8.18 The Leftover Thermalization (March 12)

[Gamma]

The writers may be trying to drive a wedge between Leonard and Sheldon, but I think they seem to be succeeding in driving a wedge between the audience and the show.

[Trust No One]

The writers be trying to drive a wedge between Leonard and Sheldon, but I think they seem to be succeeding in driving a wedge between the audience and the show.

Let Leonard move in with Penny and let's see if Penny still loves Leonard.

[Berliner]

Leonard: "He [Sheldon] always needs all the attention, he's such a baby."

I can't even begin with ... oh the irony.

[wellplayedpenny]

The one thing that caught my interest in episode 8.18 was Sheldon's comment about the interviewer of the Scientific American article. According to him, the interviewer had been following Sheldon's career for several years and the only reason why the author decided to write the article was because Sheldon was associated with the project. So it wasn't the idea in and of itself that opened the door but Sheldon's reputation. That made me curious as to the state of Sheldon's reputation as it seems to fluctuate on the show.

So to keep track of things:

Sheldon's the second youngest winner of the Stevenson's Award who had his work invalidated by a North Korean Wunderkind.

Earned a science grant to the Arctic only to be made a fool in front of the university.

Brought in enough grant money for his projects to pay Raj and Alex and was the foremost authority on loop quantum calculations at the university and yet gets his parking spot taken away by an astronaut payload specialist.

Solved the black hole information paradox and yet can't do basic math in a paper given to Hawking.

Is smart enough to nearly singlehandedly defeat a team of geniuses at a physics bowl and yet can't figure out a revolving door.

Can be enough of a scientific authority to warrant a an appearance on a renowned radio science show only to be thoroughly humiliated on a national scale without repercussions at the university for Kripke.

Cares so much about his scientific integrity that he didn't want to have his name associated with a discovery he found by error only to have the discovery overturned by Leonard just as Sheldon comes to terms with his newfound fame.

Is shown after being an authority on string theory for several years that he was premature in dropping it because even a neurobiologist can make advancements he could not in the field.

There are other examples I'm sure but these are what came to mind.

Oh. One more thing about tonight's episode that got me.

Sheldon insisted that he had important ideas. Now did he talk about his breakthrough in wave-particle duality or his reconciliation of string network condensates with the black hole information paradox or his loop quantum calculations or his proven by Leonard theory about supersolids? No. Instead he talked of building a reverse Seaworld where the dolphins watch the humans to which Amy made the clarification that, unlike Sheldon's ideas, Leonard's idea was good.

But then again, it's not like with Sheldon we were talking about one of the most brilliant minds of his generation or anything....

[Louise]

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.

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.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

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.

[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.

[Berliner]

Right on Louise! And unfortunately it's not just with Howard ... our former heros needed a girlfriend in order to be fixed. What a sick, derogatory idea.

[Louise]

Right on Louise! And unfortunately it's not just with Howard ... our former heros needed a girlfriend in order to be fixed. What a sick, derogatory idea.

I may have to make myself scarce until the season is over. I predict they're gonna pull something ridiculous, like Howard's new "brother" shows up and inherits the house. In fact, I'd bet money that's the storyline.

[lewstonewar]

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.

It always surprises me when I glance at the end credits of this show and see so many women's names involved in the making of this show. It stands out to me so much it makes me wonder if they a higher percentage of female crew than the current norm. And that contrast make the inherent misogyny of the show that much more baffling.