We all have our blindspots, right? Things or people that we
like that most people rightfully hate, but we go ahead and like it
anyway. Well for me, that is the Big Bang Theory. I have gotten the
most crap and hate for me liking this show from friends, colleagues, and
strangers alike... and much of it rightfully so.
One of the things we consistently talk about here is
representation of nerd culture is overwhelming white nerd centered and catered
to and the Big Bang Theory is white nerd culture personified. The cast of
characters are caricatures of nerd culture and even tho often accurate, the
show goes out of its way to center their nerdom in whiteness. You can
count the Black characters appearing on the show in 12 years on your fingers and
interaction with a Black nerd character.... never happened. So the
show has many faults and I fully recognized them and watched it anyway.
I came to the show late when it already had 5 seasons in the can
and caught up watching reruns on TBS. It was comfort food as I was going
through a very rough time in my personal relationship. A show that told
simple jokes with a ridiculous laugh track, that often used nerd culture as its
background. But over time, that respect for nerd culture turned into
outright ridicule of that same culture as the characters grew up from their
geekly beginnings. Of course characters need to show growth, but Big Bang
used that growth as a hammer to the culture that made the show unique. As
characters got married, had kids, and changed jobs, adulthood took root in
their lives and there is a respected story to tell there... they just didn't do
it. The show, over the last few years just became a vehicle to tell
slapstick stories with no depth( not that it had much before).
So the final season focused on Sheldon and Amy and their joint
pursuit of the Nobel Prize. Over the course of the same season, two other
scientist came in and stole their idea and their story plays out much of the
season before culminating in Sheldon and Amy winning the Nobel Prize and
Sheldon giving this emotional speech about how his friend are really the one
thing he cherishes the most. In a moment that should've been heartfelt,
it fell flat. Maybe it was the deadpan delivery, but more likely, it was
just the show was done and running on empty for the final season. Leonard
and Penny are pregnant; even tho for the entire season, Penny was emphatic that
is not what she wanted. Howard and Bernadette have two kids and not much
story exisisted for them outside of their children. And Raj... a
character that was the butt of racist, Indian jokes for 12 years and who sought
out romantic love more than anyone, was regulated to stalker status as he
somehow wound up at the award ceremony with Sarah Michelle Gellar.
After 12 seasons and over 200 episodes, the show had run its
course. I would actually say it should've ended when Sheldon and Amy got
married, but that's just me. A show that paid a modicum of respect to
nerd culture, morphed into a thing that nerds hated because it forgot to
respect the culture that birthed it. Overall, I can still enjoy it in
pieces, but it definitely did not end on a Big Bang!
The Producer
