"How I Met Your Barney"

Barney Stinson... the name alone can stir any HIMYM fan to smile. Barney is emotionally flawed, overly confident, and totally lovable. We see him transform from a total man-whore to a loving daddy within the span of the nine seasons. But Barney is more than any of these stereotypes and this post is going to explore Barney as a complex, multi-dimensional character.

Let's start by taking a look into the nine-season long sitcom. How I Met Your Mother is a TV show that I stumbled upon on the very first day it aired, and I became a dedicated viewer to this incredible and insightful television series. Now, to provide a little background information, I will give you all a brief overview of this series (and as a disclaimer, I do not own any rights to these characters or the plot of this show). The main character of HIMYM is Ted Mosby. Ted is an architect in New York City and we meet him as he sits his two teenage children down to tell them the story of how he met their mother. Ted's two best friend are also some of the main protagonists in the story: Marshall and Lily. Marshall is an aspiring environmental lawyer when we first meet him and has just gotten engaged to his college sweetheart, Lily; a kindergarten teacher with dreams of becoming an artist. All three of these best friend live together in a rent-controlled apartment on top of their favorite bar, MacClarens. Another member of the gang is Barney. Barney is a suit enthusiast who is more interested in finding his next sexual conquest than "the one." Barney's work is shrouded with mystery but he does very well and contributes very heavily to the strip club industry. The last member of the 5-some is Robin. Robin is an aspiring TV journalist who catches Ted's eye in the pilot episode. The show centers around the funny romantic and semi-dramatic stories that shape this group's late 20's and early 30's as Ted searches for "the one." 

Barney seems to be a very stagnant character that never grows or moves from his point until the end of the series. I am going to look at the stagnant nature of Barney Stinson and how he serves as a moral compass for the gang that points morally south instead of the traditional north of moral compasses. To do this I will use Critical Rhetoric, Framing, Visual Analysis of Color, and Metaphoric Analysis. 

Critical Rhetoric


Critical Rhetoric is a process of answering questions to, “demystify power relations and hidden norms.” (Jones, 2016) While in this process of discovery, we evaluate the five key elements of Critical Rhetoric: Identity, naming, rules and norms, power relationships, and new possibilities. We are going to look at identity and norms through race, and power relationships, norms, and identity, through gender. 

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.

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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 he 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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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 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.

Through Barney and his family, the gang are exposed to some of the many problems that surround race and and racial stereotypes. However, the stereotypes don't stop at racial identity; generalizations about gender - specifically femininity - are brought to light in heaps and gobs through Barney's misogynistic behavior. 

After looking at the identities and norms created through race that expose the gang to what is wrong with some of the norms surrounding race, we are going to take a look at some more rules and norms along with power relationships through the concept of gender. 

Masulinity and femininity are two ends of a structure that we know as gender. Gender defines a lot of rules and norms in our society and power relationships often stem from these rules and norms. You can look at these power relationships and rules and norms when you look at how the masculine and feminine alike interact with each other. In How I Met Your Mother we get a very definitive look into gender when we look at how Barney treats the women in his life.

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Barney is a misogynistic pig toward feminine figures in his life that he views as a sexual target. But, those that he sees as a platonic figure (like Robin and Lily) or familial (like his mom) he treats with much more respect. With the women in his life being so strong and independent, you would think the respect he shows for them would translate over to his sexual life. Through the use of critical rhetoric, we will look at gender through Barney’s treatment of women throughout the series.

According to Burgchardt, “Gender criticism analyzes how the symbolic interactions of particular cultures define, inculcate, and impose performances of femininity and/or masculinity” (2010, 561). So, to look at the construction of gender surrounding Barney, we will be looking at the cultures he partakes in.

Barney starts off his adult life as a hippie who works in a coffee shop with his girlfriend that he loves and with whom he plans on joining the Peace Corps. Barney is very respectful of this woman and even has a pledge of abstinence with her. When she ditches him for a high society businessman (or “suit”), Barney decides to immerse himself in another culture altogether.

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When Barney trades his ponytail for a Double Windsor Knot, he becomes part of a culture he had never been a part of before. We start getting insight into this culture when Marshall starts working with Barney("Life Among the Gorillas" (S1E17)). When Marshall joins GNB, he starts to take on the philosophy of “joining in with the gorillas.” Marshall partakes in the dirty talk, and misogyny of the masculine culture that GNB has and begins to bring it home just in the first few weeks of him working there. With Barney having worked there for many years, we can only believe that this kind of workplace is what changed Barney from the respectful hippie that he was to the misogynistic pig we see throughout the show.

Now, though Barney does not treat most of his feminine exploits respectfully or… really positively at all, he treats four specific women differently than the rest: Loretta, Nora, Robin, and Ellie.

Barney was raised in a single mother household, which, in and of itself, is a type of culture. Barney relied on his mother to be both the masculine and feminine figure he needed while growing up. We learn in "Cleaning House" (S6E2) that Barney sees his mom as both his mother and father and assures her that she was always enough for him. This speaks a lot to the type of respectful man that he was when he was a young adult. Loretta taught him that there was no shame in a man being feminine or masculine. This is also seen when we find out that Loretta was always supportive of James “coming out of the closet” in "Single Stamina"(S2E10).

Nora meets Barney after he has reverted to the chauvinistic ways of his work culture. Barney develops real and honest feelings for Nora and tries to fight to become the respectful man that he once was, but still finds himself unable to fully change for her, despite his strong feelings. We think that Barney has finally found his reason to change when he has his “come to Jesus moment” with Tracy in "Platonish"(S9E9). But, Barney still ends up putting more value in his blog about sex and can’t fully place his support in Robin’s court so they und up divorcing in “The Last Forever Part 1” (S9E23).

We as viewers, start to think there is no hope in changing Barney’s masculine-focused outlook on gender. He reverts back to his sexist attitudes after his divorce with Robin by saying “if not her than it’s no one” and even attempts (and completes) a perfect month. But, he soon finds out that he got a woman pregnant and he meets his daughter, Ellie. When Ellie comes into Barney’s life, he gets a new outlook on gender, which is seen when he tells two girls in the bar that they are “someone’s daughter” and “what would your fathers say about this.” Barney learns a new-found respect for the feminine gender when he becomes engrossed in the culture of fatherhood.

Barney goes from being open-minded about gender roles to masculinity-focused and back again in the span of his lifetime. Strong women and traumatic experiences shaped Barney’s cultures and, ultimately, his view on gender. Barney discovered that respecting women can become easy when you start seriously asking “who’s your daddy.”

Critical Rhetoric is  a tool to help demystify power. And, even though it is very successful at breaking down how power works rhetorically, it does not take into consideration how perspective can change how identities, naming, rules and norms, power relationships, and new possibilities are viewed. This is why we are now going to take a turn to get a new perspective on Barney Stinson with the method of framing. 

 Framing of Barney Stinson

Before we go too far let me give a brief explanation of framing. Burgchart explains that framing comprises of theoretical perspectives on how individuals, groups, and societies, organize, perceive, and communicate about reality (2010). In Ott and Aoki's article on tragic framing, they explain that "Frame analysis looks to see how a situation or event is named/defined, and how that naming shapes public opinion. It accomplishes this analysis by highlighting the inherent biases in all storytelling, namely selectively (what is included and excluded in the story?), and structure (how does the story formally play out?)" (Burgchardt, 2010, 272). Framing is essentially the lens through which we see ourselves, others see us, and we see others. Framing can change based on context and can also change based on perspective.

 Barney is a very complex and multidimensional character within the scheme of the show because of framing. I am looking at the way the Barney is rhetorically self-framed, framed within the "gang," and framed by the audience.

  

The first perspective we are going to look at is Barney Stinson looking at Barney Stinson. Without looking at every single moment in painstaking detail we have an overall idea that the frame that Barney sees himself in is Epic. An epic frame pairs a hero with the grand scale of the context and often leads to the elevation of the individual (Jones 2016). Throughout the series, we see Barney refer to himself as "the king" or "the master" or many other titles that imply over-confidence. Barney also states that he watches himself have sex with girls to keep his game sharp. We also see how he puts himself up on his pedestal with the phrase "challenge accepted!" Barney thinks he can do anything that others deem impossible. There is even an episode where it is confirmed that Barney is a narcissist and goes to therapy for this mental disorder. Looking through this frame makes a lot of sense when you know the kind of character he is. Barney is a womanizer and often does not care about other people's feelings. This frame is very effective from the reflectional perspective.

Next, let's take a look at what frame the gang sees Barney in. When looking at how the gang reacts to Barney throughout the years it is pretty clear that the gang frames Barney tragically. Tragic framing leads to closure and scapegoats to relieve collective guilt or sin. It has a "let's not talk about it" kind of mindset (Jones, 2016). This is shown with how the gang is always slightly disgusted by Barney's antics and minimally tries to tell him how to be better even though they know he won't, but, they never do anything drastic about any of it because they are not Barney and will never be like him, therefore, it is not their problem. A great example of this is in "Intervention."(S4E4) The gang holds interventions for all of the member's biggest issues at the time but never bring up Barney's womanizing ways, just his use of magic. Considering, again, the role that Barney plays within the group, this frame is very effective because if you changed Barney as a person then the group dynamic as a whole would change.

Though, on a side note, when Tracy (the mother) joins the group we see someone come in who has wanted to change Barney for the better since the moment she met him ("Plantonish"(S9E9)). Based on the few encounters we see with the mother, I want to add in a subcategory of Tracy's framing of Barney as comic. Comic framing has an emphasis on humility, self-awareness and reflection, and

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shared responsibility (Jones, 2016). It also often leads to conversation and action. When looking at the results Tracy yielded in just the one conversation with Barney (getting him to propose and marry Robin), I would definitely argue that the use of this frame is very effective.

Now, moving on to the final perspective: the frame that the audience sees Barney in. Now Barney is often used as a comic device and so some might argue that he is supposed to be viewed by the audience through the satirical or burlesque frame but, because there is an emphasis on absurdity in Barney's life and no seeking for reform, I would argue that we are using the grotesque frame (Jones, 2016). We often pity Barney when he gets shut down by a woman or just when we feel like what he is doing is for some other underlying reason. Barney's character is representing the problem our generation has with social and intimate relationships, but does it in an entertaining way. He ends up being the hero oftentimes, like when he went to San Francisco to get Lily back for Marshall ("Bachelor Party" (S2E19)) or when he "catches feelings" for Robin ("Miracles"(S3E20)). This frame is set in place for us, as viewers, to set us up for the evolution of Barney Stinson. When Barney starts to change his ways, we are totally prepared for it, and it is not out of character. When Barney marry's Robin we completely understand it. And when Barney changes for good after he meets his daughter, we feel completely satisfied. This frame is very effective for the audience's perspective on Barney Stinson.

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When looking at Barney from these different frames you get to see a little different perspective on him overall. Looking at the epic, tragic, comic, and ultimately the grotesque frame show just how multi-dimensional this seemingly simple character is. Through framing we are also starting to see how Barney is utilized as the moral compass for his group. Since the group sees him through the Tragic frame, they use him as an indicator of what is morally south and they never fix him because without that indication, they wouldn't know that they are moral.

While framing allows us to see all of these different perspectives, it does not allow the audience to take in and consider the symbols that thrive in the text. When we look at Barney and Robin's relationship, we start to see what visual analysis of color and metaphoric analysis can offer us.

Barney and Robin

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 Barney and Robin's relationship 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 relationships during a specific time. The color also helps to differentiate between different types of relationships.

The episodes where we 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). This brings us to understand that Yellow is a happily every after color. 

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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," which is the mid season climax, 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.

Using visual analysis of color allows us to see how color can group people together and pull them apart visually, along with how it can influence the viewers to see many unspoken relations in the series. But, though visual analysis helps us see many things we are missing out on the verbal symbols throughout the series. When using metaphoric analysis in How I Met Your Mother we start to focus on what is said versus what is seen. 

How I Met Your Mother is, very obviously, a show all about love. It is about Barney finding out what love is, Robin figuring out how to let herself love, Marshall and Lily's love story, and Ted finding "the one."But, though this show's theme is so intrinsic, it is not something that is super serious or overly stated. Throughout the entirety of the nine season series there are many times the characters use "the game" as a metaphor for love. In the metaphoric analysis of the series the tenor is love or dating and the vehicle is "the game."

According to Richards. "In the most important uses of metaphor, as a source of rhetorical invention, a term (or vehicle) from one domain of meaning acts upon a subject (or tenor) from another domain. Their co-presence routinely yields a meaning which is not attainable without the interaction, and in certain cases the tenor becomes so closely identified with its vehicle that it is imagined to be that very thing which it only resembles" (1965, 100-101). This essentially means that a word can stand in the place of another word in order to form a meaning that isn't attainable with just the use of one word.

Every time this metaphor is used it is not super specific. Sometimes it is hidden in the context of the rhetoric. We are going to look at this like we are searching for pieces of a game. One of the first things every game needs is a set of rules, this is easily found in the series. The first set of rules is the Bro Code. The Bro Code is a set of rules for how bros should treat each other and what they should do in certain situations. On top of the Bro Code there are also Barney's Rules. Throughout the series

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Barney will randomly spout one of his catchphrases "I only have one rule." And despite the fact he says he only has one, he has many of these rules. One of the most infamous of these rules is "New is always better."

Another thing that every game needs is instructions or ways to play the game. This is yet another part of the metaphor that we can thank Barney for. Barney has the playbook, which is literally the ways that he gets women to sleep with him, or different ways to play the game. Ted models some different ways of playing the game that always ultimately fail and usually require Barney to sweep in and save the day with one of his surefire ways of playing (ex. "Haaaaave you met Ted?").

In most games there is also a sign that the game is beginning. In football there is a coin flip, in baseball there is "let's play ball!", and in Monopoly there is the argument of who gets to play the thimble game-piece. In How I Met Your Mother there is "Challenge Accepted." Before Barney starts to try out any of his plays or hit on any girl at all he always exclaims, "challenge accepted!" even if no one else actually challenged him to anything in particular. 

The most blatant use of the metaphor in the show is within quotes from some of the characters. In "Little Boys" (S3E4) Marshall states that "If dating is the game, then marriage is winning the game." The game is also mentioned in "Platonish" (S9E9). Barney attempts to hit on the mother and she not only tells him no, she also psychoanalyzes him to the point that they have a heart to heart conversation outside on a bench and she gives him a speech about the game: 

[Mother] "Do you want to keep playing or do you wanna win?" 
[Barney] "I wanna win. What am I doing? In less than 20 minutes, Robin and I could be..."
 [Mother] "Oh, no, no, no, no. It's gonna take a lot more than 20 minutes. This is gonna take everything you have got. It will take all your time, all your attention, all your resources. This is the big one, diaper-man! You gotta do it right, can't be messing around and picking up girls in drug stores. You got work to do."

Games are a huge metaphor used throughout the entire series to create a meaning to finding love. Many people refer to love as a journey and a road with many twists and turns but, in How I Met Your Mother, it is very strategically referred to as a game. We get to see the gang have fun playing the game for fun, playing to win, and winning.

Looking at Barney through Critical Rhetoric, Framing, Visual Analysis of Color, and Metaphoric Analysis, we start to see a more complete image of the seemingly shallow character. The man who once just looked like a womanizing man-whore, now has a much larger role in the scheme of the show. Without Barney Stinson, Marshall would not be reminded of the things in the world he wants to change, Lily would have never had the courage to come back from San Francisco, Ted would have never been reminded of how he could treat women and how he actually wants to treat them, and Robin would have never learned that being screwed up doesn't mean you are not lovable. Barney is the moral compass of the gang, and also the glue that ties them all together. Barney Stinson make How I Met Your Mother Legen- wait for it- dary!

References:
Burgchardt, C. (2010). Readings in Rhetorical Criticism (4th ed.). Strata: State College.
I.A. Richards (1965) The philosophy of rhetoric. New York: Oxford University Press
Jones, H. (2016). Class notes on framing.
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.

Opening Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLOsabhQSM
Video of James and Sam singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOFCPzyJKHA
Barney's Video Blog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuLcxg5VGuo 

Image of Barney and James meeting Sam: http://recultured.com/entertainment/17/how-i-met-your-mothers-greatest-hits-the-best-moments-of-season-5-and-6/
Image of hippie Barney: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/b8/03/2c/b8032cadeb1c216044685bbda90e84e2.jpg