Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Barney is Evil

DW went to the video store with the kids yesterday and, among other things, brought home... a Barney video. DS really wanted to watch it last night but I distracted and cajoled him long enough that it was soon time for bed. This morning, I wandered through the living room and found that his mother had put it on for him. I've seen Barney before, of course (witness the delay tactics from the night before), but it had thankfully been a while. The topics are insipid and the writing is irritatingly lacking in creativity. Perhaps the most disturbing thing, however, is the performance of Barney's kid costars. Their faked smiles, their stiffly precise movements, it seems as if Barney has devoured their souls and is animating their lifeless bodies like his marionettes. Or maybe it doesn't just appear that way... ;Þ

2 comments:

cat19 said...

Yes yes yes yes! I too find the children of Barney somehow fake and horrifying.

They remind me of the stuff on how digitally animated faces that come too close but not close enough to real human faces are creepy.

Barney kids are creepy in just that way. Stepford-y. Icky. Exagerrated and phony. It is one of my parenting goals for my children to NEVER watch a Barney video or show.

I know I'm swimming against a powerful cultural tide, but it's worth a shot.

Feral said...

I, too, used to hate on the purple dinosaur.

But Barney's awesome power to hypnotize small beings is nearly god-like. BOTH children will watch his videos for a few minutes, giving Mumma time to mentally reset.

So, while I don't want to watch him myself, I have come to appreciate the big guy.