I Don't Like You and You Don't Like Me

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Drill Sergeant: Look soldier, you don't like me, and I don't like you. Homer: I like you. Sgt: Well, uh, alright... You like me, but I don't like you! Homer: Maybe you'd like me if you got to know me? —The Simpsons

A Stock Phrase which is such a Dead Horse Trope that it hardly needs explaining. Usually followed by "but we need to work together" or something to the effect.

Common is having the two characters discuss whether this is true or not, especially if one character responds with "I like you".

Also common is adding other targets to the dislike.

Also common is doing multiple adjustments, such as:

Alice: Look Bob, I don't like you, you don't like me, and nobody likes Chavez, but we all need to work together to beat this supervillain and his mind control device! Chavez: Nobody likes me? *Looks forlorn* Bob: I like you guys. Alice: I like it when you shut up!

And so on.

Examples of I Don't Like You and You Don't Like Me include:

Film

• Meet the Fockers

Greg Focker: [to Little Jack] What? You don't like me. I don't like your little red outfit. It makes you look like a little demon baby.

• 48 Hrs.:

Jack: Now, get this! We ain't partners. We ain't brothers. And we ain't friends. I'm puttin' you down and keepin' you down until Ganz is locked up or dead. And if Ganz gets away, you're gonna be sorry YOU ever MET me! Reggie: I'm already sorry.

• In Super Troopers, Grady responds to O'Hagen's use of this trope with "I like you..."
• A somewhat unusual version occurs in Rocky Horror Picture Show right after Riff Raff kills Dr. Frank N. Furter.

Magenta: You killed him. But I thought you liked him. He liked you. Riff Raff: He didn't like me! He never liked me!

• CIA Agent Ernest Paxton to John Mason in The Rock: "Get this straight Pops; I don't like you any more than you like me, but I'm here to make you a legitimate offer".

Live Action TV

• Knight Rider (1982) episode "Knight of the Juggernaut"

Michael Knight: Ok, so you don't like me. Except for the fact that you're the daughter of a man I respected, I don't like you very much either.

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine used an elaborate variation for Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

Agent Sloan: Let's make a deal, doctor: I'll spare you the ends-justify-the-means speech, and you spare me the we-must-do-what's-right speech. You and I are not going to see eye-to-eye on this subject, so I suggest we stop discussing it.

• A variation on That '70s Show:

Red: Look, I don't want to be here, and you don't want to be here. Fez: I want to be here... Red: Fine. I don't want to be here, and I don't care what you want...

Video Games

• Halo 2.

Sergeant Johnson: Listen, you don't like me and I SURE AS HELL don't like you. But if we don't do something, Mr. Mohawk's gonna activate this Ring! And we're ALL gonna die. The Arbiter: Tartarus has locked himself inside the control room. Sergeant Johnson: Well I just happen to have a key. C'mon, grab a Banshee and gimme some cover. They're gonna know we're coming.

• System Shock 2

Diego: Anatoly, there's only so much corporate calisthenics I can go through before I start to feel a little queasy, so let's get down to brass tacks here. We don't like each other. We each have our own motivations for undertaking this mission, so let me give you a little warning. I cannot be circumvented, I cannot be tricked, I cannot be manipulated, and I cannot be bought. You come at me straight and keep the fancy maneuvers for your next board meeting. Just because my father swam with the sharks doesn't mean that I do.

Web Comics

• The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob's first story arc:

Ahem: "Volly! Why this is an unexpected pleasure!" Voluptua: "Oh stow it. I'm not happy to see you and you're not happy to see me."

Web Original

• In the fifth part of Kickassia

Linkara: Joe, Joe, I know we've had our differences... Angry Joe: We have? Linkara: Yes. I don't like you very much Angry Joe: [Dissapointed] Oh.

Western Animation

• The Simpsons has a number of variants, including the page quote.
  • Episode "Homer at the Bat"

Mr. Burns: All right, you ragtag bunch of misfits! You hate me, and I hate you even more.

• • Episode "The Front"

Homer: Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's get through this thing and then I can continue killing you with beer.

• • Episode "Simpson Tide", where Homer joins the Naval Reserve

Drill Sergeant (addressing the recruits): Now I don't like you, and you don't like me... Homer: I like you.

• • More from The Simpsons:

Moe: Listen, I don't like you and you don't like me. But we both want to stop Homer from shooting the turkey. Lisa: You don't like me? I like you. Moe: You do? Then I like you too. Here, have a towelette. Homer: All right book, I didn't read you and you didn't read me. But we're both in this together, so say something smart or get ready to run like hell!

• Bender says this to Leela in an episode of Futurama. Surprised, she replies, "I like you." Bender pauses his plan organizing to ask what exactly Leela likes about him.

Amy: Well, is she coming? Bender: I don't know. But I do know she likes my "in your face" attitude.

• Proving it can play things straight when it wants to, an episode of Family Guy has atheist mouthpiece Brian deliver this word-for-word to Peter's harder-than-hardline Catholic father, before suggesting the only way to put a stop to his son's Church of the Fonz is by working together.
• In Johnny Bravo while dealing with a ghost.

Johnny: All right ghost. I don't like you, and you don't like me. So lets settle this once and for all. Ghost: RRRRWWWWHHHH! Johnny: Of couse, I could learn to like you.