10-15-2015, 05:00 AM
Quote:people generally mellow as they get older, unless they're a genuine eccentric, in which case they tend to become more extreme.
Yes, I agree. And there's nothing wrong with mellowing. I don't think anyone here is arguing that people never, ever change in any way. That's another Canonist strawman and an oversimplification, which is their stock in trade. The point is that 1. Fictional characters aren't real people and 2. The changes, if any, must be plausible. You've identified the reasons why the changes in Sheldon aren't plausible, from either a real-person-psychology or fictional-world angle.
I don't object to some mellowing. They'd already eased-off on the Penny-Howard conflict by the end of Season 2, which is long before Bernadette and makes this "Pervert to Husband!" redemption-narrative all the more dodgy. But as I've stated many times, I don't need a sitcom to cover a character's whole life-span. I hate this deeply-entrenched TV convention which says that 1 season of a show equals one year of real-time in the lives of the characters. It *would* be slightly strange if absolutely *nothing* had changed after ten years. But if the show had ended after four or five seasons, that wouldn't be a problem, especially if these four or five seasons represented just a year or two in the lives of the characters. I don't need to see the characters *aging.* The makers themselves create these continuity issues and these timeline-related complications by adhering to this literal interpretation of the passage of time.
Quote:Now, character changes can be justified by exposition, or subjective interpretation. They can say, well, in OUR view, this IS the way he would grow
Like I've said before, what TPTB are very sneaky about, is providing Watsonian explanations for Doylist decisions. They want people to believe that the changes in the show happened organically, that these changes were made for artistic, storytelling purposes. In fact, the aim was make the show more mainstream and thus make more $$$. What I see you saying here is there AREN'T any plausible in-universe for these changes, barring some catastrophic mental damage, and I agree.
Let's suppose that somehow, the show had changed or "developed" the characters in a manner that I, personally, did not enjoy, but which was reasonably plausible and IC. I don't know exactly what that would BE, or how it would be accomplished, but let's suppose. In that case, I might've simply lost interest in the show and been mildly miffed instead of heartbroken. But the reason everyone here is so up in arms is because the changes *don't make sense.* There's a difference between "these changes don't make sense" and "I demand to see my own personal headcanon and my own pet-ideas played out on the screen." I don't care for the idea that Howard is eager to become a father, but I don't find wildly, unforgivably OOC, either.
TPTB and the canons use the phrase "character development" incessantly, like a mantra, without truly understanding what it means. "The characters are growing from a childish and selfish state into being mature and emotionally whole adults" is code for "We made the characters more mainstream so that the masses will watch and we will get $$$." I'm guessing that if you asked any true student of media, any writer or dramatist or literature teacher, their definition of the phrase "character development" would not match the one used by the Canons.
I am not at all sure to what degree TPTB believe their own line of bull. I really cannot tell to what degree this is just a cynical cash-grab and to what degree they actually think this is a lovely show about true love and personal development. And that makes it hard to analyze these issues. How aware are they, of the disconnect between what they're saying and what they're doing?
Howard is less of a clear-cut case than Sheldon, as you described. We've had some encouraging signs from him, so far, this season, but I'm picky and I've washed my hands of the show and my reaction tends to be "too little, too late" or "yes, that's the actors being cute." I feel like I'm watching out-takes. I simply don't believe that he would marry Bernadette, even if her dark side hadn't been fully revealed at that point, and I simply don't believe he'd put up with this much abuse. The ratio of "attractive girl who claims to care about me" and "psycho bitch" is tilted in favor of the latter, and I don't see a mathematician liking those odds. I think he might've dated her for a few episodes or even half a season, but that's all. If nothing else, Mrs.W would've perceived her as a threat or a rival and would've run her off the very first time she started getting mouthy, like she did with Christie. I'm sure it wasn't the first or last time Howard got involved with a girl that his mother deemed unacceptable and his mother intervened. (But even Mrs.W wasn't immune to the Character Devolution Tango.)
I recently did an episode-by-episode demolition of this idea that "H/B was sweet during S3 and S4, it's only recently that B. has become obnoxious." This is a commonly heard opinion. But that relationship consisted of conflict, misunderstandings, and misaligned values/priorities from Day 1. I could do an even more detailed and specific analysis if I were willing to watch those scenes again, but I'm not. I use my memories and the Wiki. S3-S4 Bernadette might not be overtly cruel, but her personality is totally uninteresting and she's inconsistent, high maintainence, demanding, flighty, hypocritical, a poor communicator, and sort of coyly dishonest, plus it's not at all clear WHY she's dating Howard or why she wants to be in a relationship at all. It only gets worse from there. In Alien Parasite she claims that she's "Much smarter than him." Why the fuck is she dating him, then, unless she has a need to feel superior? I think Howard would conclude that she's simply too much drama. He was able to perceive that Ramona was bad news, and he was able to perceive that the ongoing Leonard-Penny merry-go-round was absurd and futile and masochistic.