SPOILERS: 9.04 The 2003 Approximation

[Idle Miscreant]

Incidentally, PJ mentioned something in the chat box the other day, about how Sheldon was almost *revered* in the early days of the fandom, in the sense that people knew his personality traits and habits and quirks and they were not to be violated.  I feel that. Reverence is what I feel, towards him. I once wrote here that I was a little scared of Sheldon, but in retrospect that's not quite what I meant.  What I mean is that something about him *inspired* reverence; something about that character demanded recognition, and I felt that long before I became an HQer.   I am majorly, majorly scared to even write about him, I think carefully about every word, because Sheldon Purists know him SO WELL, and I don't want to get it wrong. That's a very real feeling for me, almost like a responsibility, a standard to meet, something to be upheld, to avoid giving offense by honoring that set of traits and that persona which were so definite. It's something I've been meaning to mention, and this thread is as good a place as any, I guess. What's been done to Sheldon is a violation, a defacing of something, a toppling of something, whereas what's been done to Howard is more like bullying, more just mean and senseless.

Sheldon Purists have learned a great deal about Howard from you too. I don't think we quite realised to what degree Wolowitz underwent the same emasculation/defenestration of character as Sheldon went through in Season 5 and beyond. It has been illuminating to hear your imput on this matter over the months.

"a violation, a defacing of something, a toppling of something" is exactly how we feel about it. He was representative of the Outsider, of noble and driven pursuit of truth, of independent thought unrelated to trends, of logic versus social protocol.

For some Purists, he was also representative of mind over body, intellect over hedonism. Most of the reasons I see folk around here (and elsewhere) giving for why they preferred Vintage Sheldon, are widely speaking, philosophical ones. Other than that, he simply had enormous dignity, which remained untouched, regardless of whether he was leaping around in a ball pit, or singing L'Chaim. He had absolute certitude of his own beliefs. And he was brilliant.

So aye, changing all of these aspects of his character, removing them, attacks the philosophical concepts behind them as well. The concept of the Outsider as Hero is attacked, the notion that pursuit of truth/work/art is worth sacrificing a "conventional lifestyle" for. That a person can be content in themselves and in their work -  all these things are now being portrayed as false. Or ridiculous. Through the dismantling of the character who upheld and epitomized these beliefs.

It's why we're still clinging onto this damn show - we're hoping it will return to waving its old device. That our particular hero will return, and that on mainstream television there will be a character who fights for truth, science, and independent thought, ABOVE ALL ELSE.
Yet this character is currently chasing his ex-girlfriend around. That is his plot. "Romance" has been his only plot for years.

This is quite irksome. To put it mildly.

Colours. Yes. The colours are very important...I remember we were particularly horrified by the Christmas episode last season, where there was this horrible beige and frilly tableau, the Victorian Christmas, with Amy holding court in the centre like Dolores Umbridge. We weren't quite sure what we were looking at. Certainly not The Big Bang Theory.

Colour is UBIQUITOUS throughout the early seasons. It's the bloody essence of the show, aesthetically. The only other series I can think where colour plays such an enormous part is The Mighty Boosh.




Leonard always dressed rather drably. And Raj was a vested layer of tartan confusion. But Sheldon, Penny and Howard were always LUMINOUS. They had intense energy to match these vivid colours. Now they've all been drained of colour and life under the auspices of growth. Sheldon on "date night" dresses like an insurance salesman. The butterflies have become moths.
It's baffling and quite distressing.

Sheldon Purists take the Coopersuit as emblematic of his particular duende. The ya-boo-sucks-to-you aspect of it, the absolute carelessness towards sartorial traditions. The suit was splendid, and had a "all you earthlings can bugger off if you don't agree" feel to it.



(The fact that he chose to pair it with a multi-coloured diamond-checked tie is just magnificent)



The suit has been retired for years. As, alas, has Vintage Sheldon.

(I think I've gone off-topic. Again. I shall move these posts. At some point.)