User reviews

Over the course of two hour long episodes, I Love You, You Hate Me covers the origins of Barney the Dinosaur by Texas Schoolteacher and mother Sheryl Leach who created the character for her then 2-year-old son Patrick which through word of mouth became a massive sensation on home video before being picked up for a TV series on public television leading to an expanded media franchise. However with the rising popularity of Barney comes an equal and opposite rise in fashionable hatred of the purple dinosaur leading to emotional and mental stress, death threats from random emails directing at stars and staff, and even tragedy within the Leach family.

I Love You, You Hate Me is a two part documentary covering Barney the Dinosaur produced by Queer Eye producers Scout Productions for NBC-Universal's Peacock streaming service. Using a mixture of archival footage and interviews from those directly associated with the show as well as children's TV contemporaries like Blue Clue's Steve Burns or Bill Nye (The Science Guy) as well as former prominent "Barney Haters", the series attempts to understand why the Barney series spurred so much ire and what legacy has been left behind by it. While the show doesn't get to over everything you wish it had, it's a very well-done analysis of the Barney phenomenon from positive, negative, and in-between giving you the fullest possible view of the phenomenon and its legacy.

The show is really well-structured as we begin with Barney's origins from Texas schoolteacher and mother Sheryl Leach's desire to find something to occupy a rambunctious 2-year-old boy with her discovery of a VHS copy of Wee Sing Together and a traveling dinosaur exhibit serving as the impetus for what would become the foundations of the big purple dinosaur. The tracing of Barney's humble direct-to-video origins spread through crowd sourced marketing of moms at daycares and preschools is fascinating in its portrayal of humble origins to marketing and merchandising juggernaut and you get why the series became as ingrained with small children as it did. We also meet up with various crew involved with the show including Barney's voice actor from 1988-2000 Bob West, Barney Body actor David Joyner who provided movements for the character from 1990-2000 and gets to address misconceptions about him such as his practices of Tantra, and musical director Bob Singleton who provided the songs for the series including the theme song "I Love You, You Love Me".

While the show would be perfectly fine if nothing extraordinary if it had focused solely on the surprise runaway success of the big purple dinosaur, the show eventually finds a festering rot beneath the soft, squishy purple exterior of the franchise as it puts the culture of hate and vitriol the series inspired under a microscope and looks at the personal and societal costs of this culture of hate and what its legacy has been. Talking with notable "barney bashers" such as the founder of The I Hate Barney Secret Society, founder of pen and paper RPG The Jihad to Destroy Barney the Dinosaur, or Ted Giannoulas who appears in character as his sports mascot character The San Diego Chicken who once incorporated a Barney lookalike into his act as well as talking with former cast members and crew affected by the show we get a comprehensive look at both sides of the fence of the Barney phenomenon with the haters balanced against the hated. As Barney aired around the advent of the internet the show does make connections between the recreation of hatred directed at Barney the Dinosaur to the here and now of the digital age where internet dogpiling of memeing, populist pandering nitwits on Twitter and Youtube, and the barrage of nonsense from Twitter and QAnon has lineage that can be traced to Barney the Dinosaur complete with very similar conspiracy theories to the Q "movement" often spouting the exact same talking points you hear today. It's really intelligently done in terms of the discussion, and you do see a lot of DNA that can be traced back from the internet today to the internet of then.

My criticisms are fairly minor, but they should be addressed. Both Sheryl Leach and her son Patrick declined to be interviewed for this series and while I understand their resistance due to the subject matter involved, it does leave a hole in the story that the filmmakers do try to fill in but you can only do so much when key figures want nothing to do with this story. I also feel like the series sidesteps some of the legitimate criticism Barney the Dinosaur received from educators and child psychologists in regards to the actual content of the show itself and is instead focused primarily on the "Barney haters" who did it as a form of recreation with Bill Nye and Steve Burns making solid enough points but their segments while good could've benefitted from having a children's personality or child psychologist who didn't like Barney the Dinosaur on the value of its education merits to serve as a counterpoint.

I Love You, You Hate Me is a must watch as it's an excellent look at the internet's ability and usage in building a culture dedicated to hatred of something serving as a funhouse mirror exaggeration that only becomes louder and more distorted through our cultural lens as it's amplified and echoed into a poisonous cacophony. While I would've like to see some key individuals or other professional interviewed to give a more complete picture, the show not only gives us a definitive look at Barney the Dinosaur, but the absurdity and ugliness of the hatred he inspired.

I admit, for about 20 years I was a Barney "hater". The toxic discourse around the beloved children's character in the 1990s and 2000s was waiting for me when I grew out of the franchise ... and from there I believed many mistruths that left indelible stains on an otherwise golden legacy of entertaining and educating children worldwide.

I eventually grew out of my misdirected disrespect and I wondered why Barney was such a viscerally hated character. There were no definitive answers ... until this documentary dropped on Peacock.

The documentary does a valiant job entertaining some of the reasons why Barney endured some of the most intense wrath hurled from all corners of society - from toxic masculinity to some of the haters' own self-hatred. Unfortunately, the 60-minute two-episode format doesn't lend itself well to the material. A lot of valuable information is either truncated or left out. Some 45 interviews were conducted for the documentary and key people associated with the franchise had to be cut. With a longer series, some interesting perspectives could have been explored in more intricate detail.

However, there are some gems in the docuseries - lots of never-before-seen behind the scenes footage is a delight to witness for fans and people who are Barney-curious. Some of the cast and crew give a good insight into the production and we get to hear some interesting stories.

All in all, worth a watch, but be prepared to feel some frustration at some questions that are still left unanswered at the conclusion of Part 2.

I used to like Barney when I was younger, but I'm now neutral to it. However, I agree or used to agree with some of the criticisms it has received and used to make fun of some of them (e.g., Barney's voice sounding dopey, some of the songs being annoying, the series being set in a perfect world, etc. I still hate these aspects, minus the setting being "perfect"). I'm also aware that there's a Wikipedia page for anti-Barney humor. I decided to watch I Love You, You Hate Me because I was intrigued when I read about it in an article and saw the trailer, and I have to admit that it was a good documentary! There are people from media that I like who are involved in this, like Steve Burns from Blue's Clues, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and a few others. I was already neutral to Barney before watching it, but I've warmed up to Barney a little more because of this doc.

After learning more about Barney from the doc, it's clear that some people take the popular children's character too seriously. Barney the purple dinosaur is known for loving and accepting everyone for who they are, and I don't understand how anyone could go wrong with that. Friendship and acceptance are essential themes of the show. A couple of the child (now adult) actors from the early seasons of Barney shared experiences of racism before it came along, and they found acceptance and appreciation during their time on the show. However, after leaving the show and going back to school, they faced bullying from their peers for their involvement with Barney and struggled with coping mechanisms such as smoking and drinking. It's heartwarming that they found acceptance on the show, but it's sad to hear about the challenges they faced before and afterward.

Unfortunately, there have been instances of bullying and mistreatment directed at Barney's fans and the show's cast and crew, including death threats via emails and name-calling. It's disheartening to hear that some individuals have targeted Barney fans and the show's personnel with harassment, threats, and destructive behavior. This behavior does not align with Barney's core values, which include love, inclusion, and acceptance. It's important to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and it's okay if someone doesn't like Barney. However, it's essential to treat others with respect and consideration and to acknowledge the positive impact the show has had on many individuals, regardless of differing preferences.

The documentary also talks about the negative reception Barney received when it first aired in the 1990s. Some people criticized the show for not being edgy, reflecting a cultural tendency toward cynicism at the time. It's noted that the rise of the internet during that era also contributed to the backlash the show faced. It's worth remembering that just because something isn't considered edgy doesn't mean it sucks. If every show/movie were edgy, the TV/movie industry would be boring and unoriginal. If people had given Barney a chance, they might have liked it.

The text also draws a parallel between the criticism faced by Barney and what Sesame Street might have experienced if the internet existed during its early years. It's acknowledged that some people might not like Barney, and that's okay.

Barney's head writer, Steve White, emphasized that the show aimed to inspire viewers to make the world a better place. He addressed criticisms about the show's seemingly perfect setting, highlighting that the characters also faced challenges and conflicts, such as Baby Bop getting a stomachache after eating too many cookies, the kids getting scared of a grizzly bear, the characters losing a Christmas star, Barney and the kids trying to help BJ and Baby Bop settle an argument, and more. Additionally, Hit Entertainment created more episodes with conflict-based plots in response to feedback about the show's setting when they acquired the rights to it. The characters are indeed happy most of the time, but why shouldn't they be? What do you expect them to do? Mope around like a bunch of goths? Also, these items made me realize that the criticisms about the perfect setting were somewhat invalid. Despite differing opinions, many people appreciate the valuable life lessons imparted by Barney, even if they don't particularly enjoy the show itself.

Steve Burns asked the rest of the crew, "Who was your Barney growing up, and how would you feel about a room full of people hating on him/her?" Their "Barneys" included their teddy bears, Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, and numerous other characters and toys, and they didn't like the idea of a room full of people hating on them. I must say that they hit the nail on the head with those lines! Even though I grew up with Barney, I think it'd be safer to say that my "Barney" was either Charlie Brown, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob, or all of the above, and I REALLY wouldn't want to be in a room full of people hating on either of them. You probably wouldn't like the idea of a room full of people bashing your favorite toy(s) or character(s) either.

In conclusion, whether you love or hate Barney, "I Love You, You Hate Me" offers a fresh perspective that may change your feelings about the character. Even if you're a Barney fan, this documentary is worth watching to gain a deeper understanding of the public's perception.

Upon viewing the first episode , I found my self in tears. Being born in 1999, Barney was the show that I was stuck to as early as I can remember . The guest speakers were a very pleasant surprise and added great composition to the series. I do however wish that the series could have been longer and included more flashback from the series and behind the scenes intel. Also, the series could have touched on the role that early YouTube played into this barney hating phenomenon. This series was created exactly for its targeted audience and succeeded in the raw feelings of nostalgia and childhood!!

This two part documentary dives deep into the history - and the controversy- around Barney the dinosaur. It's touching, it shocking, it's at times hard to watch. From recognizable faces to voices that immediately ignite nostalgia, I loved seeing so many of the cast, crew, and other thought leaders weigh in on the history and cultural impact of Barney. This doc exposes the hate surrounding the character, and what it says about our society and culture as a whole. Why do we love to hate? What about Barney was so threatening to so many? What can we do to make our world more like Barney's world? More importantly - when we will see Barney return to TV?

Pretty well done and interesting for anyone who lived through this era.

ABOUT MY REVIEWS:

I do not include a synopsis of the film/show -- you can get that anywhere and that does not constitute a meaningful review -- but rather my thoughts and feelings on the film that hopefully will be informative to you in deciding whether to invest 90-180 minutes of your life on it.

My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre" 6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings 10 - A classic. (Less than 2% receive this rating). For Lifetime Movies for Chicks (LMFC), drop the above scale by 3 notches. A 6 is excellent and 7 almost unattainable.

This documentary starts off talking about who Barney is, how he came about and why he came about, we can thank Ms. Sheryl Leach for that... It talks about the significance he had upon children and their lives... the lessons he taught and especially the love that he shows. It then goes to talk about the backlash that came with Barney, the people who hated him for absolutely absurd reasonings, but everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess... With the help of many old cast members, Barney's voice and body actors, and many other people and celebs, they get together to share the true story of who Barney is and what exactly he stood for...

We don't live in a "Barney world" and it sucks because us as humans were the problem back then and we're the problem at this very moment. If everyone had a "Barney spirit," this world would be a remarkable one and I truly believe that, that was Barney's true message... Being able to make the world a better place because we WANT to...

Go Watch on Peacock!!!!

This documentary goes to show just how far mankind has sunk. Barney was created as a tool for love by a mom who loved her son, and a large portion of the world reacts with hatred. The sad part is that they don't see anything wrong with that. As a kid, I loved watching Barney on TV. I had a plush Barney, but that was it. I only watched the show on PBS, which kept the rest of the house sane by not replaying a tape. I think that some in the documentary took their love of Barney too far. You'll know them when you watch. Also, I think Leach should've walked away much sooner to save her family. As much as modern women like to think we can do it all, we just can't. Very sad!

Yeah, the anti-Barney fad is basically seen as one of the earliest examples of hatedoms on the internet, especially when the 1990's was filled with sites who did it, but kids and even adults knew that it was done for the sake of humor and was not meant to threaten anyone involved with the purple dinosaur's success. This documentary, exclusive to Peacock, is not for kids (although anyone who remembered or even liked Barney would be old enough to see it), as it deals with the real world, not the one-dimensional, happy world of Barney himself, but sadly, it seems to be all over the place with no real focus on what the main topic is.

A two-hour documentary split into two episodes, I Love You, You Hate Me tries to be a documentary about the dinosaur and his hatedom, but sadly, whoever did this could not make up his or her mind on what to focus. Starting out with the story of how Sheryl Lynch came up with the idea for Barney. While it did have some interesting tidbits I never knew (like Barney's first suit actor being part of a mime troupe, and Hope Cervantes, who played Tosha in the first years of the series, was abused as a child), the special sadly does not know what it's talking about, as one segment goes off topic to talk about Jerry Springer's talk show starting how pop culture was starting to push the limits of what was acceptable, which I feel would have been better off as its own documentary instead of being a detour for a documentary based around a show starring a purple dinosaur aimed at preschoolers. Also, it blames the show was hated due to not having irony grit, which is wrong, as parents and critics hated it mainly for being one-dimensional, unrealistic, and having little-to-no educational content whatsoever (which is something Steve Burns brings up when he talks about Barney and sees how he is always happy when characters like Sesame Street's Grover and Bert were closer to being realistic to humans as a Muppet could be).

But when it came to the Barney bashing, man, did they mess up big time. The documentary does not explore the true origin of it being parody and not meant to incite violence against Barney or anyone involved with the show and was done purely to provide some dark comedy to people on the internet, and instead, treat it like it was a plague released among civilization. It does not bother to talk about how before the internet, there were other characters who had a lot of hate aimed at them (I mean, this sort of hatred has happened before Barney even existed), as well as the fact that it focuses mostly on made-up stuff meant to be a joke as well as instances of people being arrested for beating up a random man wearing a Barney costume and an incident where Patrick, the son of Barney's creator, was sent to jail for shooting a neighbor, which is yet another detour. The only thing good about part two was the interviews with former cast members and how they learned the real world was not like the show they used to star in. This sounded like a good idea had it kept on the topic of the Barney bashing, but sadly, it falls flat with misinformation and going on random topics.

What do I have to say about this documentary? I feel like it's brilliant! It's really amazing, and it's a way to help people understand what Barney has been doing for more than 30+ years!

Barney is all about love, imagination, celebration, etc. And, I feel like this documentary is a phenomenal way for people who didn't get Barney, could finally understand what he has done to make this world a better place!

Barney has always been there to help people in need! Barney is there to help people see things through a different perspective!

We know that the world is not a happy place, but it's not bad to live in! And, I believe Barney has done a phenomenal job with that!

This is a great look of the behind the curtains life of Barney. I highly recommend this documentary. If anyone has children in their home who love Barney I wouldn't recommend allowing the children to watch this doc. It could be traumatic for them.

I was a young child when Barney took the world by storm. He has always been a wonderful memory for me. My children watch Barney as well. I was surprised by a lot of what the documentary exposed. I never knew "Barney bashing" was a thing. I must have been too young to notice. I never knew anything about Barneys creator. I am sending love and well wishes to the entire Leach family. Barney is an amazing character and I do hope he makes a come back.

It's not often that a film or television series has brought me to tears. For me, not often means never. One of the final lines in this series asks, "who was your Barney?" Everyone had a Barney though their childhood. A stuffed toy? A role model? A television character? A person or thing that brought comfort. This series highlights how Barney was never meant for everyone, but everyone can embrace the characteristics and lessons brought on by Barney. The series outlines how we as humans need to be more conscious with our behavior towards one another. This series truly enlightened me on better ways to interact with people, and to be more understanding of personal circumstances. I recommend everyone give this series a try...I guarantee that Barney has a thing or two to teach.

Going into this, I thought it would be just an interesting dive into the origins of Barney and the armies of annoyed grown-ups which resulted. What this truly is is an examination of the hearts of people and how the worst of us find reasons to hate and trample things we don't understand. Adults fostered an unnecessary hatred for a fictional entity when no one ever forced them to turn the channel and watch Barney. I was entering high school when I first heard of Barney so it didn't appeal to me. Even though I found it a bit annoying, I knew I all I had to do was not watch it. I had the same attitude toward Harry Potter. I wasn't militantly against kids reading stories about witchcraft but it just did not appeal to me.

This mini-series highlights the bad attitudes grown people had towards Barney as well as the urban legends that went with them. Barney taught children many important things in life such as love, caring, and unselfishness and this doc reminds us that something so pure can make people look for hidden evil even if it isn't there. The most gripping point of this documentary is when Steven from Blues Clues looks at the camera and asks "Who was your Barney?" Many of us had a Barney growing up whether or not it was Barney himself. I pity those who didn't.

I grew up watching Barney as a kid and even then I was aware that it was corny, cheesy, unrealistic and not representative of my home life at all. In fact that's why I liked it. It was an escape for me and other kids. Although I did resent Barney for giving my parents the idea to force me and my sister to hug and sing the "I love you" song whenever we fought. Honestly though, looking back on that show as an adult, it was just an innocent cheerful children's show. I overheard older kids making fun of it but outside of that I had no idea all this Barney hatred was happening in the world. It's really sad, though at times also pretty funny. I understand the cynicism, but how was Barney any worse than Beavis and Butt-Head, Ren & Stimpy, or Rocko's Modern Life? I would argue those shows were all equally important because they all served their purpose of escapism while teaching compassion, humility, honesty, empathy and comedy. Children don't learn those things as often as they should from their own lives and unfortunately spend far too much time being in front of a screen in the first place. Barney didn't deserve the hate and it's really heartbreaking to hear how it damaged the lives of the creator and people around her. It's hard to imagine the same thing happening with any other character other than the teletubbies. It's still fun to hate on them, right? Hm.

I absolutely loved everything about this Documentary, as a Child, I absolutely loved Barney . I had just about any and everything that was Barney now I'm 30 with a 1 year old baby girl who love watching Barney just as much as I did . Everything that Barney represents is what this World today really needs. And that is Caring, Compassion, and Love. To this day, I sit down with my Daughter and we will watch Barney all day long because I know what he meant to me as a Child and now she gets to enjoy, Learn, and have fun with one of the most iconic Characters that has ever been created, that's Barney.

I watched this documentary about three or four times already, and let me tell you all that it feels like I'm rewatching Barney all over again like the old times. First off, I Love You was all about the amazing points of Barney and You Hate Me was about the downside of Barney. I was so excited to look into the never before seen rare footage!

Having Bill Nye, Al Roker, and Steve from Blue's Clues be a part of this was definitely the highlight of the documentary. At the end of the day, Barney is about loving, caring, sharing, and showing great fellowship towards one another.

To me, I think Barney will come back for a reboot.. who knows, right?!

I've been a Barney fam my whole life, and this documentary touched my heart. I felt happiness, sadness, anger, a bundle of emotions all at once! It was amazing to hear stories never told before, and to see how Barney affected everyone from the cast, crew, and fans. Some of those effects were not great, and this documentary does not gloss over those. Barney bashing of course is covered but it is not too in your face. Also, the interviews are stellar and I'm sure you'll learn something you did not know before about Barney. Everyone has a special character they love, and for many it's Barney. I was speechless. Bravo to Tommy Avallone and everyone involved in making this project happen!

Having grown up watching and loving Barney, I was completely unaware of the negative reactions. I was also unaware of the group that hated Barney. Great video with interviews and the cast. Recommend it, highly. I think this is something that should be watched by anyone who knows Barney, no matter how they feel about him. Seeing both sides really opened my eyes and deepened my love for Barney at the same time. I only wish that this had been made sooner. It was interesting (and sad) to see what happened to the family that created Barney. Nonetheless, this is a documentary I'll be watching again quite a few times.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW:

This was a well done and beautiful Barney Documentary! This is a Production that people need to see! The human capacity to hate is very evident in this presentation and it's definitely an eye opener! A must watch for the Barney Community, the Barney Franchise, and any adult who is willing to listen with an open mind and an open heart! The amount of never before seen BTS footage was incredible! The stories from former Barney Cast & Crew Members as well as outspoken critics of the show, people from outside the Barney Families, and even the Barney Hate Bashers was definitely what the official synopsis of this Documentary called "thought provoking!" Watch, take notes, and be ready to have your heart strings pulled (in a good way)!