![[Picture of the Barney removed due to alleged copyright infringment.]](images/nobarney.png)
The follow was my initial reaction to Barney in December of 1992, even before the wildly successful PBS TV show:
I have just watched this "Barney & Friends" video offer from Time-Life. Again.
And I quote: "... your child will learn to respect himself and others..."
Oh please, give me a break. Do you really think that children are going to learn values, their basic morals, from a stupid video featuring a giant purple dinosaur? How did cavemen teach their children self-repsect when they didn't have VCRs?
Regardless of the video's merits (more on that later), you can't fix the problems with your children by plugging them into a TV! Children learn by example - mostly from their parents. If parents act like kind, reasonable, thinking adults towards their children, then in most cases their children will act like that too. I can't believe that Time-Life is selling this video series as a cure-all for childrearing.
As for the video series itself, my gosh, I haven't seen a more insipid, sappy, fakey, utterly bogus time-waster in quite some time. I wanted to puke chunky green vomit on the TV! I'm not against kindness, simple joy, and warm fuzzy feelings, but the way it was presented! It's this enforced cuteness (like those Trolls (c), but more on that later) that I just can't stand. Well, that and the over-acting by the kids on the video.
Besides Barney, they also had this other species-ambiguous giant reptile (perhaps a dinosour, those are popular with kids) that also sang and danced. The creature was festooned with flowers, and had extra-cuteness built into the costume. I really think they took it (and everything else) overboard.
Contrast this with Sesame Street. Guys like Grover (the cutest according to a friend) aren't cute because they have flowers pasted all over them. They are cute because of the way they act, not just how they look. They are cute because of what they say, not just the sound of their voice. They are naive, but not stupid. I guess I'm saying that the style of Sesame Street is better and more subtle. Sesame Street needs it muppets because they are more approachable then adults; it's easier to say what you think, rather than what is expected of you. They just don't take it too far. Subtlety; a light, deft touch; yeah, that's the ticket!
Not that Sesame Street hasn't gone more commerial lately...
Stuff like those Trolls (c) tends to annoy me too. They are just goofy looking little babies (kittens, puppies, human babies) which evoke an instinctual response to nurture them. You don't need to nurture a doll, there are plenty of real babies (human and otherwise) that need nurturing, so go to it! I'm sure there is someone in your life that could use a little more attention and kindness, instead of spending it on a molded piece of plastic.
You may want to check out the Reader Comments Page for more on the purple one.
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This article is copyright (c) 1992, 2000 by: James C. Graves, Jr. / (ansible@xnet.com)