Fourth Persona of Swarley

How I Met Your Mother is often compared to other sitcoms that have been on television. Because of this, it has been accused of being an "unoriginal" sitcom by some viewers. Some of the shows people compare it to are shows like: Friends, Arrested Development, Seinfeld, Cheers, and even Lost. Using the fourth persona, we will analyze the episode "Swarley" (S2E7) to see how the use of textual winks addressed these accusations.

According to Morris, the fourth personal is "a collusive audience constituted by the textual wink (Morris, 2002, 230). Other terms that might be important to note throughout the analysis are dupes and clairvoyants. Dupes are those who are not understanding the implied message and clairvoyants are those who do. And lastly, the thing that we will be looking at closest throughout this post is the textual wink. A textual wink is the hidden message in the text, or as Morris put it: "passing rhetoric must imply two idealogical positions simultaneously, one that mirrors the dupes and another that implies, via the wink, and ideology of difference" (Morris, 2002, 231).

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There are two winks in this episode that address these comparisons. The first of these is the opening scene. Barney, Ted, and Marshall are all sitting drinking coffee in a coffee shop. This is a wink to Friends. Friends is the show that is most often referred to when talking about How I Met Your Mother being unoriginal. This is because they are both set in similar places, with similar banal spaces, along with having similar characters. Many even refer to How I Met Your Mother as the millennial's Friends. The clairvoyants in this wink will understand the situation that is being referred to and see how the scene is trying to play up the similarities. The dupes also miss out on another wink made to Friends when Barney makes the blatant quote: "Hanging out in a coffee place, not nearly as much fun as handing out in a bar." This is not only winking to the fact that they know that the shows are similar, but they are making a claim that their show is better because bars/alcohol are more fun.


The second wink is the closing scene. When Barney walks into MacClaren's Pub everyone yells "Swarley!" just like everyone yelled "Norm!" on Cheers. They also play the Cheers theme song ("Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy)(On top of all of this, in "Tailgate" (S7E13) when Barney and Ted create their own bar called Puzzles they call on the same theme samme theme song for inspiration). During this scene, the camera angle shifts to show the same bar setup that is seen in Cheers. To top off the references, the end credits are done in the same font and color as is done on the original Cheers as well as having the executive producer credits overplayed on the final scheme instead of on the black for the only time in How I Met Your Mother's History. The clairvoyants and the dupes on this wink are more separated by the generational gap. I did not fully understand the wink until I looked up the song that was playing in the background because it sounded familiar. The clairvoyants are those who grew up with this show and are the ones that understand the reference to Barney's new nickname being yelled at the bar. The dupes, do not get the reference to the 1980's sitcom.

There is always a reason that people are included or left out of the textual winks. In this instance those that are included are there to get the joke and understand that the author understands that How I Met Your Mother  is a very traditional sitcom with some of the same components that many other sitcoms have had. But, these clairvoyants also understand that they are making an allusion to the fact that though the shows are similar, there are specific pieces that set them apart and that make How I Met Your Mother a different kind of sitcom all together.

Though How I Met Your Mother was compared to other shows, these textual winks show a unique quality within the sitcom: the ability for it to laugh at itself. The author knows that this show is not the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. But you can bet that it will try its hardest to be the funniest one you will ever see.

References

 Morris, C. E. (2002). Pink herring & the fourth persona: J. Edgar Hoover's sex crime panic. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88(2), 228-244. doi:10.1080/00335630209384372 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3tpDIqN9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mi0r0LpXo

Racial I-dad-ity

How I Met Your Mother is a show that is fairly void of racial diversity. All four of the gang are caucasian with the only racial diversity being Robin and Barney's Canadian heritage. But, there is one person in the show that brings pretty much all of the minorities to light in this sitcom: James. Barney's brother James is not only African-American, he is also homosexual, married (and then divorced) with an adopted child. Because James is the only person of color in the show, we are going to be looking at racial identity, in association with critical rhetoric, based on an episode that is centered around him as the main character.

http://recultured.com

To look at identity and its connection with race I am going to focus on a single episode from season 6. While I am talking about this episode I will also be using some of the racial terminology that they chose to use on the show.  "Cleaning House" (S6E2) is rife with racial stereotypes that show us what the show says it means to be black. In this episode, Barney's mom (Loretta) starts to move out of Barney's childhood home and Barney enlists the help of the gang. Barney and James end up finding a picture of themselves that their mother never sent to a man named Sam Gibbs. Barney and James go to Sam's house to find out who's father he is and when he is James' father, Barney goes into a state of denial and thinks that Sam is his father as well.

Because of this misconception, Barney spouts off many racial stereotypes. To look at these stereotypes, we are going to pick them apart and see what each quote says about race.

"This explains why I was always so awesome at basketball."
So this quote seems pretty straightforward. They are obviously implying that all black people are good at basketball. This is obviously not true and actually can be a pretty sore subject to those that are black and not good at basketball but great at other sports or with other abilities in general. But, the show also does not show James or his father being good at basketball at any point so it almost neutralizes this stereotype in a way. But, there is also a little textual wink inside this quote because, earlier in this episode, we learn that Barney was actually terrible at basketball and his mother lied to him about being good at it for many years. Overall this racial slur is trying to be lighthearted and funny but is honestly cracking more of a joke at Barney's ignorance than at race in general.

"Guys, I'm Black. Sorry. African-American. No, I'm allowed to say either." 
This quote is not trying to make a statement about Blacks in specific, but at the labeling of racial groups from an internal and external perspective. The show is exposing the dichotomy that people find themselves in when describing race. If you are not a part of a certain group then you are not allowed to call a certain group by specific names, but you will hear others within the group calling each other the name that you are not allowed to say. When looking at this it has more to do with power relationships than it does with race. Excluding people from calling you a certain nickname is a power tactic. All of a sudden, you are in the minority and feel excluded. Barney is breaking these boundaries and calling himself a name technically should not be saying. Therefore, the show is speaking to the power of labeling and the ways that it is used.

"Man, try to hail a cab in Manhattan. Am I right? Nope. No one's stopping for this." 
Back to racial stereotypes with this one. This quote is making a statement about it being hard for a black person to hail a cab in Manhattan. Whether this be because the majority of cabs are driven by immigrants and they have a distrust for blacks as the Huffington Post suggested, or whether it is just be an (literal) urban legend, the fact remains that this is a stereotype that is promoted throughout big cities like New York that many city-goers would understand.

"Why do white people like Carrot Top?"

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And, finally, a white stereotype. Barney asks his mom this question right before she knocks some sense into him about Sam Gibbs not being his father and Barney not being black. Just over 8 hours of Barney "being Black" and he is already perpetuating clichés about white's. This idea is that white people only like low end comedy or they will laugh at pretty much anything.

While Barney brought up a bunch of typecasts and even a discussion on power relationships, his quotes actually did not do any harm. This is not because there was not truth or intent of harm behind the words, but more because there was a more realistic version of what it meant to be black was in the form of James and Sam. Every time Barney said something or did something to showcase a stereotype, they were there to show his absurdity. So, even though Barney may want to watch his mouth when it comes to racial slurs, we've got a pretty good example of what black really is in James and Sam.

Video credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOFCPzyJKHA

Image credit:
http://recultured.com/entertainment/17/how-i-met-your-mothers-greatest-hits-the-best-moments-of-season-5-and-6/

"Save the Arcadian"

http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/The_Arcadian

We are going to stray from the norm a talk about not only something besides a person, the person we are going to be mainly focused on is not a member of "the gang" (*gasp*). We are going to look at the rhetoric of a specific social movement that is found in  Season 6: "Save the Arcadian." To look at this social movement we are going to take a look at Zoey Pierson, the leader of the movement. We will take a look into the stages of the social movement, the challenges we see Zoey face, and will identify the type of movement "Save the Arcadian" is. In doing this, we will show the ineffectiveness of this social movement as a whole.

http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/Architect_of_Destruction

The stages of the social movement are: Inception, development, and consummation. We see the inception of the social movement in "Architect of Disaster" (S6E5) where Zoey asks Ted to sign the petition to "Save the Arcadian." Development starts happening in "Canning Randy" (S6E7) when Zoey starts taking Ted's class to learn more about architecture and in "Natural History"(S6E8) where she gets Ted to admit that the Arcadian is a beautiful piece of historical architecture and GNB is a terrible company for wanted to tear it down, on tape. Zoey believes that she has reached the point of consummation in the movement when Ted agrees to be on her side in a city meeting in "Landmarks" (S6E23), but, Ted is betrayed and the social movement is never truly consummated. 

According to Simons, the leaders of a social movement have to meet three criteria or challenges. First, "they must attract, maintain, and mold workers into an efficiently organized unit... A hierarchy of authority and division of labor must be established in which members are persuaded to take orders, to perform menial tasks, and to forego social pleasures" (Simons, 1970, pg 37).  Second, "they must secure adoption of their product by the larger structure. The product of any movement is its ideology, particularly its program for change"(Simons, 1970, pg 37). Lastly, "they must react to resistance generated by the larger structure" (Simons, 1970, pg. 37). 

http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/Zoey_Pierson

Zoey goes through all of these challenges throughout her journey with "Save the Arcadian." We see her attracting members in "Canning Randy" in Ted's classroom and when she is protesting outside of his office throughout the entirety of Season 6. We also see her showing people to fall into place and saying who can and cannot be at certain protests when people with different causes come with signs. When Zoey tells Ted about the reasons she does not want the Arcadian to be torn down and how they are personal and very persuasive reasons she not only shows the adoption of goals in the social movement, she also sways Ted to her side in "The Perfect Cocktail" (S6E22). She finally shows her reaction to resistance in "Landmarks" where she uses Ted's testimony against GNB in the city meeting without his permission. She shows she is willing to sacrifice her relationship for her cause. 

http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/The_Arcadian

The three different types of movements that we have to look at are: Moderate, Intermediate, and Militant (Jones, 2016). There are times that this social movement shows signs of all three which lead me to believe it is probably an Intermediate movement this means it is trying to work with the existing structure but totally overhaul the part of the system that they do not like. The "Save the Arcadian" movement is not trying to save every single historical building in Manhattan, they are just trying to save the one building that Zoey has an emotional connection to. 

The "Save the Arcadian" movement is a rhetorical element in How I Met Your Mother that does not work as a social movement, but does as a plot device. The social movement ultimately fails and the Arcadian gets torn down to build the new GNB tower, but the social movement led to Ted meeting Zoey, Ted liking Zoey, Ted changing for Zoey, Ted dating Zoey, and Ted figuring out how to give Zoey up. Ted learned to stand up for what he knew was right even though it was hard while dating Zoey and he became a stronger man with "neoclassical fenestration, rusticated stonework, and marble cornices." ("Subway Wars" (S6E4)). 

References

 Simons, H. W. (1970). Requirements, problems, and strategies: A theory of persuasion for social movements. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 56(1), 1-11. doi:10.1080/00335637009382977 

Jones, H. (2016). Class notes on social movements.

Coloring the Relationships

Colors hold a large amount of meaning for relationships throughout the series of How I Met Your Mother. I am going to focus on two specific colors that are opposing on the color wheel: yellow and purple. Yellow appears many times throughout the series in forms like the yellow umbrella. Purple, on the other hand, is a little more subtle in its use but is most notably seen in relation to Robin and the purple giraffe. To look at the meaning color holds for the main relationships in the show we will analyze the use of yellow during relationships, purple during relationships, and the effect that the combination of the two colors has when used in coordination during a relationship.

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Color is one way of looking at visual rhetoric. According to Wolfe, "Color sets tone, defines time, demonstrates difference, and supports the narrative movement.  In short, color functions with rhetorical force"(Wolfe, 2008, pg. 3). The colors in How I Met Your Mother illustrate the tone of the relationship during a specific time. The color also helps to differentiate between different types of relationships. 

Looking first at the yellow. There are the two obvious "yellow people" in the show: Ted and Tracy. These two are so closely associated with yellow that it would be ridiculous to try to tear them apart from the color. Not only do they have the yellow umbrella, Ted owns a little yellow school bus and many of the big moments for him happen in a yellow cab. Tracy has a very brightly colored room
and apartment with yellow everywhere. Because both Ted and "the mother" are so closely associated with yellow, we can only assume that yellow in parallel is associated with true love and good timing.

http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/The_Mother's_apartment

When Ted is going through his various relationships he can never quite find his yellow match. A great example of this "color"ful illustration is when Ted proposes to Stella with an orange kangaroo. Though, on the color wheel we can see that orange is very close to yellow, it is not the same or even the opposite, so, we can very clearly tell that Stella is, therefore, not Ted's soulmate (we can also do the same connection with the blue on the blue french horn). One other person we clearly see color differentiation with is Robin.

Robin is going to be found to be the opposite of yellow in the series, purple. Purple is used to indicate a lack of romance or just a lack of romantic connection. One of the first episodes where Ted and Robin start their relationship is going to be "The Purple Giraffe" (S1E2), which kicks off the sea of

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purple. Ted and Robin are often seen in conflicting colors. When the couple is seen in coordinating colors, the colors are purple.There are several times where Robin wears something that is purple and yellow striped or polka dotted, but she never is fully committed to the yellow and is, again, not Ted's soulmate at the time.

The episodes where we do start to see Robin wearing yellow are those where Barney and her are linked. In "The Leap" (S4E24), Robin wears yellow to the party and the hospital where she finds out that Barney is in love with her. In "Glitter" (S6E9), Robin wears a yellow skirt in Space Teens and Barney ends up helping Robin and Jessica Glitter reconnect. "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns" (S7E8) is when the gang finds out that Barney is part Canadian (Ay?) and Robin is wearing a yellow blouse during this reveal. Robin wears the yellow raincoat and Barney and her reminisce about how terrible it could have been if they had hooked up in the cab (yellow cab by the way) in "Disaster Averted" (S7E15). And, finally, Robin is wearing another yellow blouse in "The Drunk Train" (S7E15) when she and Kevin break up (which is her last boyfriend before she marries Barney).

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One of the biggest color moments in the show is the entirety of season 7. The gang wears a lot of purple throughout the season ranging from Robin's dress in "The Best Man" (S7E1) to the whole gang wearing it in "No Pressure" (S7E17). In "No Pressure," the whole gang wears purple and there is almost no yellow to be seen throughout the entire episode until Ted decides to move on from Robin. The first yellow seen all season (except in the ducky tie) is with the sea of yellow umbrella's outside of Ted's door.

The yellow and purple that surround Ted and Robin throughout the series make some bold arguments about their relationship and the other relationships they are in. The color is used to illustrate their differences and their ability to still be good for each other. After all, complimentary colors are great for accent pieces, but just don't make a perfect match.

References

Wolfe, D. (2008). The Ecological Jeremiad, the American Myth, and the Vivid Force of Color in Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. Environmental Communication, 2(1), 3-24. Retrieved April 1, 2016.