10-24-2014, 04:16 PM
Okay, this is my huge explanation of why the recent portrayal of Howard is OOC and incorrect. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, and I'm prob. repeating myself a bit (me? never!) but here it is:
**This is all facts, or at least things that cannot be disproven. It's not a case of "oh, Howie is my fave character, I love him, he is my woobie, he can do no wrong." Yes, I am biased in his favor, but I think these points are all factual, not emotion-based.***
We've already covered the question of "how much money does he make?" Lewstonewar posted some great stats about that, and I posted some, too. Exactly how much money he makes is not the point. Whether he makes more or less than B is not even the point, either. The problem lies in the way they are presenting his character.
There are no examples of Howard being irresponsible with money until at least five or six seasons into the show. It's OOC and it's a retcon. This idea pops up out of nowhere.
At the very least, he's not *more* irresponsible than the other three guys; their spending habits seem very similar. When the four guys bought the Time Machine, it didn't leave them broke. It's not like they bought the Time Machine and then Leonard couldn't pay the rent and Howard had to sell his scooter, or something.
It's unclear whether his mother supported him financially when he lived at home, but he was never shown asking her for money or making wasteful purchases on a whim when he lived in his mother's house. He has a lot of collectibles and comic books, as do all of the guys, but he could re-sell those on eBay if he really needed to.
If Howard was supporting his mother and himself while he lived at home, that actually makes him very responsible. His dependence on his mother is emotional/psychological, it's not like he's literally unable to leave.
About the idea that he can't/won't do chores:
I agree that Howard's mother probably never taught him any life-skills, but you don't graduate from M.I.T. by acting like a doofus and drifting along in a stupor. College involves meeting deadlines, time-management, starting a task and completing it, keeping track of details, etc. Young guys are not known for being great about housework, but Howard is so particular about his clothes and his appearance that I doubt he'd be content to live in filth. I'm totally willing to believe that his mother did his laundry and took care of all his needs in that regard; what's OOC is this idea that he wouldn't be willing to even *try* taking care of things on his own, if that support system suddenly went away. He seems pretty fastidious and detail-oriented, about his belongings and his surroundings. Everything in his bedroom arranged just so, etc. If he were forced to choose between living in filth and cleaning something, I'm inclined to say he'd clean something, or maybe pay for a cleaning service, which is also a perfectly legit solution.
A person who is so utterly helpless that they can't manage basic everyday tasks is not going to graduate from M.I.T. or be hired at Cal-Tech. These are skills that any cashier at the grocery store has.
Yes, Howard is a Mama's boy and I'm willing to believe that he's been spoiled and sheltered to some degree, but this portrayal of him as utterly useless is OOC.
Raj comes from a wealthy family with servants, so presumably he was spoiled/sheltered too, but they don't portray him as being unable to live on his own and manage everyday life, for the most part.
Until the 5th or 6th season, Howard never mentioned this idea of marrying someone for their money or finding a girl to support his collectibles habit. He was pursuing girls for sex, not with this idea that they would buy him stuff.
How did he survive at M.I.T. without his mother? If he was able to survive and do well at M.I.T. without his mother, that means he's capable of managing everyday life on his own. This version of Howard who is utterly dependent on Bernadette is OOC and a regression.
About that stupid "3D printer" episode, and the fallout from it:
His Vespa and his collectibles certainly add up to more than $5,000, and he had those from the beginning, and there's no indication that his mother bought them for him. Supposedly the 3D printer was $5,000, and he bought it with Raj, so his share was only $2,500.
And even if his mother *did* buy things for him, he was never presented as this freeloader character whose aim is to squeeze money out of people for his own purposes.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Howard's mother was supporting him (mortgage/rent, food, utilities, even clothes) while he lived at home. That means his salary would be pure disposable income, except for maybe his student loan payments. He could've bought a car instead of the Vespa, if he'd wanted to. He could've bought the 3D printer AND the Vespa AND a car, if he wasn't paying for rent/food/bills. Even a person who made as little as one or two thousand dollars per month could buy those things, if they had zero day-to-day living expenses.
Even a person working at McDonald's could buy all kinds of things, if they had zero day-to-day living expenses and were entirely supported by their mother.
What's much more likely is that Howard supported his mother and himself, or at least helped. Maybe his mother collects Social Security or something along those lines.
And yet, even if he and his mother, together, were living with limited means, he still bought that Vespa and all those collectibles, etc. So, it's not like he was totally unable to buy fun things and was salivating at the chance to marry some high-earning girl and blow all her money.
Who knows, he could've had a full or partial scholarship in undergrad, and a full or partial scholarship at M.I.T., which would mean no student-loan payments and therefore the ability to save more of his salary.
He's not presented as this greedy/lazy character whose goal is to live off a woman's earnings, whether that woman is his mother or his wife.
All those times when Howard was pursuing girls, he never says "yeah, I'm gonna find a rich chick who will buy me things." He's just interested in sex and having some fun. He never mentions being in search of a Sugar Mama.
It's not like we ever heard about Howard writing checks in his mother's name or exploiting that situation. People who love shopping but lack the money can end up with credit-card debt; we never hear about Howard having credit card debt or using his Mom's credit card, etc.
There is not one instance in Seasons 1-4 where we hear Howard saying "Mom, why won't you buy me a car?" "Mom, will you buy me a 3D printer?", "Mom, can I have some money?", "Mom, will you buy me some comic books?"
Yes, he is spoiled and he is a Mama's boy, but it's not like the writers spent four or five seasons establishing Howard as this con-artist character who is looking to get his hands on other people's money.
Raj supposedly comes from a wealthy family yet we never saw Howard asking Raj for money or attempting to mooch off Raj.
We never see him attempting to mooch off Leonard or Sheldon.
We never see him attempting to mooch off his various dates/girlfriends/sex-partners.
If Howard was determined to buy silly things with other people's money, he would've done that with his mother or Raj or someone. Even if Mrs. W is of limited means, which seems likely, he could've used her credit card, or lied and said that he needed the money for something important, etc.
It's OOC and it's a retcon. It's also getting uncomfortably close to the ugly stereotype of the money-grubbing Jew.
This person they're showing us now, could not graduate from anything, or get hired anywhere. He's not Howard. He's...I dunno, Leonard/Chandler/SH/Lorre.
They've made him LESS mature and LESS responsible than he was before Bernadette came on the scene, and that is a fact. This idea that "Bernadette is forcing Howard to grow up and teaching him to be independent" is total hogwash. If she controls his every move, how is he learning anything?
And how exactly will he "grow up" or learn to be independent if Bernadette controls everything? On the contrary, that type of treatment is guaranteed to keep him in a child-like, dependent state. A person becomes independent by doing things on their own. If Bernadette is constantly supervising him, he will *never* learn to do things for himself, by himself. Her behavior is totally counterproductive.
A relationship which mimics his twisted relationship with his mother is the very farthest thing from what he needs.
Howard could've "grown up" if he got away from his mother for a while, tried living on his own, and maybe got some counseling. Bernadette acting like his mother and taking on that role is totally counterproductive, pschologically icky, and unhealthy. If she *refused* to act like his mother or treat him like a child, that would be closer to a reasonable approach. She is more controlling than his mother ever was.
Howard went straight from his mother to Bernadette, with nothing in-between. Where was his chance to know himself, to learn about the world, to figure things out?
He goes straight from making one woman the center of his life and letting her control him, to making another woman the center of his life and letting her control him. That is no progress at all. Where is *Howard*, in all of this?
He has no identity outside of his mother and Bernadette. That is why it really made my stomach turn cold when they talked about him being a stay-at-home Dad, in the future, and not even having his work anymore. Where is his *personhood*?? It's like watching someone pull the wings off a bug, or purposely stunt the growth of a plant, or something. It's *sad.*
You don't "force someone to grow up" by treating them like a child. That is backwards. It was not until Season 4 or 5, maybe even 6, that we heard these references about Howard not being able to cut his own pancakes or cut his own meat, etc. They have dumbed him down, and I defy anyone to refute that.
**This is all facts, or at least things that cannot be disproven. It's not a case of "oh, Howie is my fave character, I love him, he is my woobie, he can do no wrong." Yes, I am biased in his favor, but I think these points are all factual, not emotion-based.***
We've already covered the question of "how much money does he make?" Lewstonewar posted some great stats about that, and I posted some, too. Exactly how much money he makes is not the point. Whether he makes more or less than B is not even the point, either. The problem lies in the way they are presenting his character.
There are no examples of Howard being irresponsible with money until at least five or six seasons into the show. It's OOC and it's a retcon. This idea pops up out of nowhere.
At the very least, he's not *more* irresponsible than the other three guys; their spending habits seem very similar. When the four guys bought the Time Machine, it didn't leave them broke. It's not like they bought the Time Machine and then Leonard couldn't pay the rent and Howard had to sell his scooter, or something.
It's unclear whether his mother supported him financially when he lived at home, but he was never shown asking her for money or making wasteful purchases on a whim when he lived in his mother's house. He has a lot of collectibles and comic books, as do all of the guys, but he could re-sell those on eBay if he really needed to.
If Howard was supporting his mother and himself while he lived at home, that actually makes him very responsible. His dependence on his mother is emotional/psychological, it's not like he's literally unable to leave.
About the idea that he can't/won't do chores:
I agree that Howard's mother probably never taught him any life-skills, but you don't graduate from M.I.T. by acting like a doofus and drifting along in a stupor. College involves meeting deadlines, time-management, starting a task and completing it, keeping track of details, etc. Young guys are not known for being great about housework, but Howard is so particular about his clothes and his appearance that I doubt he'd be content to live in filth. I'm totally willing to believe that his mother did his laundry and took care of all his needs in that regard; what's OOC is this idea that he wouldn't be willing to even *try* taking care of things on his own, if that support system suddenly went away. He seems pretty fastidious and detail-oriented, about his belongings and his surroundings. Everything in his bedroom arranged just so, etc. If he were forced to choose between living in filth and cleaning something, I'm inclined to say he'd clean something, or maybe pay for a cleaning service, which is also a perfectly legit solution.
A person who is so utterly helpless that they can't manage basic everyday tasks is not going to graduate from M.I.T. or be hired at Cal-Tech. These are skills that any cashier at the grocery store has.
Yes, Howard is a Mama's boy and I'm willing to believe that he's been spoiled and sheltered to some degree, but this portrayal of him as utterly useless is OOC.
Raj comes from a wealthy family with servants, so presumably he was spoiled/sheltered too, but they don't portray him as being unable to live on his own and manage everyday life, for the most part.
Until the 5th or 6th season, Howard never mentioned this idea of marrying someone for their money or finding a girl to support his collectibles habit. He was pursuing girls for sex, not with this idea that they would buy him stuff.
How did he survive at M.I.T. without his mother? If he was able to survive and do well at M.I.T. without his mother, that means he's capable of managing everyday life on his own. This version of Howard who is utterly dependent on Bernadette is OOC and a regression.
About that stupid "3D printer" episode, and the fallout from it:
His Vespa and his collectibles certainly add up to more than $5,000, and he had those from the beginning, and there's no indication that his mother bought them for him. Supposedly the 3D printer was $5,000, and he bought it with Raj, so his share was only $2,500.
And even if his mother *did* buy things for him, he was never presented as this freeloader character whose aim is to squeeze money out of people for his own purposes.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Howard's mother was supporting him (mortgage/rent, food, utilities, even clothes) while he lived at home. That means his salary would be pure disposable income, except for maybe his student loan payments. He could've bought a car instead of the Vespa, if he'd wanted to. He could've bought the 3D printer AND the Vespa AND a car, if he wasn't paying for rent/food/bills. Even a person who made as little as one or two thousand dollars per month could buy those things, if they had zero day-to-day living expenses.
Even a person working at McDonald's could buy all kinds of things, if they had zero day-to-day living expenses and were entirely supported by their mother.
What's much more likely is that Howard supported his mother and himself, or at least helped. Maybe his mother collects Social Security or something along those lines.
And yet, even if he and his mother, together, were living with limited means, he still bought that Vespa and all those collectibles, etc. So, it's not like he was totally unable to buy fun things and was salivating at the chance to marry some high-earning girl and blow all her money.
Who knows, he could've had a full or partial scholarship in undergrad, and a full or partial scholarship at M.I.T., which would mean no student-loan payments and therefore the ability to save more of his salary.
He's not presented as this greedy/lazy character whose goal is to live off a woman's earnings, whether that woman is his mother or his wife.
All those times when Howard was pursuing girls, he never says "yeah, I'm gonna find a rich chick who will buy me things." He's just interested in sex and having some fun. He never mentions being in search of a Sugar Mama.
It's not like we ever heard about Howard writing checks in his mother's name or exploiting that situation. People who love shopping but lack the money can end up with credit-card debt; we never hear about Howard having credit card debt or using his Mom's credit card, etc.
There is not one instance in Seasons 1-4 where we hear Howard saying "Mom, why won't you buy me a car?" "Mom, will you buy me a 3D printer?", "Mom, can I have some money?", "Mom, will you buy me some comic books?"
Yes, he is spoiled and he is a Mama's boy, but it's not like the writers spent four or five seasons establishing Howard as this con-artist character who is looking to get his hands on other people's money.
Raj supposedly comes from a wealthy family yet we never saw Howard asking Raj for money or attempting to mooch off Raj.
We never see him attempting to mooch off Leonard or Sheldon.
We never see him attempting to mooch off his various dates/girlfriends/sex-partners.
If Howard was determined to buy silly things with other people's money, he would've done that with his mother or Raj or someone. Even if Mrs. W is of limited means, which seems likely, he could've used her credit card, or lied and said that he needed the money for something important, etc.
It's OOC and it's a retcon. It's also getting uncomfortably close to the ugly stereotype of the money-grubbing Jew.
This person they're showing us now, could not graduate from anything, or get hired anywhere. He's not Howard. He's...I dunno, Leonard/Chandler/SH/Lorre.
They've made him LESS mature and LESS responsible than he was before Bernadette came on the scene, and that is a fact. This idea that "Bernadette is forcing Howard to grow up and teaching him to be independent" is total hogwash. If she controls his every move, how is he learning anything?
And how exactly will he "grow up" or learn to be independent if Bernadette controls everything? On the contrary, that type of treatment is guaranteed to keep him in a child-like, dependent state. A person becomes independent by doing things on their own. If Bernadette is constantly supervising him, he will *never* learn to do things for himself, by himself. Her behavior is totally counterproductive.
A relationship which mimics his twisted relationship with his mother is the very farthest thing from what he needs.
Howard could've "grown up" if he got away from his mother for a while, tried living on his own, and maybe got some counseling. Bernadette acting like his mother and taking on that role is totally counterproductive, pschologically icky, and unhealthy. If she *refused* to act like his mother or treat him like a child, that would be closer to a reasonable approach. She is more controlling than his mother ever was.
Howard went straight from his mother to Bernadette, with nothing in-between. Where was his chance to know himself, to learn about the world, to figure things out?
He goes straight from making one woman the center of his life and letting her control him, to making another woman the center of his life and letting her control him. That is no progress at all. Where is *Howard*, in all of this?
He has no identity outside of his mother and Bernadette. That is why it really made my stomach turn cold when they talked about him being a stay-at-home Dad, in the future, and not even having his work anymore. Where is his *personhood*?? It's like watching someone pull the wings off a bug, or purposely stunt the growth of a plant, or something. It's *sad.*
You don't "force someone to grow up" by treating them like a child. That is backwards. It was not until Season 4 or 5, maybe even 6, that we heard these references about Howard not being able to cut his own pancakes or cut his own meat, etc. They have dumbed him down, and I defy anyone to refute that.