11-18-2014, 01:05 PM
Even if Bernadette were a more interesting and less unpleasant character, I still wouldn't care for that whole storyline; because Howard in a permanent longterm relationship undermines the whole idea of Howard. This doesn't mean that I want 10 seasons of him being rejected by women (that's the type of strawman argument one hears from the Canons), it simply means that keeping the characters single leaves more possibilities open, whereas having them permanently coupled-up is a narrative dead end. But more importantly, Single Howard is just so FUN, and that was the essence of his character!
Yes, there's the cheap irony of "the sleazy/promiscuous one is the first to get married and ends up being the most devotedly monogamous", but there's nothing especially meaningful or original or impressive about that turn of events; "the reformed playboy" is a very, very old trope which goes back to at least the 1600s and can be found in pretty much every paperback romance novel, ever.
I wouldn't have minded seeing Howard have some dates that went well instead of going badly, but the main point is that I don't want to watch weddings on a sitcom, period.
IMO, most of Howard's "questionable" behavior towards women would've resolved itself with nothing more than time and experience; there's no need for some big epiphany. I know I've mentioned this before, but Howard already seemed to have cooled it a bit by the end of Season 2, which would be a natural outcome of him and Penny getting to know each other and feeling more comfortable with each other. You don't need a lot of drama and self-recrimination (or punching) to reach that point.
I don't see why we can't have a Howard who gets the message that Penny is not going to hook up with him, but continues to be a freewheeling bachelor. That's some very natural, low-key character development. That seemed to be the state of affairs at the end of S2.
This is another area where making the characters younger might've helped; you can hardly argue that everyone needs to get married and settle down ASAP if they're 22 instead of 32 and not even finished with their studies.
Flirty Oversexed Howard is a marvelous creature and there no was need for that part of his personality to die; just maybe be modified a bit as he learns to be more comfortable with the people around him and more aware of how to properly interact with them.
I see little evidence that New!Howard (or New!Raj) actually understands women better; he's just repressed that flirty part of himself like an alcoholic avoiding a drink. (Insofar as this can be considered the same character at all; which I don't.)
Granted, I also ship Howard/Raj in a shippy way, and I believe it could work, but not with these writers. In this context, I'm fine with that ship remaining in the realm of fanfic.
"The promiscuous guy who just needed to find the Right Woman™" is an old stereotype and there's nothing very compelling about it.
This brings me back to "nothing bad is actually going to happen to these characters, because they're fictional." Therefore, Flirty!Howard and his sexual misadventures don't worry me. I assume he'd figure things out eventually, and in the meantime he's a hilarious character. And maybe he'd be a bachelor forever, and he'd enjoy it, and he'd meet women who enjoyed that lifestyle, too, and---gasp!---he wouldn't end up laying in a ditch and dying of syphilis, or whatever.
Even if it had been handled well instead of poorly, I have zero use for the whole Bernadette storyline or for any characters being permanently coupled-up, and I think it's especially damaging in the cases of Sheldon and Howard, because it strikes at the heart of what made them so entertaining in the first place. Their singleness (two very different styles of singleness) was one of their core, defining features.
The early seasons actually contain some pretty good examples of *subtle* character development, on a level that I would consider appropriate for a light mainstream sitcom. But then, TPTB started using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.
Yes, there's the cheap irony of "the sleazy/promiscuous one is the first to get married and ends up being the most devotedly monogamous", but there's nothing especially meaningful or original or impressive about that turn of events; "the reformed playboy" is a very, very old trope which goes back to at least the 1600s and can be found in pretty much every paperback romance novel, ever.
I wouldn't have minded seeing Howard have some dates that went well instead of going badly, but the main point is that I don't want to watch weddings on a sitcom, period.
IMO, most of Howard's "questionable" behavior towards women would've resolved itself with nothing more than time and experience; there's no need for some big epiphany. I know I've mentioned this before, but Howard already seemed to have cooled it a bit by the end of Season 2, which would be a natural outcome of him and Penny getting to know each other and feeling more comfortable with each other. You don't need a lot of drama and self-recrimination (or punching) to reach that point.
I don't see why we can't have a Howard who gets the message that Penny is not going to hook up with him, but continues to be a freewheeling bachelor. That's some very natural, low-key character development. That seemed to be the state of affairs at the end of S2.
This is another area where making the characters younger might've helped; you can hardly argue that everyone needs to get married and settle down ASAP if they're 22 instead of 32 and not even finished with their studies.
Flirty Oversexed Howard is a marvelous creature and there no was need for that part of his personality to die; just maybe be modified a bit as he learns to be more comfortable with the people around him and more aware of how to properly interact with them.
I see little evidence that New!Howard (or New!Raj) actually understands women better; he's just repressed that flirty part of himself like an alcoholic avoiding a drink. (Insofar as this can be considered the same character at all; which I don't.)
Granted, I also ship Howard/Raj in a shippy way, and I believe it could work, but not with these writers. In this context, I'm fine with that ship remaining in the realm of fanfic.
"The promiscuous guy who just needed to find the Right Woman™" is an old stereotype and there's nothing very compelling about it.
This brings me back to "nothing bad is actually going to happen to these characters, because they're fictional." Therefore, Flirty!Howard and his sexual misadventures don't worry me. I assume he'd figure things out eventually, and in the meantime he's a hilarious character. And maybe he'd be a bachelor forever, and he'd enjoy it, and he'd meet women who enjoyed that lifestyle, too, and---gasp!---he wouldn't end up laying in a ditch and dying of syphilis, or whatever.
Even if it had been handled well instead of poorly, I have zero use for the whole Bernadette storyline or for any characters being permanently coupled-up, and I think it's especially damaging in the cases of Sheldon and Howard, because it strikes at the heart of what made them so entertaining in the first place. Their singleness (two very different styles of singleness) was one of their core, defining features.
The early seasons actually contain some pretty good examples of *subtle* character development, on a level that I would consider appropriate for a light mainstream sitcom. But then, TPTB started using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.