05-09-2015, 12:04 AM
Quote:What we've been watching the last couple of seasons is NOT realistic in any way, shape, or form. The personality changes, the emotional abuse between romantic partners and "friends", the manipulations, and the melodrama of it all makes seasons 1-3 and most of 4 far more realistic then the crap they're writing now.
Not a single person who had the personalities of the characters (minus Leonard) in seasons 1-3 would even hang around this bunch of losers. They would have found new friends and laughed at the people who felt the need to completely give up who they are fundamentally just to be part of a "couple" with someone who only likes you for what you represent "after they've changed you".
Quote:Basically, I call bullshit on the show's portrayal and perception of geeks, fandom and adulthood. The characters are hideous, pathetic losers now to a greater extent than they ever were before
Yes to all this. As I've said before, I don't believe there's a plausible in-universe explanation for these changes in personality, barring some kind of catastrophically bad occurrence.
Let's say something bad happened to the vintage characters and their lives took a wrong turn. Their original traits wouldn't diminish; they'd become more extreme, IMO.
Sheldon banished Ramona after he caught wise to the fact that she was crazy, controlling, and selfish. And Ramona was actually much more appealing than Amy! If Sheldon could break Ramona's spell, why couldn't he break Amy's?
I've already discussed at great length this idea that "B is just like Howard's mother." Well, Howard wasn't afraid to talk back to his mother, disagree with her, and push back at her. Besides, he's a plucky, spirited guy. Vintage Howard would look at B and Emily, shake his head, and say "Yeah, the hot ones always turn out to be psycho..." and then he and Raj would walk away and go for milkshakes. My personal opinion is that if Howard was disappointed with life, he would actually become more sarcastic, nasty, and abrasive, not more passive.
I'm not a great student of Penny, so someone else can speak to that.
The Vintage characters might've put up with this behavior for a few episodes or even a season, but not forever.
And yes, of course it's true that in the real world, people can balance family, career, and hobbies, without any of this self-flagellation. Absolutely nobody these days thinks you're a weirdo for liking scifi. New!BBT is a distorted funhouse mirror. Without the fun.