Sources of hostility include episodes where Barney and the other characters do potentially harmful acts such as lying, cheating, stealing (with no punishment or scolding from the purple dinosaur), and catching stinging insects. Many families now refuse to watch the show because of its supposed 'one-dimensionality' and 'lack of educational value', and several YouTube videos have plush dolls of the character being destroyed in various ways, including being burnt, destroyed by small explosions, being shot by many weapons using tannerite or being run over by vehicles. Įventually, adults began to contribute to the anti-Barney humor, including some parents and celebrities. These children were among the first to practice anti-Barney humor, and were given an entire chapter of the 1995 book Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood. Parents admit to a cordial dislike of the saccharine saurian, and no self-respecting second-grader will admit to liking Barney.' 'Barney is on the receiving end of more hostility than just about any other popular cultural icon I can think of. For comparison, other popular preschool children's characters such as Dora the Explorer, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Bali, Peppa Pig, and the Teletubbies have been subject to subversive adult humor in Barney's case, however, the humor has typically been far more dark and in a more vicious and hostile nature toward Barney.īarney & Friends first aired in 1992, gaining popularity among viewers under the age of four, but also garnering disapproval by most older children and young adults, who criticized it for being 'saccharine', 'sunshine-and-flowers', and 'one-dimensional'. Mitchell's book The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon, he notes that the program is often a target for parody and negative attacks by non- preschool aged children, adolescents, and adults in the United States and elsewhere the notion given that the show is 'saccharine', 'boring', 'annoying', 'sugary', 'dangerous' or 'uneducational'.

The cover of a roleplaying guidebook The Jihad to Destroy Barney (1999) depicts anti-Barney humor in the 1990s.Īnti-Barney humor is a form of humor that targets the main character Barney the Dinosaur from the children's television series Barney & Friends and singles out the show for criticism.

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