For five years, the webseries Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has been amusing and befuddling viewers by combining cute puppets and animation with disturbing, gory violence, dream logic, and a heaping helping of dark surrealism. But is it all just random internet nonsense, simply a series of weird images strung together with no meaning at all? MatPat, host of the YouTube program The Film Theorists, doesn’t think so. In fact, he believes Don’t Hug Me creators Rebecca Sloan and Joe Pelling have a definite message they want to convey with their videos. The Film Theorists lays it all out with an episode titled “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared DECODED.” The key to the webseries is to understand it as a comment on children’s television, particularly in Britain. The show’s three main characters, Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck, are all cast members on what’s supposed to be an educational show for children. The Film Theorists points out numerous shots that reveal the protagonists are actually on a set with lights and cameras. In each episode, they try to teach a lesson about a worthwhile topic like time or love or healthy eating. But things invariably go off the rails, and the show’s lessons are incoherent at best and malevolent at worst.