Galneda 2012-03-02 08:12:40

I just think it's backpedaling from making Derpy over-the-edge retarded.

Even if that were the case, I think Hasbro should've stuck to their guns; maybe there are little girls out there that have crossed eyes and there's nothing they can do about it...maybe those cross-eyed kids could find a relatable trait in Derpy. Either way, the "ditziness" in her was always cute and endearing, not overpowering and shameful....Hasbro's making a mistake, but maybe they'll realize that. Hell, they aren't going to refer to her by anything else, methinks.

But come now. Censorship is easing off a pebble at a time. Take this comparison, My Little Pony and Transformers in the 80's versus MLP:FiM and Transformers Prime now.

The current generation has ASTONISHING depth to it, because it knows kids are smarter. So while Hasbro might be a little light-footed in their fears of pissing off a parent with Derps, they're simultaneously challenging that core demographic's thought processes with some pretty adult dilemma's and ethical situations. Hell, in Transformers Prime, it's fuckin' DARK. Millions of Autobots and Decepticons have died, and there's gruesome flashbacks to atrocities in the Cybertron war...it restores faith that Hasbro hasn't completely lost their spine.

MindChamber 2012-03-02 09:53:56

Hasbro is a business, They are about the bottom dollar. They arent the types to cater to anyone really.
Last thing they want is a certain character fan created or not to take a life of its own out side of the franchise. While obviously I cant say for sure their reasoning for removing is as noble as they set out to be.. I personally believe they dont want the show to fall into some deranged cult status from which they lose their demographic.
Think how quickly ren and stimpy was cancelled after the creators went full gross out. They dont want their show derailed by adult fanbased nonsense.
But yah it sucks. I have no problem with the word derp.

Luis 2012-03-02 10:13:02

I think that episode of Recess perfectly illustrates whats going on. New things are scary to older people. That isnt meant as a derogatory jab, but more an honest truth. I think especially now with the internet and the speed of information traveling, its hard for older generations (who didnt have access to the things kids do these days) become very uneasy about new things. So here comes a new word and they dont know how to deal with it, and the natural human thing is to classify it as threatning if something is foreign. Just natural human way of dealing with the unknown.

I dont think its an act of censorship per se, i think its just the natural evolution of a word and language thats ever changing.

You have words that go into extinction, words that end up meaning something totally different, words that are turned into verbs/adjectives/nouns/names, etc.

I remember as a kid, my mother would scold me for saying 'sucks'. I think nowadays those types of words have more or less crept into the accepted fiber of conversation, and are no longer 'taboo' or whatever, as kids shows rated G use it.

Its unfortunate when this happens but i think its a natural occurrence of a changing language.

I've been watching alot of old shit lately, like the Frank Sinatra show of the 50's. He uses the term 'gay' quite often. Like care-free and gay. Contexts that are no longer 'acceptable' in todays standards, be it due to the rise in homophobia, or the taboo aspect that the term gay/homosexual carries with ti. Whatever the case, it goes to show that even in today's standards where you figure that by now humans have become more open minded about things there are still some terms that are 'banned'.

beastkid7 2012-03-03 04:18:10

I feel what your saying about how it looks to children, the effect it might have on them and the positive effect it could have potentially made. Accepting differences.

It's funny that you bring this up now because today I just watched an episode of 30 Rock called "The C word". Were Liz Lemon was mad one of her writers had called her a cunt, and talked to a workmate about it:

Pete Hornberger: Well, you know, he was probably just blowing off steam. You can't fire a guy for cursing.

Liz Lemon: No, I - I'm not upset by cursing. I *love* cursing. I love it! But this word is not acceptable - no - because there's nothing you can call a guy back. There is no male equivalent to this word.

Pete Hornberger: Well, why don't we come up with one, and then you can call him that? Like, um, "muncus."

Frank Rossitano: "Fungdark."

Liz Lemon: What?! No that won't work!

Pete Hornberger: You're just in reaction right now. You need to just take a few hours and calm down.

Liz Lemon: Don't tell me to calm down, you fungdark!!

Pete Hornberger: Yeah, you're right; it doesn't work.
---

Actually one of my major experiences with this "word phenomenon" was with "the C word". I. thought.. nothing of that word. Until a guy off evenhandedly used it on a field trip ...and a girl went off on him! I was astonished lol I didn't know its power. Now every time I even think about saying cunt my mouth feels dirty.
---
See, the reaction is what causes the "force" of the word. How people react. --In a room full of 'sailor mouths' ..curses loose there shock. --again by pure happenstance, I was watching this last night. Were Donald Glover was explaining what makes the word "N***a" so powerful.

It's a long vid ..go to 19:50

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_-5Zzwg12M&feature=BFa&list=HL1330749478&lf=mh_lolz">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_-5Zzwg12M&amp ;feature=BFa&list=HL1330749478&lf=mh_l olz</a>
--

Now that I've typed a bit ..if reaction makes the word strong. Then I see how derpy is becoming a derogatory word. ..hmm..

I agree with Mindchamber, Hasbro might have alternate reasons for wanting to get rid of derpy. Most likely they don't want to have to cater to that demographic. They don't want to feed Bronies :p (speaking halv out the arse hear cuz I'm only going by hearsay) But, I do see that being the case. I mean, if they would just roll with it ..I could imagine now them in a meeting thinking "..Okay, how do we gear marketing to 30 yr old men?" lol

Holy text limit

beastkid7 2012-03-03 12:23:18

30 Rock, that show is the definition of clever. The Dialog ..it is thee wittiest show I've ever watched. (started watching it on Netflix)

"There's just that one 30 year old guy on youtube."

hahahaha, yeh ino, I was rounding up in age to be more dramatic ^^

d-z 2012-03-04 15:06:16

I have this friend working in Canada who became close friends with a black guy. He told me that he wanted to call the guy the n-word because the black guy told him that he was his n****. And he wanted to show his affection as well since it would appear that they had become very close. The black guy told him that he can't do that in public because it would look bad. My friend could, however, call him the n-word when it was only the two of them and no other guys can hear. So they decided that they'd call each other "Ninja" in public which should mean the n-word but nobody would know. It was their code. But what if my friend and this guy had a quarrel and he called him ninja in a different tone? Now the meaning would be fucked up and the reactions would be entirely different. Words being able to bear different meanings all the time makes it possible to mean anything with any word. Even the way some art forms, especially the abstract ones are very vague, easily allow people to substitute their own meanings. And as you would say Jak that the majority who agrees that something is bad makes it a rule for everyone to follow. Maybe someone could turn the word "construe" into a bad word. I really hate this word.

Solidson 2012-03-26 22:13:41

I have always hated the word derp. Along with other countless shitty 4chan memes. Please act your age and NOT use something that an idiotic second grader would enjoy laughing at.

redminus 2012-03-28 03:28:38

You've gone over these points a little already, but I'd say that it could be a number of things at play here or a combination. Firstly, Hasbro could be prematurely squelching something that they think may have an offensive connotation, or else they've observed the meaning of the word in action and feel that it's leaning too far toward something that could be offensive for their tastes. If they've observed that it's a way to label less intelligent people of whatever nature, it would kind of be understandable if they wanted to disconnect themselves from its use, they've developed a wildly popular brand and it probably wouldn't be in their best interests to risk seeming as though they were promoting or encouraging anything that might be tantamount to a form of bullying, even if it were only in the form of labeling.
Secondly, it could be more simply that they're aware that it's something that comes from "the internet" and are uneasy about adopting its use as they perhaps aren't in a position to be sure that they know what it means, and if it's safe to be using.
Thirdly, along the same lines as my previous point, it could also be that they view it as something too niche or "memey", like an inside joke for internet culture, that would be lost on (or even confusing for) their television demographic. They may also even feel that as it's a meme-related term, it could easily die out at any time and would make the episode or character seem outdated very quickly, and thus less culturally relevant instead of more.
It could really be any or a combination of the above... the thing to remember is that as much as the new generation MLP seems to be a really "with the times" kind of ultra-modern post-saturday-morning-cartoon pop culture brand, it's also a very tightly controlled corporate product with a very deliberate brand identity. Any decisions to incorporate references from external pop culture sources would be deliberated on very seriously and will always favor brand longevity and safety rather than appealing to something that just seems cool at the time. Which may seem contradictory or strange on account of pop culture itself being something that appeals by just seeming cool at the time, but hey, that's showbiz