The Human side of Sheldon

[Idle Miscreant]

Indeed. How can a man so passionate about everything be so indifferent in love?
And they can't change it now or else look like artistic counterfeiters.

If they'd written his romance properly in the first place (ie, vivid from the outset), they wouldn't have had to change his character so wildly every time they wanted to have a "intimate" moment.

It's very bizarre this sulky infantile behaviour interspersed with Darcy-esque OOC dialogue. Vintage Sheldon was perfectly capable of intimate moments, WITHOUT turning into a two-dimensional fantasy cutout from a piece of fanwank.
("I hope you treasure this the way I treasure you"? Fecking cookies from Meemaw that taste like hugs? Proms and pretty dresses? *off-screen copious vomiting*)

What mawkish, godawful twee-hole have we fallen into...

The one that used to bother the hell out of me was the unmitigated twaddle of “Sheldon was an emotionless robot before he met Amy”

REALLY...


Let's look at a handful of these non-emotions.

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ETC ETC ETC.

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Here's some comradery & companionship;






Respect...



Attempt at humour/friendliness...



Adaptability...


Chivalry...


And they're just for one person - Penny. Once you add in Leonard, Howard and Raj, his mother, and the odd obsessive grad student for the writers to experiment with, (and now his friendship with Wheaton) there's no need for any further characters with regards to Sheldon's development or expression of emotions. I have yet to see any emotion expressed by Sheldon in his current relationship that isn't either unpleasant (ghastly rudeness to AFF) or hideously OOC (the fanwank Darcyisms). All the honourable emotions have been covered in full all throughout the first seasons.

I find it interesting (and a bit nauseating) that the moments so heralded as milestones for Sheldon by the Jim Parsons fans (because that's who most of these folk are. They certainly don't give a shit and a half for Sheldon's original personality) are precisely the moments I feel contain dubious acting from Parsons. I've always believed in Sheldon as an existant upon the earth. Parsons embodied Vintage Sheldon in a way rarely seen outside of serious film. But something happened between S4 and S5 to Parsons' portrayal, he became almost pantomime Sheldon, and I've not "believed" (outside a moment or two) in Sheldon since.

The soap-opera acting of the hand-holding scene at the end of S5, and the "please don't hurt my friend" are two examples of instances where I've cringed with embarrassment. Ditto the Proton Dagobah scene unfortunately, which I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of.
Yet we've SEEN Parsons act seriously, over and over again. The Electric Can Opener is deadly serious. So what is he DOING now? This is where I can only think it's another case of a clash between Sheldon and UnSheldon dialogue/actions.

Parsons' acting in Eulogy Punch-Up Artist was also superb. Is it possible to lose one's focus as an actor? It certainly is possible amongst writers...