PHILADELPHIA — Barney, the big, purple dinosaur's ever-present smile, his saccharine song lyrics that force-fed love to the masses, engendered a level of hate few children's characters have ever seen.
Barney stuffed animals were torn apart and run over at public events. An online group declared "jihad" on him a decade before most Americans had even heard that word. His most infamous song, "I Love You," may have been used to torture prisoners.
Tommy Avallone, a Haddon Heights, Camden County, native, spent two years immersed in the Barney universe researching his latest documentary, "I Love You, You Hate Me." The experience, he said, didn't drive him over the edge; it made him a better father, and a little less cynical.
