8.18 The Leftover Thermalization (March 12)

[Louise]

Standing ovation! *claps*

Bernadette is "...not even a one-dimensional character; she's a one-joke character."

Great post Louise. They obviously think a woman screeching in that horrendous way is sooooooo funny. It was never funny, it's offensive. Both Amy and Bernadette are offensive characters.

I don’t like the S3/S4 version, either. Both the actress and the character are just completely uninteresting to me. She is simply not a skillful enough or subtle enough actor to be paired with SH. I've said this before, but it's like watching a human being interacting with a Muppet. The chemistry is zero.

We’re almost immediately presented with the idea that B. is “better” than H. in some vague way, that she’s “out of his league”, that he doesn’t deserve her, that he has to “earn” her, that he's "lucky" to have her. That attitude is gross, in so many ways.

Yes, Howard is weird. Yes, he has behaviors that people might find off-putting. But that means he should be with someone equally weird. (If he should be with anyone at all.)

There's this very heavy-handed message, early on, that Bernadette represents the world of normalcy, and without her, Howard will just get increasingly eccentric and delusional: it's either Bernadette, or sitting in your bedroom and talking to your imaginary friends. Those are the only two choices. Her role is to save him from himself. That's icky. Hurry up and get married before age 28 or you'll turn into a pumpkin!!!! Never mind that he'd already become a bit calmer by the end of S2, without a Girlfriend Intervention.

The whole relationship is predicated on the most bizarre and unhealthy ideas about personal development and male-female dynamics. It's just not right, from the start. It's the old Madonna/Whore thing...a girlfriend is a Savior who will solve all your problems and lift you out of a life of loneliness and dysfunction..oh, and she has big tits, too! Have TPTB ever actually met a real person? 'Cause their conception of human behavior is just so off. I maintain that they're living in an isolated lair somewhere, like Thunderball.

If H. is so desperate for affection, or so lacking in self-respect, that he'll fall to pieces for the very first person who shows him even the slightest attention, that's sad.

I want to see Howard interacting with Raj. Yes, I ship them, but whether or not it's a romantic/sexual relationship is almost beside the point. As several HQers have pointed out recently, ships and shipping are not solely about sex, or even *primarily* about sex. There are all different kinds of relationships, in life. People either love each other, or they don't. Alternative shippers aren't fixated on specific gestures or specific sex-acts as "proof" of a relationship's validity, the way Shamies are. Love isn't about a checklist of rituals like going to the Prom. That's such childish and silly thinking.

Above all, Bernadette is a *superfluous* character. Even if she were pleasant and inoffensive, she'd still be *unnecessary.* This show already had someone for Howard to interact with, and that's Raj, just like they already had someone for Sheldon to interact with, and that's Penny. (and Leonard.) Even if there was nothing particularly objectionable about Bernadette, she'd still be supernumerary.

If you want interactions between characters who are dissimilar yet complementary, the original cast had plenty of that, in many different combinations. The original five characters could learn from each other and challenge each other and show each other different points of view. Plus, there was a wealth of minor and recurring characters for them to encounter.

Of course, the problem is that with this show, no interactions or friendships or relationships are valid and valuable except for couplehood/marriage. All other interactions and relationships are inferior; they're just psychological "training wheels", they're just preparation for the only *real* relationship, which is romance/monogamy/marriage. (of the most traditional and conventional kind.)

TPTB are the kings of fixing what ain't broke and replacing something that worked, with something superficially similar but nowhere near as good. It's like New Coke.

(Sorry to bring up the whole KCS haircut issue again, but has anyone else noticed that while KCS gets a more stripped-down (in a good way) look, the other two are getting extensions/wigs and their look becomes more artificial and cartoony and decadent? Does this mean something? IDK. )

ETA: as it stands, I have no trouble in calling the H/B relationship abusive, and if a male character treated a female character the way B treats H, all the faux-feminists in this fandom would shit themselves.