Throughout its 12-season run, "The Big Bang Theory" remained a ratings and
cultural juggernaut. But just because something is popular does not automatically mean it is perfect.
Here are some questionable things we ignore in “The Big Bang Theory”.
Fans who only started watching "The Big Bang Theory" after Howard married
Bernadette might not realize how big of a creep Howard was before settling down
with the love of his life. In the earliest seasons, Howard was basically a predator,
and Penny was often the unfortunate recipient of his unwanted attentions.
One of the most unsettling throwaway jokes from early on in the show was when Howard asked Penny
if she would have opened the door if she knew he was standing outside. To this, Penny replies,
"Not since I found out that the teddy bear you gave me had a webcam in it."
This was not even the only time Howard tried to use technology to spy on an attractive woman
without her consent. He and Raj went to great lengths to figure out the location of the house
from "America's Next Top Model" where all the models were staying,
even making illegal use of a government satellite in the process.
Howard's antics are always played for laughs, but it is clear that his behavior rubs every
woman he meets the wrong way. This was confirmed when he tried to kiss Penny,
and she punched him in the eye in retaliation. The truth is, if the show was even slightly realistic,
a lot of the stunts Howard pulled to try to get with women could have landed him in jail.
"The Big Bang Theory" was a show that thrived on making jokes
about stereotypes. As the show's rare main character who's also non-white,
Raj was often the subject of mockery, based on his Indian heritage. Over the years,
many jokes were made about Raj coming from a country that is poor and overpopulated,
where animals are considered "magic," and where the culture and religion were silly.
“That’s very offensive.”
After a time, the show eased up on the Indian jokes somewhat, but the attacks against Raj
became more personal. Every aspect of the character's life, from his lack of a romantic
partner to personal interests and physical appearance, were constantly made fun of. Worse,
it was usually Raj's best friend Howard making those jokes, to the extent that
the two had a brief falling out because Raj did not like the way Howard constantly bullied him.
The end of the show did nothing to give Raj any sort of a redemption arc.
He remained the only main character to not have a special someone when the series ended,
due to facing one bitter disappointment in his love life after another. He was also
shown to have become much more dependent on his parents for financial support,
and essentially replaced Sheldon as the man-child unable to function as a mature adult.
Before Jim Parsons made Sheldon the star of the show, "The Big Bang Theory" was mainly
about Leonard trying to desperately date Penny. In time, after many false stops and starts,
Leonard and Penny finally become a couple when they tie the knot and move in together. But
that was far from the happily-ever-after scenario that fans had been expecting.
Soon after their marriage, fans started noticing that Penny was becoming more
than a little mean towards Leonard. She belittled his accomplishments,
made fun of his relationship with his mother, and frequently made fun of him in group settings.
When Penny and Raj were discussing how Howard constantly makes mean-spirited comments about Raj,
he points out that Penny does the same thing with Leonard. She agrees with that assessment.
But perhaps the biggest sign that all was not well in Penny and Leonard's marriage, due to Penny's
attitude, occurs in the episode "The Romance Recalibration." At first, Penny thinks Leonard has
stopped trying in their relationship since getting married. But then Leonard points out the opposite.
“I’m the one who’s made all the effort in this relationship since day one,
please tell me what more i could do!"
Later seasons of "The Big Bang Theory" gave us strong female characters and storylines,
thanks to the addition of Amy and Bernadette to the main cast. But this
only serves to highlight how the early seasons of the show were only interested
in presenting women as the mysterious "other," almost like they were aliens.
The central premise upon which the show itself was built had to do with the awkwardness
of the main four male characters in social situations, particularly pertaining to women.
Howard acts like a thirsty creep around females; Raj is literally unable to even
speak to them without getting drunk; Sheldon has no interest in interacting with them;
and Leonard, perhaps the most "normal" of the group, can't even ask out Penny,
or any other attractive woman, due to a crippling inferiority complex.
Because of this setup, females on the show were all too often presented as one-dimensional
characters whose only contribution to the plot was being hot, or whether or not the
male characters had a chance of sleeping with them. This trend was summed up perfectly in the
episode "The Justice League Recombination." When Sheldon questions whether Penny's Wonder Woman
outfit is authentic enough without a black wig, Howard dismisses his concerns with the remark.
"Relax. No one's going to be looking at her hair."
In a sea of awkward, antisocial geeks, "The Big Bang Theory" initially presented Penny as
the sole voice of reason. The street-smart, kind-hearted simpleton did not mind being
friends with geeks, and even helped them open up to the rest of the world. This,
however, is far from the reality of Penny's relationship with the guys.
Penny is shown to be clearly aware of the effect her looks have on Leonard, Raj,
and Howard, and she often uses it to her advantage. She eats food that the
guys order without paying her share. She steals their Wi-Fi and uses their brains
whenever she needs something technical done. Even worse, she made Leonard go
to her ex-boyfriend's house to pick up her things after only knowing him for a few days,
leading to Leonard getting bullied by her ex. Both him and Sheldon get their pants taken.
“Leonard.”
“What?”
“My mom bought me those pants.”
“I’m sorry.”
It is also shown that Penny is aware of her manipulative behavior,
since she grows insecure when a new pretty girl moves into their building
and proceeds to use the guys in exactly the same manner as her.
"The Big Bang Theory" is often held up as an example of a show that brought the
geek way of life into the cultural mainstream. While it is true that
the show is chock-full of references to the most obscure facets of geek culture,
how it explores those facets is more than a little questionable.
Oftentimes, the entire punch line of a joke is that these grown men are actually interested
in something so "geeky." Consider the following actual joke from an actual episode of the show:
"The fate of Doctor Who's Tardis will be decided by a 'Game of Thrones'-inspired
deathmatch on the battlefield of Thundercats versus Transformers."
That's it. That's the entire joke. Just a
bunch of references to various sci-fi and fantasy franchises.
Many times, the show doesn’t set up a reference to an aspect of geek culture,
using that reference to create actual humor. Instead, all too often, the entire joke is
showing how obsessed these man-children are with something that’s somehow meant for kids.
In the hands of a lesser actor, Sheldon would have become the most insufferable character in
the history of television. It is a testament to Jim Parsons' skill as an actor that he managed
to make audiences fall in love with Sheldon, instead of viewing the character as the awful,
awful person he really is. From the start of the show, Sheldon has proven himself,
time and again, to be petty, selfish, vindictive, controlling, and callous. He constantly makes fun
of his friends for not being as smart as him. He has made several jokes at the expense of women.
“Your ovaries are squirting so much goofy juice into your brain,
you don’t even know which way is up.”
He even showed his assistant Alex graphic images of human genitals without her consent.
Some of this behavior wound up getting him sexual harassment accusations at work.
Whenever Sheldon acts like a complete tool, the show makes it clear that he does so out
of ignorance rather than active malice. That excuse would only work if Sheldon
himself did not take offense when others act inappropriately towards him. But in those cases,
Sheldon is always very quick to take offence. Clearly, Sheldon has a working understanding
of right and wrong, but his dismissive attitude towards the entire human race,
including his closest friends and family, makes him indifferent to any hurt he might
cause to others. That is, until he is specifically called out on his behavior.
Over time, Leonard became one of the most pathetic fictional characters ever created.
In the beginning, he was shown to allow Sheldon to walk all over him in terms of their living
arrangements. After marriage, Penny replaced Sheldon as the person who constantly orders
Leonard around. And then, to cap it all off, we meet Leonard's mother Beverly.
It would be hard to overstate just how much emotional abuse Beverly subjected Leonard to
from a young age. She withheld affection, turned a critical gaze on everything Leonard tried to do,
and acted dismissive towards his achievements. To top it all off,
Leonard discovers that his mother subjected him to a number of psychological experiments
from an early age and published the findings for the world to see.
“Every time I’m around her, I turn into this needy little eight year old boy.”
All of this left deep scars on Leonard's psyche. But in a case of adding insult to injury,
Beverly remains largely indifferent to Leonard's feelings. She often acts as though Leonard is
being unduly emotional and that she had, in fact, been a model mother. Even though
Leonard and Beverly eventually reach some sort of an understanding, the damage done to Leonard,
in terms of turning him into a human doormat, will probably never be reversed.
Sheldon is openly acknowledged to be a pretty terrible person because there's very little
artifice in him, and he doesn't try to hide his true nature. But Sheldon has some tough
competition in the "biggest douchebag" department from none other than sweet,
tiny Bernadette, who is deceptively sneaky about being a major bully.
A prime example of Bernie's hidden nature was seen way back when everyone thought she
was sweetness and delight personified. Sheldon is trumped by a physics problem and the rest
of the group are suffering the consequences. When they are all fed up, Bernie is the one
to stand up to Sheldon. She talks to him like he’s a child and sends him to bed.
But the true extent of Bernadette's mean-spirited nature was realized once her professional life
came into focus. It comes to light that everyone at her office is terrified of Bernadette,
even her boss. In fact, everyone working in the same building as her collectively decides to
repurpose the handicapped washroom as Bernadette's private lavatory after she keeps on using it.
This bullying aspect of Bernie's nature frequently leaks into her private life in episodes to come,
so much so that even Penny grows wary of accidentally making Bernadette angry.
In general, it is repeatedly emphasized just how smart and capable the male characters are when it
comes to their jobs — particularly Sheldon. But just because they have the brains to be
good at their jobs doesn't mean they have the ethics to go along with it. In fact, Leonard,
Sheldon, Raj, and Howard should be in jail for some of the things they've done while on the job.
For instance, there was the time when Leonard almost divulged state secrets to a North Korean
spy to make her sleep with him. Or when Leonard, Raj, and Howard illegally tested an experimental
rocket fuel formula in a public area and blew up their residential building's elevator as a result.
Then there's the time when Howard crashed the Mars Rover space vehicle while trying
to impress a random girl he met in a bar. And let's not forget when Sheldon and Leonard tried
to illegally procure liquid helium through a shady contact. Honestly, sometimes you have to
wonder how the guys have managed to stay out of jail and hold onto their jobs for so long.
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