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ryanmeft · 6 years

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Farewell, and Good Riddance, to The Big Bang Theory

Imagine, if you will, a half hour sitcom about black people. One of the characters speaks nothing but an exaggerated version of what the writers think is “street” talk, listens to nothing but gangster rap, and swaggers like he’s on stage wherever he goes. For another, the trait that becomes his running joke is how he never looks for a job; once an episode the laugh track kicks up to orgasm levels in response to a one-liner about how many kids he’s avoiding the child support payments on. The woman living next door reacts to their repeated antics by balling her fists on her hips, leaning forward and, as the show puts it, “throwing out some sass”…when she’s not offering to whip them up some watermelon and fried chicken. Their apartment is located in a rundown part of town, and each episode begins with them being comically awakened to the sound of gunfire.

If you’re already appalled, you reacted the way you should. This would be a show composed entirely of the dumbest, most prevalent racial stereotypes that non-black people believe about black people. Worse, it would be using those things for a cheap laugh. The “characters” as I have presented them there would not be people at all, but crude punchlines that only appeal to those outside the group being ostensibly depicted.

If you understand why that opening paragraph was offensive in every possible way, you’re on your way to grasping why your nerd friends so loathed The Big Bang Theory. There are plenty of great articles out there already beating the ever-loving life out of this godawful shitshow, so I want to be a little more serious and tackle the very real reasons it is a goiter on the ass of pop culture.

The only bad thing about The Big Bang Theory ending is that it didn’t happen before season one. I have had the profound misfortune of seeing many episodes in full, particularly towards the beginning of the show when my non-nerdy friends insisted I just had to see this thing.

“It’s about you.”

Statements like that made me wonder how we were friends. Tellingly, most of the people who once said it are no longer in my life. They weren’t cut from it because they liked a TV show. They weren’t cut from it at all. Gradually, it simply occurred to me they’d never really understood me and, given they thought I was like this or that Big Bang character, I’m honestly surprised some of those friendships lasted as long as they did.

The Big Bang Theory got away with rampant, blatant stereotypes about nerds for a long time, and for one major reason: it catered to people outside the group it was ostensibly depicting. It never attempted to be fair or even-handed toward nerd culture. Nerds, who comprise a wide variety of people of many different personality types and interests, were boiled down to a few stereotypes that might be true of some nerds somewhere, but were hardly true of the group. The problem wasn’t that none of the things ever depicted were ever true about anyone, anywhere; it was that every single thing these people did was based on those handful of things.

This was not a show that would ever write a starring role for a socially well-adjusted adult who happened to like video games. This was not a show that would ever star a character who prioritized their relationships over their hobbies without having to be repeatedly told to do so. This was not a show that would ever depict Howard as an otherwise independent adult who had to move back in with family because, say, he lost his job, or was inflicted with a disability (this idea of “living with mom” has long been funny to successful people free of such challenges because it is unlikely to happen to them). It does not depict nerds dealing with real life, as opposed to Sitcom “Real” Life.

Yet such people are far, far more reflective of the people I know from comic conventions, gaming circles, and just general nerdism than anything ever seen on The Big Bang Theory. I know a man with a basement full of more expensive Marvel statues than I would ever dream of owning, who is also a bodybuilder and a skilled mechanic. I know a successful Latino cop (note: all principles on The Big Bang Theory are white) who writes and reads comics and completely schools me on the topic of superhero history. I know a bisexual man who struggles with an actual, for real mental condition (not the coded kind designed to be made fun of that Sheldon represents) who reads far more comics than I and who would never prioritize them over his relationships. I know people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder who have to have medical assistance to avoid destroying their lives with repetitive behaviors and thoughts that are forced on them by something in their brain chemistry they would never choose. Sheldon is no funnier to them than a Mexican who can’t get enough beans and Tequila would be to a Latino person.

This might not be that big a deal, accept for the fact that not belonging to the “cool” group has always been a lightning rod for bullying, insults, ostracism , and social shame, something that can and absolutely does continue from school into adulthood. Nor does the argument that it’s “just a sitcom” hold water. Sitcoms have given our media-obsessed world sympathetic, anti-stereotypical portrayals of the working class (All in the Family, Roseanne*), African Americans (The Cosby Show*, The Jeffersons) and homosexual people (Will & Grace), to name a few. By comparison, The Big Bang Theory is the TV equivalent of getting mocked as you walk down the hall to class for not being cool enough. It does not make any attempt to edify the lives of outsiders for the benefit of a wider audience; it instead reduces the outsiders to further punchlines for those whose lives are more accepted socially.

Many people have a passion for something and don’t care what everyone else thinks of it. The reason we have “nerds” at all is because society has collectively taken it upon themselves to decide what is and isn’t cool or acceptable to be passionate about. Video games? Weird. Cars? Cool. Comic books? Weird. Sports? Cool. Model building? Weird. Architecture? Cool. A lot more people than you likely think probably fall on both sides of this arbitrary line. You want to know the day we stop hating The Big Bang Theory? The day when there’s a show about people who can fix an engine AND tell you all about The Hulk. Until then, the blemish left by the show in an era when TV and movies are scrambling to show more respect toward, and variety in, ostracized groups is not something we’re likely to laugh with.

*I am aware these two shows have since been heavily tarred by the off-screen behavior of their stars, but it doesn’t change the fact they were heavily influential in the way their groups are portrayed in the media and the public consciousness.

#the big bang theory #television #sheldon cooper #nerd #geek #The Hulk #video games #stereotypes #all in the family #the jeffersons #cars #architecture #Sports #comic books #movies #roseanne #will and grace

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elescritora · 7 years

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A. Malcolm - 3x06 musings

I've just watched 3x06 again, and here are some fresh thoughts - fresh in they I don't think they've been rehashed to kingdom come by every single fan who ever fanned. It's a curse, not getting to see the show til Tuesday nights.

Geordie is hilarious and Claire is totally going to cure that goiter. The end.

Ok, not really the end.

I'm calling any OOC moments for Jamie in the print shop 'shock'. Sometimes he was emoting like mad and sometimes he felt a bit icy. Shock could do that. They're cute though. Claire's so nervous and hopeful and gorgeous and doubting herself and insecure and proud, and Jamie's so 'what the fuck?! Give my mind a moment to catch-up! Ok, it’s caught up and I want you. But I'm conflicted! Halp!’

Cait acting with her chin all through this episode - that chin deserves awards all by itself, let alone put together with the rest of her. I do love me a good chin wobble.

Fergus - everyone has been rabbiting on about how gorgeous Cesar is for months now, but honestly, I was just a bit meh. But now I've seen him in action - awww, he's wee Fergus all grown up! Didn't he catch Romann's mannerisms well? He's lovely, and I loved his and Claire's reunion, although I wish we'd seen a bit more of her missing him or telling Bree about him in the previous episodes.

Fergus isn't stupid though, he grew up as a pickpocket and is used to intrigue, plus he knows Claire's glass face - and boy, was it glass when she was making up her story about where she'd been for 20 years. Every man and his dog could tell that was a bullshit story, so surely he knows she's lying. So does this mean Fergus will he find out about her time-travelling abilities sooner than in the book? It never rung true to me that he was the last to know - actually, did he even find out ever? It would be another thing for him to bond over with Murtagh when they finally catch up. OMG, Murtagh and Fergus reunion! I hadn't really thought much about it but how awesome and cute and gruff is that going to be?

I also loved Fergus going back in for the second hug with his cute little grin. Maman's boy!

From his convo with Fergus and a few other hints dropped along the way, it sounds like Jamie is already trying to extricate himself from the marriage to Laoghaire. He's inherently honourable, so I don't see him leaving for no reason or just because he's unhappy - living apart perhaps, but not divorce, and if he's speaking to Ned Gowan then it sounds like he's taking legal proceedings. So I reckon divorce is on the cards. What happened to push him that far? Perhaps the show writers are trying to get around having him know what Laoghiare did to Claire, by having had him marry Laoghaire under duress or false pretenses? Considering his stall and quick acquiescence to 'not rush things' when Claire asks him what he did 'when he had the need', it makes me wonder if perhaps he once had sex with Laoghaire 'as a brute, blind with need' and she in her desperation/need for someone to support her family/long-lost love/delusions used this to make him marry her. The only thing compelling enough to make Jamie overcome his dislike and distrust of her (or rather, try to learn to live with them) would be pregnancy. Did Laoghaire fake a pregnancy to get Jamie to marry her? And then pretended she lost the baby and Jamie found out the truth - and how long after the fact? I mean, it might have been real, but I don't know if Jamie would go to divorce in that instance, cos he'd feel bad for Laoghaire. To take it to the next level, did Jamie even have sex with her or did she make that up too?

Is it wrong that I'm hoping this happened? It's one of the only ways I can think of for the show to justify Jamie marrying Laoghaire while knowing all along that she tried to have Claire burned at the stake. Like, that's the only reason it was acceptable in the book - because he was unaware of this. But since he definitely knows in the show... I hope I'm right!

Yi Tien Cho was better than in the books, but it would be hard to get worse. I think he still came off as a second-class citizen and Jamie still spoke patronisingly to him. So that sucked a bit. Hoping it improves.

All the sexy times were seriously some of the least gratuitous sex scenes I've ever seen, and they lasted for ages so you'd think they'd eventually cross the line to tits and arses just for the sake of them at some point, but I really didn't feel like they did. It was hot as, of course, but there was just so much development of the characters and their connection that it all felt beautifully necessary. I even got a bit watery-eyed at a few points on the first watch, and I am pretty sure I can say that's the first time I've ever nearly cried while watching fictitious characters bonk. I mean bond. Via sexy times.

I wasn't in love with all the cinematographic choices though. There were a few really long lingering shots of body parts that I thought were overdone - like a big pan down Jamie’s back, where they were initially following Claire's hand, but that went mostly out of frame, so there was just scar city and nothing else for a while. (Which reminds me, earlier there was a shot of Jamie's back where he moved in such a way that the prosthetic scars folded a bit, and it was at the end of a shot so would have been so easy to cut so why didn't they, argh! Pay attention!) Aaaanyway, they then followed up by another big long shot of arms and necks - this time with Jamie's hand, but after a while that too became less of a focal point. Then it was just so much of Claire's shoulder. I know they were trying to break the shots up - like those shots of Claire's face were already super lingering - but I wish they'd been able to do something that focused more on the relationship rather than rando body parts.

Love how Claire is teary after their midnight chat about Bree. She misses her baby! I hope we get more Bree bonding and more of Claire missing her, and maybe telling Fergus about his baby sister!

Jamie's 'maybe I'm a ghost' statement got me wondering - what if there was a super angsty AU fic where all this was Claire inside her head? A dream, a hallucination..? Maybe she was seeing his ghost and hallucinated the rest around it to make it make sense?

Not a fan of what they've done to Madame Jeanne's character, she's a bit of a harpy and I don't remember that from the books. I loooooved the 'hoors though, that scene vies for my fave scene of the episode (admittedly it had numerous scenes as competition). So hilarious, love the facial expressions and the nether mouth line was brilliant and so well delivered.

Was Claire being choked or grabbed by the face in the last scene? Hard to tell with the lighting. My eyes say grabbed, but my ears (that noise Claire makes) say choked. Just, you know, for interests' sake. To distract me for gratuitous rape threats (the one bloody gratuitous scene in the whole episode!).

Overall, I liked it, job well done!

#outlander #outlander spoilers #outlander 3x06 #midnight musings #at 3:30am #cos finally I get a moment alone #everyone else is sleeping!

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