Like I haven't watched much Seinfeld but it seems like if I lived next to a nutjob next to Kramer I would have filed a restraining order after the first meeting
A lot of Barney's shit is so outrageous that it's basically fantasy.
The worst thing he did was have a baby with a woman he only ever referred to as a number.
Problem is even if it is ridiculous, the more mundane stuff really hit for folks
I had a high school/early college friend who bought the actual Bro Code book they made and tried to pick up ladies like Barney all the goddamn time
He sucked!
But yeah the stuff they did with his non-character wife and seeing his daughter turning him instantly into a decent person was just hot garbage
The show oscillated wildly between presenting Barney as a sad, fucked-up, neurotic little man vs someone with an aspirational lifestyle whose 'conquests' somehow deserved it for being dumb enough to buy his bullshit. Casting NPH (who is a charisma powerhouse) demonstrated they really never intended to lean hard on the former character beat except for comedy flashbacks, which means there are probably still huge contingents of fans who take his PUA shit at least half-seriously and see him as some kind of ultra-masculine archetype.
They Walter White'd the character, basically.
By the time they figured out people were actually treating him like someone who should be admired and followed, they attempted to make him worse and worse, very quickly, to make sure everyone would take the hint.
But, like Walter White, many people just...never did.
It's been a thousand years since I watched HIMYM but my memory of the first season or so is that Barney was absolutely that one dude your friend knows from college who hasn't grown up or moved on, and your friend hasn't had the heart to get rid of him for sentimental legacy reasons, even though everyone else he currently hangs with hates the dude's guts.
Him becoming close with the rest of the crew kind of left this "why do you guys keep hanging out with a legit sexual predator" question hanging in the air.
It's been a thousand years since I watched HIMYM but my memory of the first season or so is that Barney was absolutely that one dude your friend knows from college who hasn't grown up or moved on, and your friend hasn't had the heart to get rid of him for sentimental legacy reasons, even though everyone else he currently hangs with hates the dude's guts.
Him becoming close with the rest of the crew kind of left this "why do you guys keep hanging out with a legit sexual predator" question hanging in the air.
Wasn't his whole introduction to the group him pulling Ted in on one of his PUA attempts?
Like I haven't watched much Seinfeld but it seems like if I lived next to a nutjob next to Kramer I would have filed a restraining order after the first meeting
It's been a thousand years since I watched HIMYM but my memory of the first season or so is that Barney was absolutely that one dude your friend knows from college who hasn't grown up or moved on, and your friend hasn't had the heart to get rid of him for sentimental legacy reasons, even though everyone else he currently hangs with hates the dude's guts.
Him becoming close with the rest of the crew kind of left this "why do you guys keep hanging out with a legit sexual predator" question hanging in the air.
Wasn't his whole introduction to the group him pulling Ted in on one of his PUA attempts?
Yeah I think there is even a voice over acknowledging he is a problem
It's just they then continued to treat him like he wasnt yknow
probably, that rings a bell. Like, I didn't mean that analogy as literally the character's genesis, just that was the vibe you got - there's this dude your friend inexplicably hangs out with and you all hate but not enough to cut off YOUR friend and so you just awkwardly put up with it.
Course when you get to the point that you need to actively warn any women who turn up about him, that's time for a talk.
The thing about Barney (like most problematic-for-laughs characters) is that he and his actions are so fucking absurd that it’s really difficult to damn them. Like, taking it seriously at all is laughable. He is absolutely a fantasy-land sociopath and not to be admired. Getting women to sleep with him through deception wasn’t funny; the ludicrous lengths he went to was the joke. Nothing about that character or show was in any way realistic or worthy of honest analysis. Any moments of gravitas were purely coincidental.
Show still made me cry laughing at times.
+3
Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
The thing about Barney (like most problematic-for-laughs characters) is that he and his actions are so fucking absurd that it’s really difficult to damn them. Like, taking it seriously at all is laughable. He is absolutely a fantasy-land sociopath and not to be admired. Getting women to sleep with him through deception wasn’t funny; the ludicrous lengths he went to was the joke. Nothing about that character or show was in any way realistic or worthy of honest analysis. Any moments of gravitas were purely coincidental.
Show still made me cry laughing at times.
They try to make you feel for him and treat him as a damaged but good person way too much for that to be true
The characters ending is absolutely going for gravitas
I wouldn't be friends with Michelle Gomez' character in Green Wing, because I'm pretty sure Michelle Gomez' character in Green Wing has no friends, but I do kind of want her to take me under her tutelage.
the only sitcom character i could probably hang with is the sad stripper danny devito played in that one episode of friends
What about Dan Conner?
i don't think he'd wanna hang with me
Remember when he knocked that dude out cold in the pool hall?
Great times.
there was also that episode where Jackie's boyfriend hit her and Dan left and came back with his knuckles all jacked up and I'm pretty sure the episode ended with the cops arresting him for beating the shit out of the guy
Posts
Oh yeah I love that guy, he's very cool
She's a comedic icon and should be universally loved, but you can thank Lucille Ball for setting that little trend.
He'll read you Dante's Inferno in the original Italian.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
Would it be worse being Wilson Wilson or Al borland?
What about Dan Conner?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
Oh so Ted Moesby is @Straightzi?
to say nothing of the rest of the cast
They Walter White'd the character, basically.
By the time they figured out people were actually treating him like someone who should be admired and followed, they attempted to make him worse and worse, very quickly, to make sure everyone would take the hint.
But, like Walter White, many people just...never did.
i don't think he'd wanna hang with me
Remember when he knocked that dude out cold in the pool hall?
Great times.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
Wow I'm pretty sure this counts as libel
Him becoming close with the rest of the crew kind of left this "why do you guys keep hanging out with a legit sexual predator" question hanging in the air.
On the other Tim nearly kills Al once a week...
Wasn't his whole introduction to the group him pulling Ted in on one of his PUA attempts?
This is basically the finale of Seinfeld.
Yeah I think there is even a voice over acknowledging he is a problem
It's just they then continued to treat him like he wasnt yknow
A sex criminal
Course when you get to the point that you need to actively warn any women who turn up about him, that's time for a talk.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
... no wait, I'd hang with Bernard Black.
actually I once dated someone whose life was probably about two wrong turns away from BEING Bernard Black.
Show still made me cry laughing at times.
saying this is grounds for arrest in every state other than Florida
right
Oh I'd hang out with Bernard Black too
Just drinking wine, smoking, and complaining about things? That sounds great!
They try to make you feel for him and treat him as a damaged but good person way too much for that to be true
The characters ending is absolutely going for gravitas
I don’t know anything about Pedro Almodovar but I’m assuming it’s pretty autobiographical, and just lovely
Now I’m taking a walk before part two of my double feature, the exact tonal opposite: Gemini Man, in The Full Ang 120fps 3D
Preparing myself to get blasted in the central nervous system
I'd be friends with Tim but I'd probably wonder why quite a lot.
I already know a lot of Brians, now I think about it.
That kid's wacky and we both like cheese!
there was also that episode where Jackie's boyfriend hit her and Dan left and came back with his knuckles all jacked up and I'm pretty sure the episode ended with the cops arresting him for beating the shit out of the guy