01-05-2015, 10:45 PM
(01-05-2015, 11:57 AM)Louise Wrote: Oh, a Freaky Friday type of scenario with *any* of the characters would be lots of fun
I wouldn't have been *hugely* upset if they'd cut back on the flirty/sexual stuff, a bit, as long as Howard was still lively and fun. IMO the flirty/sexual thing was only one part of Classic!Howard's personality, not the whole of it.
As I've said many times before, IMO the show had already cooled it a bit with the "oversexed Howard" concept by the end of S2...then the Bernadette storyline begins and they start making him really infantile. It wasn't until S5 or S6 that we heard about H. being *really* child-like and helpless: other people cutting his food, his Mom taking him to the dentist, etc.
I've never once been offended by the flirty/sexual stuff. That joke about H. giving Penny a teddy bear with a webcam in it was rather dark*, but I can occasionally get behind some dark humor if it's well-done, and that scene is pretty funny, even though it's all about getting back together with B. (WHY? WHAT FOR?)
That scene where Howard touches/rubs Penny's feet is cute, but I find it VERY hard to believe that he wouldn't find that situation exciting and titillating at all. Yes, it's nice if they can interact without tension or conflict, it's nice if they can just be friends and not over-react in each other's presence...but you're telling me he didn't find that sexy AT ALL? I'm surprised she allowed him to do that. Even if he learned to control himself around her, I don't buy that he would just completely stop viewing her in a sexual way, like he's got an off-switch. How many people let their friends, of any gender, rub their feet? IDK, odd. This is what I mean about later-season scenes that are cute at first glance, but the more you think about them, the less sense they make.
Like PJ said, Classic!Howard is harmless. I don't believe for an instant that he'd ever harm a woman or do something truly malicious towards her. This idea of "Creepy Howard" has become kind of a pop-culture meme with little connection to the actual show. When I'm working on my fanfic, I almost feel like I have to make Howard *more* creepy/oversexed than he actually was, just to make it clear that this is Classic!Howard I'm writing about, not Mr. "I'm a better man now." (Ick.)
What boggles my mind is that it's apparently okay for Amy to be attracted to toddlers (and invertebrates!) but Howard saying something like "You look ravishing today" was nasty and perverted and disgusting. Okaaaayyy, then.And yes, there are a couple instances of retconning where they try to make it seem like Old!Howard was worse than he actually was.
ETA: Oh, I love Eyepatch-and-Pimp!Shoes Howard XDAnd that sort of nasally-sounding delivery is an Old!Howard thing. He sounds different now. He just sounds like SH being Sincere™
ETA again: and yeah, Julien Blanc is a scumbag. His website is super-ridiculous, too.
*I also think this show had a lot of throwaway lines that weren't meant to be taken literally. Early!BBT is kind of a broad, exagerrated, whimsically grotesque world. Then, the later seasons get very heavy-handed with this stuff. And the introduction of B. marks the start of BBT 2.0, to me. Nothing after that is completely "real", for me.
I agree Louise. That whole scene with Howard rubbing Penny's feet seemed very off to me. Have a hard time believing Penny would allow that and Howard would not find that sexual. TPTB just ruined the characters and the fun of the show to be forced into a lousy rom/com.