01-24-2014, 01:59 AM
What is obvious to me is that the creators have somehow come up with a character that is beyond their capability to fully realize. As someone here said, Sheldon is a delicate creature. All of the quirks and nuances are a part of his character and therefore to go at them with the blunted ax of revision damages the character as a whole. Child-like has become childish, genius has been downgraded as he is no longer ‘one of the greatest minds of his generation’ but rather ‘the smartest person Leonard’s ever met’.
Great comedic characters (imo) rely on more than slapstick and ba-dum-dum jokes or even sarcasm. Inspecteur Clouseau and Frank Drebin carry off even the silliest of humour because they act earnestly and, most importantly, with dignity. Sheldon Cooper is no different with his difficulties in social interaction. No matter what early seasons Sheldon says or does his actions are sincere, a lot of the time selfish but not *stupid*. Later season Sheldon with his inability to determine the mood at a funeral without help is sloppy writing. But of course the writers are able to overcome their shortcomings because they are ultimately in charge of what and how the characters choose to remember scenes. In a fanciful sense, maybe Sheldon is cracking under the pressure of having his eidetic memory continually undermined by the reordering of the show’s reality. It’s the only way to explain how he can look at the ever-changing Amy and say that he likes her ‘just the way she is’. Ultimately Sheldon is a tragedy to me because as wonderful and awesome as he is he’s ultimately the thrall of the creator. Still, it doesn’t mean that I can’t dream and write a better fate for him. I'm always going for the underdog, even if in this instance it makes me a 'whackadoodle'.
Great comedic characters (imo) rely on more than slapstick and ba-dum-dum jokes or even sarcasm. Inspecteur Clouseau and Frank Drebin carry off even the silliest of humour because they act earnestly and, most importantly, with dignity. Sheldon Cooper is no different with his difficulties in social interaction. No matter what early seasons Sheldon says or does his actions are sincere, a lot of the time selfish but not *stupid*. Later season Sheldon with his inability to determine the mood at a funeral without help is sloppy writing. But of course the writers are able to overcome their shortcomings because they are ultimately in charge of what and how the characters choose to remember scenes. In a fanciful sense, maybe Sheldon is cracking under the pressure of having his eidetic memory continually undermined by the reordering of the show’s reality. It’s the only way to explain how he can look at the ever-changing Amy and say that he likes her ‘just the way she is’. Ultimately Sheldon is a tragedy to me because as wonderful and awesome as he is he’s ultimately the thrall of the creator. Still, it doesn’t mean that I can’t dream and write a better fate for him. I'm always going for the underdog, even if in this instance it makes me a 'whackadoodle'.
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