something wrong with how the other ponies treated her. I'm upset about that just as every fan is when they feel that one of their favourite characters is treated in an unjust manner.
I'm sorry that I offended you with what I said, I really hope that it's clearer now that I really didn't mean to. That I don't think that you or your cousin should have to hide or think badly of yourself. I know explaining myself might not help but... I really hope it helps a bit. <:/ Sorry if my wording comes off awkwardly, English is not my mother tongue... but I hope I could express what I mean this time instead of hurt others, because that's really not what I wanted to do.
To start off, I am not anti-Derpy. But just FYI, anyone who thinks Derpy is offensive is A) offended at the name and not the character herself, and B) probably offended at all the racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. memes in the first place.
I'm getting really tired of bronies simply assuming everyone else is wrong and just telling these hypothetical people that they shouldn't be offended. We need a real discussion with both sides listening to the other if there is actually even an issue. Find these people and educate them yourselves if you care about it that much. For all you know a parent has a daughter that is mentally challenged and has witnessed people making fun of her by saying "derp derp." That's probably not the case, I'm just saying it's justifiable for someone to be offended at her name if there was something similar like that that happened.
In my childhood, I saw many dumb/clumsy characters (my favorite being Patrick Star, Butters and Homer Simpsons) in saturday morning cartoons, yet none of them were blamed to be offensive for being stupid, "slowpoke" or extremly clumsy.
In my opinion, people just want to let out their anger and hate at things that alot of people like, as an act of self-satifaction/"revenge".
Remember, I hate MLP as well. I find it overrated, the theme of this show (friends) and the moral (I have watched the first 2 episodes, out of curiosity AND for not sounding like a moron when judging) has been done a thousand times.
Nothing is really original in this show.
However,
I do not support a group of butthurt haters that want to take away something that a whole community praise and adore. They need to let it go, because everything come to an end eventually.
For example : If somehow, the government decided to make every Heavy Metal-related products and merchandise illegal (wich would never happen
So go ahead and defend what you guys love. United you are strong.
Sincerely,
A smart and tolerating hater.
There is a history of 'odd/silly/stupid' characters in cartoons. Remove one because its offensive, remove them all, stop making characters silly in cartoons, basically stop making cartoons and make all real-life/reality shows. Sometimes people just need to relax and then think about what they're doing.
Well, said Tom, well said.
There are no plans to release any seasons on DVD, they just do random episode sets.
Lol, j/k.
I say Derpy stays
No one really chills so much.
Like that little incident with the island that Denmark has? So many people freak out over an inaccurate article and didn't even bother to do research. :/
Man, just typing all that up just gives me a headache. I'm too chill to care about all this drama.
hate to break it to you, but you guys are the ones making yourselves seem like whiny butthurt manchildren, not trolls.
I DID read the journal and agree that the charictor was not offensive and thinking otherwise is fucking stupid, so your wrong.
4chan didn't have threads up about it because anyone who posts pony's is likely to be ban or have there post saged intill it 404s thus the main reason for ponychans existence, so your only sort of right in that case.
Now that I have mostly debunked every point you made I have only this to say.
I've posted my oppien in a public journal you disagree with me and I disagree with you.
nothing is going to change that, thus we have nothing else to say to each other.
So kindly stop replying to me.
Your pathetic attempts to insult me by ignoring everything i post and focusing on one or two lines is childish and pointless,I have wasted enough time on you.