In re needs-more-plot on a Foalcon YouTube Thumbnail (Link Contains Foalcon!) [Link]
http://needs-more-plot.tumblr.com/post/77937734740/the-brony-critic-first-and-foremost-i-want-to
First and Foremost, I want to thank Ponies-Against-Bronies for bringing this to my attention.
You’re looking at a video thumbnail for an episode upload of Twilight Time. The location of the video upload, incase the top-left of the image didn’t make it obvious, is Youtube.
Anyone who has used Youtube for any amount of time knows that video content showing explicit sexual content automatically gets blocked by the system. Unfortunately, this does not apply to thumbnails apparently. This is an issue that needs to be fixed on Youtube’s part.
That, however, is not the point of my rant.
I am going to be blunt and to-the-point.
What you are looking at here is a foal-con image as the placeholder for a video that this episode. Why is this a problem? For two reasons.
Reason #1: there are people who are under the age of consent, who are under the age of even sexual knowledge (AKA ADOLESCENTS) who watch and enjoy the show. I have the mature filter activated on my Youtube/Google account because I’m not partial to porn. Long-short, used to watch it, got tired of it when it go out of control, don’t wanna go back. The fact that I can still see that WITH THE CONTENT FILTER ACTIVATED is a problem. The fact that a kid, who has no business seeing anything of the sort can see that IS A BIGGER PROBLEM. I shouldn’t need to go any further on this point - kids don’t need to see that mess, just like any kid on Tumblr or just browsing image search results on Google don’t need to see that mess. It’s not for them, it’s not appropriate, and it irresponsible, sick, and offensive to upload that content for all to see.
Reason #2: It’s child porn.
I’m going to be blunt. It is child porn. Plain and simple. Anyone and everyone who either makes or views, regularly, imagery, videos, animation, flash games, or any other multimedia that features characters that are clearly underage is looking at, and likely getting off on, child porn. Anyone who says that is not is either lying to themselves, or are completely ignorant. The only difference between these two things is the fact that the type of child porn you usually hear people getting arrested for viewing is of actual children, recorded by actual people who are sexually abusing said children. Images like the one shown above are of fictional characters, yes, but they are still CHILDREN. Children, by the definition of most cultures (most importantly right now, North American culture), are considered to be between the ages of birth to eighteen (18) years old (or sixteen (16) years old in some NA states). Regardless, these people are under the age of consent. And according to our laws, any sexual content made of these people - these children - are illegal.
Furthermore, it shows that people have an attraction towards children. Why do you think people make things like lolicon (or foalcon in the case of the brony fandom?) Because people who are smart enough know that the only way they can get their kicks without technically being at risk of being thrown in the back of a cop car is through such fandom-porn media. However, in my eyes, the fact remains that, whether you’re jerking (or jilling) off to real-life children or fictional children, you are still doing so to images of CHILDREN.
The simple fact is that the image shown above is indicative of a person who is being offensive for offense’s sake. Does it necessarily mean that (s)he’s a pedophile? I can’t say yes or no. I’m not a cop, I haven’t been tracking his internet history or anything of the sort; I know nothing about him. However, there is a level of decency that simply has to be acknowledged and adhered to. If the person’s doing this strictly to spite those of us in the fandom, and those outside the fandom, who find such material to be abjectly offensive, then this person seriously needs to grow the fuck up and realize that the world doesn’t revolve around him. If they’re trying to do this, AND there’s an honest attraction towards these characters, simply put, the person needs to find professional help.
TL;DR Version: The thumbnail above is disgusting and offensive. I don’t care what the reason for putting it up is, it is inappropriate for the site, it is offensive to people, and it is at risk of exposure to kids. Whoever put this up needs to grow the fuck up and either replace the thumbnail with something appropriate, or take the video down immediately. Any brony who supports the use of that thumbnail is either a social deviant or a pedophile, and I humbly invite anyone and everyone who wishes to try to convince me of otherwise.
I agree 100% with the first problem. That is absolutely unacceptable.
I don’t agree with the second part. You obviously really don’t know what foalcon/lolicon is, and are demonstrating a bit of ignorance about the people who enjoy it. It’s not healthy to make broad assumptions/generalizations about it.
But the first issue you pointed out is by far the more important part, and that video needs to be reported and removed.
/2 cents
First the preliminaries: Link is a RULES VIOLATION. Foalcon, with legal or otherwise serious implications.
Okay, first reaction to this thumbnail is “WTF?!?!” for pretty much the first reason.
(DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, and the following does not contain legal advice. Please seek a qualified professional for serious issues.) Now the second reason… The last part may be a bit overly presumptive and ill-informed, but the first part (“I’m going to be…is illegal.”) is spot on. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are indeed children in human terms, and a legal case could be made against this content.
I just linked to this post by you, but I’ll link it again and analyze it in a different context:
Suppose that a character with a juvenile form were mature (heck, maybe even a thousand-year-old wizard or something). My rules would still forbid a sexual depiction of that character on my blog (not just a RULES VIOLATION strike, but a complete dismissal): All characters must appear to be of the age of consent. [emphasis added] I say there are “legal and otherwise serious implications of [such] content,” and that is entirely accurate. The law cares about appearance.