and BAM! Howard Wolowitz
Here's the thing: New!Howard is a fundamentally different person than Vintage!Howard. Because he's played by SH, and because SH is charming and lovable and a good actor, New!Howard might occasionally be charming or appealing or even have a hint of sparkle about him. That's not coming from the character, it's coming from SH. That's his residual charisma, so to speak.

New!Howard is deeply lazy, and I mean "lazy" in a mental/moral/psychological sense, not just a literal "I don't wanna wash the dishes" sense. A spiritual laziness, if you will. I could describe this in greater detail, but it would turn into one of my usual "huge wall of text" posts, and I said I wouldn't do that anymore. This is a person whose life has plateaued, who believes that "getting the girl" marks the end of any further effort or energy or plans or goals on his part. This is a person who is willing to accept abuse as the price of a relatively pleasant lifestyle. He wants to sit back and be on auto-pilot and relinquish all responsibility to someone else.

New!Howard's motivations, goals, and wants/needs are different from Vintage!Howard's motivations, goals, and wants/needs. Even if something very bad happened to Vintage Howard and his life took a turn for the worse, *the result would not be this guy.*  

This is not a degraded or disappointed or depressed version of Vintage!Howard. Maybe this is just headcanon, but I've long believed that if something went wrong in Howard's life, he wouldn't become passive and meek; his more unpleasant and aggressive traits would come to the fore and he could be a pretty nasty customer.

New!Howard is a guy who has *given up*, in every sense of the phrase, because he's bought into society's narrative that the whole point of life is to get married and have a conventional middle-class lifestyle. And if he's already achieved those goals, then his life is *over*, basically. There's nothing more to do or try or want, there's nothing beyond or above that, so you might as well sit down on the couch and never get back up again.

And that's an excruciatingly precise *inversion* of what Vintage!Howard was like. He was a *seeker.*  He was all about desire and action. This isn't really about money or housework or how poorly-written the Bernadette character is.  I think Vintage!Howard would find this life *boring.* I don't think he'd sign up for a lifetime of abuse in exchange for someone who will occasionally be "nice" or smile at him or have sex with him, and I don't think he cared much about being respectable or socially acceptable. This guy was very straightforward and unapologetic about pursuing what he wanted; I don't think he'd see all this fuss and nonsense as necessary.

A guy who was quite willing to make use of prostitutes and strippers is not going to pay for a woman's attention with his own dignity and freedom and sign his life away on the off-chance that she'll occasionally be pleasant towards him or keep him company. And in spite of the "sweet" and weepy scenes we've had in the past few seasons, I don't think anything resembling actual *love* is present in this ship. If Howard needed to feel loved, he was loved by his friends and his mother, and even his mother's love didn't come with so many strings attached. What is he receiving now, that he wasn't receiving from, say, Raj, in terms of emotional support? What emotional need is Bernadette fulfilling? Certainly not a need to feel respected or understood. If he had sources of companionship, both platonic and sexual, then what the heck is she *for*, and how could all her monstrous abusiveness possibly be an acceptable trade-off? This isn't some grand love-story where a lonely guy's longing for tenderness and understanding was finally granted, no matter how many huggy-kissy-weepy scenes you show me.

But most of all, this was a person who *wanted* things and *tried* for them, and brought tremendous, irrepressible energy and enthusiasm and creativity to that process. A person like that doesn't just *stop*, all of a sudden, like "well, life handed me a cookie and now everything's peachy, I'm done, goodnight."  New!Howard's motivations and instincts are the *precise opposite* of Vintage!Howard's motivations and instincts.  

That's all I'm saying.  It's not like "Well, if Bernadette went away for the weekend, Gothowitz would come roaring back and swing from the chandelier."  If these two guys took a personality test, it would not come out the same. And if they occasionally seem similar, it's simply because they're both played by SH.

I can honestly say that I've changed a lot as a person, within the past eight or ten years, but all that really means , IMO, is becoming *more aware* of yourself and your own actions. My essential self is the same. *shrug*
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"If you're into music, I happen to BE a human beatbox..."

[Image: 11golyw.jpg]
OH PLEASE...
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"If you're into music, I happen to BE a human beatbox..."

Oh, I LOVE that scene, Toad!  Top ten, for sure.  Heart Blossom Heart  Oh, such a crazy little cutie, LOL...

ETA: His hair looks PERFECT in that scene, lol.
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Great post Louise. You make me think about Howard in a different way. I knew he was broken by this change and there's so much talk about this new Howard being an improvement on the old, I forget the other aspects of his personality that were lost.

New Howard just feels slightly out of sync. But because it's still the same talented actor its better than it should be. Some of his scenes (especially the real twee mushy ones) come across as though they are preformed through gritted teeth. That's the only way I can describe it. I'm convinced SH thinks it's a crock. I've always felt that he was the smartest guy in the cast. He's just got something and was perfectly cast.

Howard was also the most creative character. He was a designer and inventor but everyone just remembers the dirty jokes, not the technical skills the guy has. Imagine knowing someone that can control a satellite, or who brought a robot home from nasa just to show it off to his mates. He build drones, wired up the apartment so other nerds across the world could switch on their appliances, and supplied leonard with spy-style equipment when he was trying to sneak into 4a and avoid sick Sheldon. The list goes on and on. He could turn his hand to anything. In real life, Howard would have dozens of nerdy mates, if not hundreds, all wanting to cram into that apartment he shares with Bernadette just to be part of the cool things he's into.

I also hate to say it but I think old Howard would shout back at Bernadette if he were real. He used to shout at his mum, but of course they can't do with his wife because she's not got the right personality to make it funny.
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OH PLEASE...
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Great manip Toad! Heart

Howard's enthusuasm for his failed attempts and his theories were so great. I never understood girls getting offended because it was clear the joke was on him. The only time he went too far was when Penny mentioned the webcam in the teddybear he gave her. The rest was hilarious! All hail Simon Helberg, so underrated. He should have been nominated for best supporting actor, instead of Galecki. Totally robbed.
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Long live Howard 'Batman' Wolowitz!
OH PLEASE...
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OH PLEASE...
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OH PLEASE...
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“Everything that is shown on TBBT is the precise opposite of what a happy and healthy relationship should be”.

Read Louises’ scathing commentary about TBBT in general and the glaring difference between Howard and Howie

“There are no scenes more fun to do, I feel like, than the ones between Sheldon and Penny. They are such a wonderful odd couple.” - Jim Parsons
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