05-31-2014, 07:02 PM
This is nothing new, either. The entwined themes of misogyny and resentment. And so many times, it leads back to a white guy who has health and education and skills, sitting on his arse and whining about how the 'hot girl' he thinks he should have, as befits a man of his intellectual status/a reward for being bullied in school, refuses to sleep with him as his passport to social acceptance amongst a group of people he actually despises and fears.
It isn't about finding someone compatible with his interests (because he's consumed with self-loathing and internalised shame) and he won't consider a girl who doesn't meet his aesthetic standards (because she isn't a person, she's a symbol of his success) - but staring beadily at her chest and exuding a combination of intellectual arrogance and sexual desperation doesn't seem to work, who knew?
This whole issue is illustrated quite handily in TBBT - Penny has no surname, and an ill-defined career path. This is because she isn't quite a real person to the show. She's merely a reflection of whatever Leonard needs in the plot line, whether that is a punchbag for his own insecurities or a fuckbuddy when he's feeling the need to smugly air his prowess. It is why she has no friends outside of the insular group, no hobbies or interests showcased. She is allowed no agency, nothing that does not lead straight back to the narrow existence of being 'Leonard's'.
The distaff side is just as repulsive. Amy is a horrendous creation - a plain, frustrated, deeply peculiar woman chasing a man who seems intent on getting away from her. She might be smart, but it means nothing without a man. She's plain, therefore desperate. It's an unkind depiction of a (sadly) stock character. There's an additional layer of nastiness with the fact that she is actually repulsive as a character, certain behaviours well over the line of humour into sheer creepiness. Because her intended prey in this case is a character who is emotionally and socially stunted, and thus the whole scenario becomes increasingly cringe-making and uncomfortable to watch. ('Sexy toddler'? Just. No.)
We are being encouraged to mock and jeer at dysfunctional adults failing to negotiate their lives, whilst also being told that the only appropriate aspiration for them is social conformity. There's a deep vein of fear and hatred of the Other running beneath it all.
It isn't about finding someone compatible with his interests (because he's consumed with self-loathing and internalised shame) and he won't consider a girl who doesn't meet his aesthetic standards (because she isn't a person, she's a symbol of his success) - but staring beadily at her chest and exuding a combination of intellectual arrogance and sexual desperation doesn't seem to work, who knew?
This whole issue is illustrated quite handily in TBBT - Penny has no surname, and an ill-defined career path. This is because she isn't quite a real person to the show. She's merely a reflection of whatever Leonard needs in the plot line, whether that is a punchbag for his own insecurities or a fuckbuddy when he's feeling the need to smugly air his prowess. It is why she has no friends outside of the insular group, no hobbies or interests showcased. She is allowed no agency, nothing that does not lead straight back to the narrow existence of being 'Leonard's'.
The distaff side is just as repulsive. Amy is a horrendous creation - a plain, frustrated, deeply peculiar woman chasing a man who seems intent on getting away from her. She might be smart, but it means nothing without a man. She's plain, therefore desperate. It's an unkind depiction of a (sadly) stock character. There's an additional layer of nastiness with the fact that she is actually repulsive as a character, certain behaviours well over the line of humour into sheer creepiness. Because her intended prey in this case is a character who is emotionally and socially stunted, and thus the whole scenario becomes increasingly cringe-making and uncomfortable to watch. ('Sexy toddler'? Just. No.)
We are being encouraged to mock and jeer at dysfunctional adults failing to negotiate their lives, whilst also being told that the only appropriate aspiration for them is social conformity. There's a deep vein of fear and hatred of the Other running beneath it all.