02-20-2015, 12:07 PM
You know, I spent my time defending Amy Farrah Fowler. I liked s4 'friend' Amy. I liked the humour and dynamic with Sheldon as at that point you could see hints whether it was through Counterfactuals or meme theory that they got along in a way that Sheldon hadn't experienced with another person.
Then came the coital brain transplant where Amy became obsessed with bedding her 'sexy toddler', tricking him into bathing his 'sick' girlfriend (Sheldon spanked her for lying but I believe he was wrong given that she had to be mentally ill to come up with something this twisted) and going through the bizarre act of scenting his office belongings with her tongue and arm pit. There was also a statement by Leonard that Amy watched Sheldon sleeping (didn't Edward watch Bella sleep? And we know what a stable, grounded relationship THAT was. Oh wait, they 'love' each other. Well, I guess the similar logic with the Shamy answers the question of what Stephanie Meyer is writing now).
As I have brought this up several times in conversation, posts and fan fiction, it should be no surprise that Amy's first major strike with me was calling Sheldon's comic book collecting 'lame-o'. To say such a thing, to not recognize the escape the world of Krypton or Gotham city offered a child prodigy who dealt with an imploding home life and people that were 'dumber than a bag of rocks' and he 'scared the bejesus' out of. Comic books gave the man who dealt with the very mysteries of the universe a place for his imagination to run wild. A place where the Other reigns supreme. And didn't get wedgies and swirlies.
Amy's second major strike occurred when she acted like an absolute bitch to Wil Wheaton and then freaked out on Sheldon for not defending her when Wil called her out for being bitchy. To teach Sheldon that a boyfriend 'must defend his girlfriend regardless of how she treats his friends' was beyond atrocious. It was the first time I actually yelled at my television outside of watching a sporting event. Something which BBT is the opposite of unless one counts 'kick the physicist into submission' as an Olympic event.
Which now leads me into tonight's episode. Kripke, Sheldon's rival (as Leslie Winkle is his arch nemesis), comes in to thank Amy for helping him make groundbreaking strides in String Theory. Sheldon is absolutely stunned at the revelation, not so much that Amy actually came up with the idea (so apparently, for those not keeping score, that makes an experimental physicist and a neurobiologist capable of coming up with paradigm-altering PHYSICS ideas. What a sucker Sheldon was for completing his doctorate and post-doctoral focus on theoretical physics. Why, it's like getting a degree in gum-chewing—almost anyone can do it without much effort) but that she actually helped out Kripke. Kripke, who constantly picks on Sheldon, has openly said that he isn't Sheldon's friend and pulled that awful live radio 'prank'. So what was Amy's response to Sheldon being angry about this? "I helped out a fellow colleague. You're being petty."
And that, was major strike three.
Because helping Kripke is a big deal. Kripke made Sheldon doubt himself when he read Kripke's paper. He made Sheldon cry. Amy knew this. She consoled a despondent Sheldon. Even hugged him. And she then turns around and further advances the career of the one man who singlehandedly brought down her 'beloved's' self-esteem and his dream of a Nobel Prize. She knew Sheldon was afraid that he wasn't the 'deal'. And plainly rode over his feelings.
Sheldon is naturally pissed off. Amy said that she went to Kripke because Sheldon wouldn't be receptive to her idea but it's Sheldon's gut that tells him that "she went behind my back to prove me wrong." Amy had already brought in the idea in an earlier episode that Sheldon should accept that all he might do is provide solid research rather than anything groundbreaking. Rather than help bolster him up, she seems determined to take Superman out of the sky, put him in a grey suit and live out his remaining years as Clark Kent.
Then came the moment of clarity for Sheldon, when Penny said that he should take Amy's betrayal and "Let it go." "All my life I've been told that," he replied. "Like my emotions don't matter." And yet isn't this basically been the mantra of Amy ever since they started dating? Oh, wait, I forgot, those were moments of 'humanization'. As TPTB said, Amy constantly pushes Sheldon and eventually he gives in. He accepts. He 'grows'. Because Sheldon is too wound up. Let the bat-crap crazy go. That's what the more vocal Shamys want. Relent. Give in to Amy's reimagining of Sheldon Lee Cooper as they transform from a 'relationship of the mind' to 'coitus is coming'. For the sake of 'humour', Sheldon's complaints and objections have been pushed aside regarding his social obligations to his girlfriend and give her the respect she deserves for being the "best girlfriend [he's] ever going to have". The only thing is that her collaboration with Kripke betrayed their most sacred bond, that of the mind.
Amy says she loves Sheldon. This might be true.
But she doesn't respect him.
Amy then goes on to endear herself with Penny by conducting experiments on her 'Bestie' to test Penny's intelligence against the chimpanzees in her lab. Penny's naturally pissed off (notice the theme this episode?) and demands an apology from Amy for taking her "dignity". Amy figures "about 10 bucks" should cover that. It's been a common occurrence over the past two seasons to have Bernadette and Amy really put down Penny's intelligence. Penny is a normal person not Forrest Gump. She rebuilt a tractor when she was 12 and beat the pants off of Leonard at chess. But Amy has to be elevated above her beautiful friend—after all this is now the Amy Farrah Fowler Show. It's why when Penny comes out with her heartfelt story about Mrs. Wolowitz trying to feed her because she was too skinny was "taken away from her" by Amy saying Mrs. Wolowitz said the same thing to her (because as we all know, if you dressed Penny up in polyester and wool she'd be Amy's identical twin from the back).
So, what can I make of all this? First, Amy gets a 'get out of jail free' card by TPTB even though she's selfish and hypocritical. They know they're doing this too as was seen when Penny accuses Sheldon and Amy of being "so smart they don't care if they hurt other people's feelings". Sheldon agrees completely with the statement while Amy firmly disagrees. Sheldon might have his problems with social protocol but at least he isn't a liar.
Amy has always been the character without a clear personality. She fills in any role the writers want without thought of maintaining any sort of character conformity. Need a theoretical physicist? She's your gal. Want lessons on social etiquette? You know who to call.
Amy's Wonder Woman. Super Girl. She can do anything.
Maybe that's why she doesn't want Sheldon reading comic books.
They might one day give Sheldon supervillain ideas about how to get rid of her.
The last part of the episode dealt with the death of Mrs. Wolowitz. There's really not much to say about it apart from wondering if working in a real death into a sitcom is really such a good idea. When Howard said his mum had died the entire studio was silent because of course the reference was less about Mrs. Wolowitz than Carol Ann Susi. I suppose there are those who like an acknowledgment of real life in their shows. The show, however, could have got along just fine without doing so. As TPTB often say, the episodes aren't linked. They're self-contained and things that happen are quickly forgotten. Not that we'd forget about Howard's mum but she could have just as easily gone to Florida with her dentist lover. I mean we've lost track of Leslie Winkle and she works at the university! Nevertheless, it wasn't (thankfully) over the top. It just wasn't funny. Which I believe is the point of sitcoms.
Then came the coital brain transplant where Amy became obsessed with bedding her 'sexy toddler', tricking him into bathing his 'sick' girlfriend (Sheldon spanked her for lying but I believe he was wrong given that she had to be mentally ill to come up with something this twisted) and going through the bizarre act of scenting his office belongings with her tongue and arm pit. There was also a statement by Leonard that Amy watched Sheldon sleeping (didn't Edward watch Bella sleep? And we know what a stable, grounded relationship THAT was. Oh wait, they 'love' each other. Well, I guess the similar logic with the Shamy answers the question of what Stephanie Meyer is writing now).
As I have brought this up several times in conversation, posts and fan fiction, it should be no surprise that Amy's first major strike with me was calling Sheldon's comic book collecting 'lame-o'. To say such a thing, to not recognize the escape the world of Krypton or Gotham city offered a child prodigy who dealt with an imploding home life and people that were 'dumber than a bag of rocks' and he 'scared the bejesus' out of. Comic books gave the man who dealt with the very mysteries of the universe a place for his imagination to run wild. A place where the Other reigns supreme. And didn't get wedgies and swirlies.
Amy's second major strike occurred when she acted like an absolute bitch to Wil Wheaton and then freaked out on Sheldon for not defending her when Wil called her out for being bitchy. To teach Sheldon that a boyfriend 'must defend his girlfriend regardless of how she treats his friends' was beyond atrocious. It was the first time I actually yelled at my television outside of watching a sporting event. Something which BBT is the opposite of unless one counts 'kick the physicist into submission' as an Olympic event.
Which now leads me into tonight's episode. Kripke, Sheldon's rival (as Leslie Winkle is his arch nemesis), comes in to thank Amy for helping him make groundbreaking strides in String Theory. Sheldon is absolutely stunned at the revelation, not so much that Amy actually came up with the idea (so apparently, for those not keeping score, that makes an experimental physicist and a neurobiologist capable of coming up with paradigm-altering PHYSICS ideas. What a sucker Sheldon was for completing his doctorate and post-doctoral focus on theoretical physics. Why, it's like getting a degree in gum-chewing—almost anyone can do it without much effort) but that she actually helped out Kripke. Kripke, who constantly picks on Sheldon, has openly said that he isn't Sheldon's friend and pulled that awful live radio 'prank'. So what was Amy's response to Sheldon being angry about this? "I helped out a fellow colleague. You're being petty."
And that, was major strike three.
Because helping Kripke is a big deal. Kripke made Sheldon doubt himself when he read Kripke's paper. He made Sheldon cry. Amy knew this. She consoled a despondent Sheldon. Even hugged him. And she then turns around and further advances the career of the one man who singlehandedly brought down her 'beloved's' self-esteem and his dream of a Nobel Prize. She knew Sheldon was afraid that he wasn't the 'deal'. And plainly rode over his feelings.
Sheldon is naturally pissed off. Amy said that she went to Kripke because Sheldon wouldn't be receptive to her idea but it's Sheldon's gut that tells him that "she went behind my back to prove me wrong." Amy had already brought in the idea in an earlier episode that Sheldon should accept that all he might do is provide solid research rather than anything groundbreaking. Rather than help bolster him up, she seems determined to take Superman out of the sky, put him in a grey suit and live out his remaining years as Clark Kent.
Then came the moment of clarity for Sheldon, when Penny said that he should take Amy's betrayal and "Let it go." "All my life I've been told that," he replied. "Like my emotions don't matter." And yet isn't this basically been the mantra of Amy ever since they started dating? Oh, wait, I forgot, those were moments of 'humanization'. As TPTB said, Amy constantly pushes Sheldon and eventually he gives in. He accepts. He 'grows'. Because Sheldon is too wound up. Let the bat-crap crazy go. That's what the more vocal Shamys want. Relent. Give in to Amy's reimagining of Sheldon Lee Cooper as they transform from a 'relationship of the mind' to 'coitus is coming'. For the sake of 'humour', Sheldon's complaints and objections have been pushed aside regarding his social obligations to his girlfriend and give her the respect she deserves for being the "best girlfriend [he's] ever going to have". The only thing is that her collaboration with Kripke betrayed their most sacred bond, that of the mind.
Amy says she loves Sheldon. This might be true.
But she doesn't respect him.
Amy then goes on to endear herself with Penny by conducting experiments on her 'Bestie' to test Penny's intelligence against the chimpanzees in her lab. Penny's naturally pissed off (notice the theme this episode?) and demands an apology from Amy for taking her "dignity". Amy figures "about 10 bucks" should cover that. It's been a common occurrence over the past two seasons to have Bernadette and Amy really put down Penny's intelligence. Penny is a normal person not Forrest Gump. She rebuilt a tractor when she was 12 and beat the pants off of Leonard at chess. But Amy has to be elevated above her beautiful friend—after all this is now the Amy Farrah Fowler Show. It's why when Penny comes out with her heartfelt story about Mrs. Wolowitz trying to feed her because she was too skinny was "taken away from her" by Amy saying Mrs. Wolowitz said the same thing to her (because as we all know, if you dressed Penny up in polyester and wool she'd be Amy's identical twin from the back).
So, what can I make of all this? First, Amy gets a 'get out of jail free' card by TPTB even though she's selfish and hypocritical. They know they're doing this too as was seen when Penny accuses Sheldon and Amy of being "so smart they don't care if they hurt other people's feelings". Sheldon agrees completely with the statement while Amy firmly disagrees. Sheldon might have his problems with social protocol but at least he isn't a liar.
Amy has always been the character without a clear personality. She fills in any role the writers want without thought of maintaining any sort of character conformity. Need a theoretical physicist? She's your gal. Want lessons on social etiquette? You know who to call.
Amy's Wonder Woman. Super Girl. She can do anything.
Maybe that's why she doesn't want Sheldon reading comic books.
They might one day give Sheldon supervillain ideas about how to get rid of her.
The last part of the episode dealt with the death of Mrs. Wolowitz. There's really not much to say about it apart from wondering if working in a real death into a sitcom is really such a good idea. When Howard said his mum had died the entire studio was silent because of course the reference was less about Mrs. Wolowitz than Carol Ann Susi. I suppose there are those who like an acknowledgment of real life in their shows. The show, however, could have got along just fine without doing so. As TPTB often say, the episodes aren't linked. They're self-contained and things that happen are quickly forgotten. Not that we'd forget about Howard's mum but she could have just as easily gone to Florida with her dentist lover. I mean we've lost track of Leslie Winkle and she works at the university! Nevertheless, it wasn't (thankfully) over the top. It just wasn't funny. Which I believe is the point of sitcoms.
Let's go exploring!