Omg the MLP drama.
The tl;dr is that MLP goes between two shows. One is character driven slice of life, the other is adventure/high fantasy that's inspired by mythology. I'm a sucker for the latter, but those adventures are usually only in the season premiere and finales. The slice of life part is good, but you really have to care about the characters before you'll like it.
It also has pretty good character development, and usually characters don't act dumb, they act according to their character. Usually. The times they act dumb are when the episode quality drops like a rock.
I'd recommend giving the first 2 episodes a chance, since they're not awful, then continuing if you find it okay. If you want to skip directly to slice of lifes, I'd rec
S1: Eps 4, 16, 6, 9, 10. I also like (3, 11, 14, 17, 23) a lot, but I think they're better after getting familiar with the characters.
S2: 4, 5, 7, 14, 16, 20
and if you like those then you're probably already a fan.
As for the fanbase, there is lots of good fan content that, you know, requires you to be a fan. Fallout: Equestria is a surprisingly epic mashup and is the only fan content that is approachable if you haven't seen the show.