03-17-2015, 04:23 PM
Quote:This leads to the "joke" - Bernadette hauling Sheldon and Leonard away from the dining table to yell at them in Howard's moms voice.
This joke was old, stale, and distasteful from the very first time they did it. Has there EVER been a less interesting and more underdeveloped *main* character on a sitcom than Bernadette? She's not even a one-dimensional character; she's a one-joke character. She is a non-character. For me, even mentioning her by name feels like I'm acknowledging something that doesn't actually exist. Even mentioning her feels like more effort than the topic deserves.
What are her motivations? What are her inner thoughts and feelings? What are her goals in life? What drew her to being a scientist? Why does she want to be married? We have no idea, because she's not a real character, she's a mannequin. She has a flashing neon sign above her head that says "Token Female Character." She's *certainly* not believable as an intellectual or a deep thinker or someone who has a passion for science at the core of their identity.
(Notice how, with Bernadette and perhaps also Amy, the emphasis is on money and prestige and external perks, not science for its own sake. Do either of them seem genuinely interested in science, except as a means to an end??)
I know the S3/S4 version is less shouty but I don't care. I took one look at her and went "Nope."
If this actress wasn't pretty and busty, absolutely nobody would give a shit about her character. That might sound harsh, but I believe it's true. If she looked like Amy, people would hate her without reservation. What is her personality, really? She has none. She's a plot device, and a conduit for TPTB's horrifically nasty ideas about women. (I don't even think she's especially beautiful, for that matter, and the way she's styled/presented doesn't help.)
I don't think it's an exageration at all to say that even Ramona was a more vivid character, and she appeared in just one episode. Leslie Winkle certainly was, and IIRC she had fewer than 20 episodes, maybe even fewer than 10.
Women do not behave this way. *Humans* do not behave this way, not unless they're mentally ill. I find it VERY telling that Lorre & Co. decided to keep MR and MB around because they liked them on a personal level, not because there was anything especially compelling about their acting or their characters. Nepotism doesn't make for good art.
I don't even try to analyze Bernadette as a character, because she's not a character. There's nothing there to analyze. "Women are cute and sexy...no, wait, they're abusive and terrifying!" This is the show's view of women, in a nutshell.
B. can act lovey-dovey towards "Howie" at times, but she seems to actively despise everything that made him, HIM. I find the huggy-lovey-kissy moments almost as off-putting as the angry ones.
It's one of the ickiest, most psychologically unhealthy ships I've ever seen. There's an undercurrent of physical and emotional violence to it. There's something very dark indeed, there. If the genders were reversed in this ship, people wouldn't stand for it.
Quote:Simon's a good actor and he did a good job with the material he was given, but the writing has become so lazy that there really isn't much there.
I have come to the conclusion that this is why TPTB have chosen to give him all the sad/weepy/drama-rama storylines. He has an expressive face and a soulful look. TPTB are aware, on some level, that he's a good actor, and they want him to demonstrate his range. Well, I watch a sitcom in order to laugh. Go and play Hamlet during the hiatus and then come back and do your job.
Yeah, I am sounding really angry today. It's because I am. I am so beyond done with this show. The message of the Canon ships (all of them, probably), has literally become "Abuse is cute and sexy"...abuse of one's friends, one's spouse/partner, one's body, one's self.