02-26-2017, 01:27 AM
re: the old Sheldon. The thing with him is that he is empathetic. The trick is that he's also practical. He saved Raj from deportation. He loaned Penny rent money (and from Leonard's comment, had also loaned him some at some point). When he thinks Penny is going to dump Leonard, he does his best to prevent it. Despite it being a federal crime he goes to fix the MARS Rover problem.
When serious shit happens, Sheldon rises to the occasion. But that's the point--when it's serious. When it's not, he doesn't bother with it. Why? Because he's a dreamer. Dreamers are winning Nobel Prizes and President's Medals and redefining the known universe. They don't have the time (or inclination) to worry about why their roommate is stealing mail or why someone who claimed to be above human intimacy is suddenly horny as hell. And it's not to say that Sheldon doesn't care about Leonard or (friend) Amy. He does--in a practical way. He supports Leonard when he confronts his high school bully. He gets Amy's mother off her back by pretending to be her bf. These are tangible problems.
The crap we're seeing now is Sheldon being chastised for not being the wuvvie-duvvie bf who does cutsie-wutsie things for his gf. It's absolutely baffling that Sheldon is being accused of lacking empathy by someone who can't accept his quirks. As his friend, Amy never called him anything other than 'at times a left-handed monkey wrench'. She never called him stupid. Never selfish or insensitive. Now she drugs him to make him compliant to her wishes. Now Sheldon's so-called friends are constantly putting him down. The writers are dumbing him down. No one seems interested in empathizing with Sheldon--they only want to change him.
It's ironic that the writers have Amy so concerned with Sheldon's empathy given that the writers haven't clued in how many people were empathetic with Sheldon as he was. He wasn't someone to be laughed at, but with. It's why he became the breakout character.
When serious shit happens, Sheldon rises to the occasion. But that's the point--when it's serious. When it's not, he doesn't bother with it. Why? Because he's a dreamer. Dreamers are winning Nobel Prizes and President's Medals and redefining the known universe. They don't have the time (or inclination) to worry about why their roommate is stealing mail or why someone who claimed to be above human intimacy is suddenly horny as hell. And it's not to say that Sheldon doesn't care about Leonard or (friend) Amy. He does--in a practical way. He supports Leonard when he confronts his high school bully. He gets Amy's mother off her back by pretending to be her bf. These are tangible problems.
The crap we're seeing now is Sheldon being chastised for not being the wuvvie-duvvie bf who does cutsie-wutsie things for his gf. It's absolutely baffling that Sheldon is being accused of lacking empathy by someone who can't accept his quirks. As his friend, Amy never called him anything other than 'at times a left-handed monkey wrench'. She never called him stupid. Never selfish or insensitive. Now she drugs him to make him compliant to her wishes. Now Sheldon's so-called friends are constantly putting him down. The writers are dumbing him down. No one seems interested in empathizing with Sheldon--they only want to change him.
It's ironic that the writers have Amy so concerned with Sheldon's empathy given that the writers haven't clued in how many people were empathetic with Sheldon as he was. He wasn't someone to be laughed at, but with. It's why he became the breakout character.
Let's go exploring!