Misunderstood: 'How I Met Your Mother'
Sit-coms have been altered, and there is no longer a laugh track. Instead there is some awkward comedy and some hilarious moments, for example, Brooklyn 99 is legendary. We all love watching Friends over and over again, and seems no matter how many times I watch it, I am still laughing at the jokes. However, what if we are simply misinterpreting How I Met Your Mother. The story is told from the narrator's point of view, Ted Mosby, who is a helpless romantic living in New York city, finding the love of his life. All of his friends he has are all seen from his point of view. We might find the characters unrelatable at times. But maybe this is what the writers wanted? How so, you ask? Well, think about it, Barney is so unrealistically horny, and he wants to have no real relationship and just have sex. Much like Joey Tribiani from Friends, except the difference is that Barney takes all challenges, and basically has sex with anything or any woman that moves. Maybe this is just how Ted sees Barney, when realistically Barney is really just Joey Tribiani, but takes his game to the next level. Then, how perfect Marshal and Lily are—they are also probably not that perfect, again this is just how Ted Mosby sees them. Then, how perfect Robin is—she is always perfect in each and every episode, it feels like she has not once screwed up. Once again, this is all coming from Ted's perspective. It is not how the television wanted to show them. It was how Ted saw all of his friends. When he tells some of the stories, he sometimes has to go back and tell it again, or starts telling another story that is linked to another episode. That's what makes the show relatable. It is how Ted tells the stories, and how he sometimes can't remember certain aspects, so he just makes it up as he goes. Even Barney's apartment, his television was probably not the whole wall, but it was just really big, bigger than anyone has seen, however, Ted probably saw it as a whole wall television. The life-size stormtrooper could actually be real. It is just the characters that are romanticized to how Ted Mosby sees things. Since everything is told from his perspective, then all the characters and everything that happens is not from the audience's perspective, but from Ted Mosby's, and I think that is why some people do not find it relatable.