10-01-2014, 11:11 AM
Aggravatingly brilliant post as usual Toad...(you utter bastard!)
In elaboration of what I said earlier about Parsons acting as Sheldon as opposed to Parsons BEING Sheldon...
I'd have no problem watching Jim Parsons for 22 minutes a week. He's a lovely, charming fellow. The problem is that this is merely his mannerisms, voice and posture, not his opinions and nature, and Parsons' manner (alternately sassy, cynical, abrasive, urbane, amusingly smarmy) doesn't suit the character of Sheldon, particularly when coupled with his increasingly obnoxious dialogue and apparently decreased intelligence.
Sheldon got away with his more outrageous statements by virtue of his innocence, his detachment, his alien-like confusion. Once you remove that, the Sheldon character becomes abhorrent.
If this exact same scene was played with Sheldon prattling on delightedly about how "superior" his relationship was, and seeming GENUINELY baffled at Leonard's failure to agree, it would not be so irksome. But he says it in a smug, complacent, blasé manner, and the tone of his voice (coupled with some recent history of intentional malice) could in no way be construed as "innocently baffled". He comes across as just an unusually self-satisfied, egocentric man being an asshole.
Not a genius. Not an eccentric. Not endearing in any fashion.
It's a combination of this peculiar change in Parsons' portrayal, a decrease in Sheldonian intelligence, and a bizarre shift in focus, away from science and the universe, towards merely having a normal relationship like everybody else, which has utterly destroyed the character.
It's like Chuck Lorre said, what made Sheldon unique and wonderful was his detachment from the normal human obsessions of sex and relationships. He wasn't interested. Here was a character who was focused on something ELSE.
So naturally, if this made him unique and wonderful, they had to change him immediately. Particularly as he'd been an iconic character for four years. Can't have him CONTINUE to be iconic...
So again, I'll happily watch Parsons in anything else. He's a brilliant actor. But this Parsons/Sheldon hybrid is a terrible mistake. I feel like the character should be called Barney or something...or Bruce...
In elaboration of what I said earlier about Parsons acting as Sheldon as opposed to Parsons BEING Sheldon...
I'd have no problem watching Jim Parsons for 22 minutes a week. He's a lovely, charming fellow. The problem is that this is merely his mannerisms, voice and posture, not his opinions and nature, and Parsons' manner (alternately sassy, cynical, abrasive, urbane, amusingly smarmy) doesn't suit the character of Sheldon, particularly when coupled with his increasingly obnoxious dialogue and apparently decreased intelligence.
Sheldon got away with his more outrageous statements by virtue of his innocence, his detachment, his alien-like confusion. Once you remove that, the Sheldon character becomes abhorrent.
If this exact same scene was played with Sheldon prattling on delightedly about how "superior" his relationship was, and seeming GENUINELY baffled at Leonard's failure to agree, it would not be so irksome. But he says it in a smug, complacent, blasé manner, and the tone of his voice (coupled with some recent history of intentional malice) could in no way be construed as "innocently baffled". He comes across as just an unusually self-satisfied, egocentric man being an asshole.
Not a genius. Not an eccentric. Not endearing in any fashion.
It's a combination of this peculiar change in Parsons' portrayal, a decrease in Sheldonian intelligence, and a bizarre shift in focus, away from science and the universe, towards merely having a normal relationship like everybody else, which has utterly destroyed the character.
It's like Chuck Lorre said, what made Sheldon unique and wonderful was his detachment from the normal human obsessions of sex and relationships. He wasn't interested. Here was a character who was focused on something ELSE.
So naturally, if this made him unique and wonderful, they had to change him immediately. Particularly as he'd been an iconic character for four years. Can't have him CONTINUE to be iconic...
So again, I'll happily watch Parsons in anything else. He's a brilliant actor. But this Parsons/Sheldon hybrid is a terrible mistake. I feel like the character should be called Barney or something...or Bruce...
"WHERE THE HELL'S MY PARACHUTE?"