Remember all the way back in September 2021 when Steve from Blues Clues told us he was proud of us and everyone felt a sense of childhood joy and optimism we thought we’d never be able to recapture? Yeah… not so many of those moments to be had in 2o22.
This is the year we learned that Rosita from Sesame Street is racist. That Winnie The Pooh and all his woodland friends are actually bloodthirsty serial killers. That Barney can be used as a vehicle to explore the rotten hatred endemic to the core of American society?
That’s right. Everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur has one last lesson in store–and it’s a dark one. Why, I Love You, You Hate Me’s trailer asks, does the world love to hate?
You’d be forgiven for thinking this whole thing is some sort of viral marketing scheme for the upcoming fourth season of Documentary Now!, but no—it’s serious. Deadly serious. Drug allegations, “death and dismemberment of my family,” threats escalating into an actual shooting serious, as the trailer for the limited docuseries details.
So, what the hell is this thing actually about? According to the official synopsis:
I Love You, You Hate Me is a limited series chronicling the rise and fall of Barney the Dinosaur’s furious backlash — and what it says about the human need to hate. From Barney-bashing to frat parties to homicidal video games, something in American society broke into a million pieces, and it’s never been put together again… or is this just who we were all along?
G/O Media may get a commission
15% off
Dagne Dover Travel Kits
Stay organized.
Bundle two travel essentials and save 15% off—like the medium Landon for overhead compartments and the Ace fanny pack for easy passport access.
At first glance it may seem like the rise of a certain orange creature would be a better academic fit here, but let us, for a second, really examine our own pasts. Who among us (at least those of us who were in elementary school in the early 2000s) doesn’t remember a certain playground chant ending in “no more purple dinosaur,” or its festive cousin, “Joy to the world, ‘cus Barney’s dead.” This writer certainly does. Maybe, just maybe, we have been the problem all along.
I Love You, You Hate Me streams October 12 on Peacock.
