Legendary comedian and actor Simon Pegg knows a thing or two about fandoms and standoms, having been involved in some of the great genre film franchises. His roles include having played Scotty in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot films, as well as starring in the Mission Impossible series and picking up supporting work in Star Wars, Doctor Who, and starring in his own zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead.
During a recent appearance on the SiriusXM morning show Jim & Sam, as reported by Mediate, Pegg was asked which fandom he found most toxic, and he replied Star Wars. Which can only mean that he’s never encountered Bronys, the group of adult men who follow My Little Pony, a children’s show about magical child horses, and discuss which of the characters they would most like to be romantically involved with.
Simon Pegg made the point that Star Wars fans, as represented online, seem to be a group of sensitive, mostly-white, mostly-male lifelong fans who present huge backlashes to any changes in the franchise that include a move towards diversity. He contrasted that with Star Trek, whose mission brief since Gene Roddenberry conceived it in the mid-60s, was towards inclusion:
“I find the Star Trek fans have always been very, very inclusive, you know, Star Trek’s about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was… There’s no sort of like, ‘Oh, you’re suddenly being woke.’ No Star Trek was woke from the beginning, you know? … This is massively progressive. Star Wars suddenly there’s, there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it. And it’s, it’s really sad.”
Speaking of really sad, Pegg missed out on the chance to speak about the aforementioned Bronies, a group that first found its online footing on message board 4Chan, which is otherwise known for hosting extreme and often illegal pornography as well as being a site that accelerates the radicalization of white supremacists online. Since Pegg has starred in a Dark Crystal film but not a My Little Pony film, one can assume hasn’t had the pleasure of acquainting himself with its fandom.