Posted 04 February 2012 - 09:41 AM
For the people who truly don't get it, lemme try to explain something.
A show/movie's main target audience is not the ONLY target audience. Perfect example of this is movies made for kids such as Shrek. It got a huge following of late teens/adults, which is what helped keep the line going.
"But why? This was a movie made for little kids!"
Because the film makers (story writers, animators, all of them) also had a second target audience in mind: the adults that are taking their kid to the theater. It's that person that controls the money. If you can make them like it, or even just appreciate it, chances are they may recommend it to other adults with kids ("I took my kid to see Shrek, and honestly it wasn't that bad, and he/she enjoyed it. You should take yours too.") and are more likely to accommodate their child if they wish to see it again, buy the DVD or other merchandise, etc. If the parent absolutely hates it, they are less likely to do such things.
This naturally has a side effect: the adult brings their teenager with them or a family friend as a sort of "family outing." They like the movie too, and they control money as well. They'll recommend to others, buy stuff, etc. Thus profit is made FAR beyond what you could achieve with a movie that is purely directed at the child.
How do movies/shows do this? Simple and yet complex. They include jokes and situations that a kid doesn't get but an adult does. There's a fine line here and it must be tread very carefully. For example, I went to watch the latest Ice Age movie with my nephew. He loved it for what the movie blatantly showed, because that's all he could see. I, however, saw all the other jokes, including some downright DIRTY jokes, and it made the experience more enjoyable. I had a good time there.
Now, how does this apply to ponies? MLP does the exact same thing. A child watching this show will see ponies hanging out, having adventures, and learning how to be friends while saving the day. Us adults see different things. We see the huge amount of references (A-team, Star Trek, Star Wars, I mean I can't name them all. There are literally hundreds.) We get the jokes they don't, such as Twilight Sparkle literally getting on top of a soap box to make a statement (to a child, it's just "okay she got on a box to make a speech.") Combine this with the makers of the show being receptive and supportive of the brony community (while still keeping their original target audience as a priority) and you get an awesome show.
That's the gist of it. That apologetics thing included a lot of other reasons people like it, such as the animation and whatnot. But overall it comes down to one solid fact: MLP is made with two audiences in mind. They just did a REALLY good job with their second audience, far above what they expected. Thus, bronies.
...that was way too long of a post. Hope that clears stuff up though.