Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Agree completely.

this show is on the list of "shows that make me feel uneasy and angry at the same time"

What about it angers you?

I've heard a lot of "geek" people (e.g. those into comic books, SF/F, video games, science etc.) get mad at the show because of the stereotype it portrays. That Penny is the only normal person in the lot and that the viewer is supposed to be the "Pennys" and the whole world gets to laugh at the "geeks" (Leonard, Raj, Walowitz, Sheldon). Well, I'm into all of those things. Comic books, trading card games, sci-fi (anything) fantasy (everything)...the whole 9 yards. But I still enjoy the show. Esp the guests! Steven Hawking, Leonard Nimoy, Katee Sackhoff, George Takei, Brian Greene, Stan Lee, Summer Glau...right up my alley, IMO!

I don't think the problem is that the show is portraying stereotypes, because every TV sitcom is filled with stereotypes. It's more the whole "laughing at them, not with them" vibe, and the fact that the guys are basically living cartoon characters. Who am I supposed to empathize with? As you said the answer is probably Penny, but she's not a very nice person so it's hard for me. I also think the show can be sort of misogynistic. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it makes me angry, because I've only watched a few episodes in any case, but I can totally understand why it would make someone uneasy because I had the same reaction.

I'm probably in the minority here but I've come to really dislike Amy. One, she's really not a nice person and two, her job description is to get animals addicted to drugs and then later kill them so she can dissect their brains. So she's basically making a living inflicting pain to animals.

And Sheldon can be forgiven for his 'I'm smarter than you so I'm better than you' kind of behavior because of he doesn't know any better, but when Amy does it it really comes off as being a crasshole, which is probably the point but it's has no humor for me in it. We can laugh at Sheldon when he does it, but when Amy does it it comes off as mean-spirited.

But the tiara scene was hilarious.

I don't see Penny as the automatic one to empathize with - not at all, really. I actually don't know that I hugely empathize with any of them, I really picture them all as characters with pretty inflated stereotypes.

No, scratch that. Bernadette is probably the most relatable for me. Plus she's adorable.

Yeah. It's mostly not unique sexist stuff, but in this show the stereotyping really freaks me out and makes me feel uncomfortable. I'm not a huge sitcom person anyway, but some deal with the stereotyping a lot better. Not that I have watched every episode of the show.

Hope this doesn't catch me flak, but what about the show is misogynistic? I never go that. The only thing that comes to mind is Penny's need for relationships to be happy.

I don't see that either. I'm curious about what you guys are picking up on that I'm not.

Me too.

I don't think you can put too much thought into TV shows in regards to stereotypes and what not. You kind of have to take it for face value or don't watch the show at all. All television is geared to make people entertained somehow and a comedy sitcom is going to make you laugh at the expense of the characters and their ridiculous situations realistic, insane, politically correct or otherwise.

i enjoy BBT because everyone seems to get smacked in the face with their stereotypes, nobody is spared.

Maybe "misogynistic" is a strong word, but at the very least I think it can be stupidly sexist. To be fair I haven't seen the show in a while, so maybe it's improved in this department, but I feel like early on a lot of of the situational humor was centered around the guys objectifying Penny and whatever other women they encountered. This is certainly not anything new in the world of sitcoms, and while I think it's possible for a show to have main characters that are simultaneously shitheads AND interesting (like Seinfeld or Arrested Development), this doesn't do it for me. Many of the "jokes" seem mean-spirited and half-assed, so instead of making me laugh it just leaves me feeling uncomfortable.

That's just my opinion, of course. Clearly there are people out there who are enjoying it, otherwise it wouldn't still be on!

Oh, I see. Well, they definitely did spend a lot of time focusing on "the gang" meeting women in the earlier seasons. I guess seeing guys trying to scope out and pick-up women could be a bit sexist. At this point in the series, though 3/4 of the guys have girlfriends so that time seems to have passed. I love Sheldon's relationship with Amy! And that Mayim Bialik is vegan IRL makes the show even more awesome.