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But hey, repression is a thing, and I hadn’t learnt to be critical of the media I consumed by then!
© Chuck Lorre Productions
Having unintelligently spent hours upon hours watching a show that at best mocked the nerds it was aimed towards and worse, excused everything from sexism and harassment to the very stereotypes we seek to escape from for the sake of laughs, it’s safe to say that I have a complicated relationship with the Big Bang Theory.
Still, after much thought and plenty of outside consultation, I’ve narrowed down 5 things that really ruined the experience for me (and a lot of others):
1. How they all treat each other
© Chuck Lorre Productions
From the beginning of the show, the characters are shown constantly taking digs at each other over everything from their habits, their fears, their inability to get a woman, or all the awful stuff that would generally lead a good friend to recommend seeing a therapist.
Like when they sit around and gleefully read out mean tweets about Sheldon after he taught a class, and are more than happy to share the content of those tweets when Sheldon gets home with no sensitivity whatsoever.
I’m sorry, are they actually supposed to be friends?
Or… like, any scene at all where Howard mocks Raj’s Indian accent. Which is about half the show.
2. Speaking of that, how genuinely racist Howard actually behaves towards Raj
Elephant and curry? Really? Wow, I’d never heard that one before, super original, Howard. Imagine your real-life friend saying that to you… I’d be sooner ending that friendship, thanks.
3. Plus, the show is just one big sexist joke, weakly disguised by painting the nerds as people who are somehow incapable of understanding basic human decency
© Chuck Lorre Productions
Consider this wildly inappropriate scene with Sheldon and Amy basically slut-shaming Penny for the people she may have slept with.
Even with the laugh track, it’s easy to see how uncomfortable Penny is by the topic — but her pleas to change the topic of conversation are, of course, outright ignored.
And how did anyone think this entire episode with Sheldon and Alex was ever okay?
To be completely honest with you, this had been about the point I realised I couldn’t ignore what my subconscious had been telling me.
...yup, he called a black woman a slave!
4. The way the show enabled and excused contempt for and harassment of women is astonishing to me — and how it passed by most of us even more so
Case in point, when Howard constantly objectifies Penny and makes unwanted advances, gets called out for being creepy AF and Penny is the one who somehow ends up apologising and consoling the guy getting his ego bruised.
And he STILL doesn’t get the memo! Penny punches him for trying to kiss her against her will and all he has to say is that she’s halfway to sleeping with him just due to pity…
Do you know what happens to men like that in real life? A court case.
And I’ll let you judge this one yourself:
I’m sorry, what did he just say about Marie Curie?
5. The laugh trackNow, before you say it, I know the show’s a sitcom and it’s supposed to have a live audience and a laugh track. But this show is just built around saying mean one-liners to each other and adding a laugh track to demonstrate that it’s all in good fun.
For example, watch this scene without the laugh track:
Yeah, without the fake audience to tell you what you’re supposed to find funny here, it kinda just looks like a group of guys bullying their female friend, especially considering the incredibly demeaning way Raj is talking to her throughout. But, of course, that’s brushed off as a personality quirk.
And when it’s not one-liners, it’s kind of difficult to grasp what exactly we’re laughing at… that they’re able to speak? That they’re characters who like science?
There’s something about them laughing at nothing that simply grates at the audience’s nerves, especially once it’s pointed out to you.
Not to mention how being a nerd actually seems to be the butt of the joke in the entirety of the show, and how women are painted as “anti-geek” for some reason, when many women are, in fact, involved in geek culture themselves.
© Chuck Lorre Productions
All of this is not to say that I absolutely hate the show, even though I would be very reasonable in doing so. I do believe that things somewhat get better in the later seasons, though not perfect.
© Chuck Lorre Productions
Still, I would like for the show to not be equated as the epitome of nerd culture, and for the people who love it (as well as those who wrote it) to examine the kinds of stereotypes and harmful portrayals it has helped solidify in people’s minds over the years.
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