Why I won't be watching HIMYM anymore

So, my most recent semester in college yielded some changes for me. The most obvious of these changes is that I have started analyzing every bit of media I consume for messages about marginalized groups. It's actually quite infuriating because I can't turn it off and I've found myself rejecting certain music or television because of messages I find offensive. Even if I try to ignore those things, they still really bother me. Luckily, now I have a blog where I get to vent about it!

Anyway, let's get more specific: How I Met Your Mother. I think this show is hilarious. I've been trying to catch up to the current season of it because I think it's awesome and legendary. Now, I've been dimly aware for a little while that HIMYM is what I would call an extremely white show. In this particular case, that means that all of the main characters are white. But, I figured, this is by no means uncommon so it didn't really bother me. Their portrayal of one of the only black minor characters, Barney's brother, didn't seem too bad. So I was able to ignore the slight annoyance in the back of my mind.

But then I saw the episode where Robin's first boyfriend comes to town and we learn about "Revertigo". Here's a recap of the part of the show I found offensive:


Revertigo is when you’re around someone from your past and you revert back to how you used to act back when you knew that person. Ted and Marshall use Lily as an example. When Lily’s around her high school friend Michelle, she suffers from revertigo. Marshall mentions Michelle to Lily and gets her to set up a hang-out date so they can demonstrate the behavior. When Lily and Michelle are together, they both act all gangsta, saying things like “Aw girl, you gotta get yo drink on up in hurr!” and “I’ma get me my champagne and grape soda awn.” When separated, both Michelle and Lily revert back to speaking normally.


In case you haven't guessed it, Michelle is black. This pissed me the fuck off. Really, though, what made me the most angry was that I really enjoy this show. And now I know if I watch it, I'm just going to see more shit like  that. The fact that such stereotyping was there once put me off enough that I didn't finish the episode. Thus ends my time of watching How I Met Your Mother. Whoop-de-fucking-doo.