08-17-2014, 10:11 PM
Bernadette could have worked as a foil to Penny, a female friend to offset the guys. Turning her into a shrill one-note joke was a dumb decision - but the whole H/B thing is just a tired retread of every henpecked husband trope going. Much funnier if they had spread that developing relationship out, and really used the family backgrounds, the clash between cultures. Howard is a stereotype himself, and SH could do so much better if he had better material to work with. Howard and Raj should have been the running commentary, the Stadtler and Waldorf, to the main action. Turning one of them into a lame expo of 'The Honeymooners' and reducing the other to an offensive ethnic stereotype (Now with Added Homophobic Humour!) is just crap.
edit: The Bechdel Fail is endemic. But the misogyny in the show is deeply unpleasant. The female characters are either shrill harpies, dumb nymphets or disturbing, shambling parodies of humanity in butt-ugly cardigans.
edit: The Bechdel Fail is endemic. But the misogyny in the show is deeply unpleasant. The female characters are either shrill harpies, dumb nymphets or disturbing, shambling parodies of humanity in butt-ugly cardigans.