I have rarely met a geek who is ambivalent about “The Big Bang Theory.” Either they are fans, who see themselves and their friends in the show and identify with the situations. (I mean, come on, who doesn’t have a fued with Wil Wheaton these days?)
Another vocal subset decries Big Bang as pandering, playing to and reinforcing stereotypes. I’ve heard it referred to as nerd “blackface” or a “minstrel show.” These depictions of nerdom, geekery, and spazzhood are damaging to us who are a little bit socially awkward. We’re (relatively) normal people who like comic books, video games, and sci-fi/fantasy, but that doesn’t make us a Raj/Sheldon/Howard/Leonard any more than any single woman living in a city is automatically a Carrie/Samantha/Charlotte/Miranda. This critique of Big Bang Theory is that it is no more a show about being a geek than “Friends” was about living in New York, or “Cheers” about hanging out at a bar. It is just another situation comedy, laugh track and all. Just, instead of being about a New York comic and his friends (and nothing) this is about some guys who work at Cal Tech.
But there’s also another distinct possibility. Underneath the veneer of geekiness and the tropes familiar to anyone who has watched a sitcom in the last 40 years, could “The Big Bang Theory” have some important social commentary? It wouldn’t be the first time. “All in the Family” (and its spinoff “The Jeffersons”) probably did as much to advance race relations as anyone else in the ’70’s by lampooning racists as Archie Bunkers sitting in their recliners. So what is Big Bang teaching us? First, let’s talk about whether it’s geek chic or geek blackface.
Ultimately, I’m somewhere in between both camps.
What I do know is that whenever I am flipping channels and I land on a rerun of Big Bang Theory, I can rarely find something better to watch. This is only matched by few other shows, specifically “The Simpsons” and “Seinfeld.”
We also know that, no matter how broad the tropes and humor of traditional laugh-tracked-sitcom are, these guys are geeks. Just take a look at this video from Comic Con. They get it. They get us:
Now, how much of this is done to be laughing with us, and how much of it is laughing at us?
I think the question is how much does it alienate the audience from unique and legitimate geek culture, and how much of it brings them in. It’s a mixed bag. Here’s a good barometer: are we laughing at the gang wearing their Star Trek uniforms because they look funny in Trek uniforms, or are we laughing because it’s a legitimately funny situation and jokes? Again, I leave that to you. But I also think the writing has gotten better as the show has figured itself out over the last five seasons, and as geek culture has blossomed into the thing that rules the box office and much of pop culture. Just like as America grew more accepting of Will and Jack’s homosexuality on Will and Grace, so too could the show get away with more, so too has Big Bang grown this way.
Be that as it may, the rise of Big Bang Theory as a ratings behemoth are proving the adage that the geek shall inherit the earth. The simple fact that we’re even questioning whether or not the show panders to the nerd crowd shows how important a demographic we can be.
But what of the promised social commentary? Let me ask you this: on what planet do two brilliant physicists working at a prestigious university combine their incomes to rent an apartment that sits next to an approximately equal apartment rented by a waitress for the Cheesecake Factory? (Aside from the Jewish mother issues), why does Howard Wolowitz live with his mother? And why can he only move out after his wife lands a six figure salary working for a pharmaceutical company?
Sheldon doesn’t own a car, and Leonard’s is miles from being luxury, or even tricked out. Raj has a nice car, but only because his millionaire parents bought it for him. And Howard drives a Mini Cooper.
Their clothes are far from designer, most of their shirts likely coming from teefury.com’s selection of comic themed shirts or Old Navy’s boys section.
In fact, the only posessions they own which denote disposable income are their comics/collectibles and (overpriced for what you get) Alienware laptops.
Sure, I’ll admit it that I’m being a little superficial here: cars, clothes, comics, and computers aren’t the only things that can denote wealth. It’s not like Bill Gates’ or Mark Zuckerberg’s looks really scream that they are among the richest men in the world.
So let’s talk what we know from actual context in the show. This last week’s rerun involved the four friends competing for a single tenure position.
By the end of the episode, of course they are all competing with one another for this. Place this in context with what has happened to education budgets, and therefore salaries, in the California public school system over the last 8 or so years, and you’d see why a tenured position would be such a prize.
Compare this also with the heartbreaking story of a 25-year (adjunct) professor of French at Dusquene University, who died penniless, without any health care benefits, and after being treated with absolute indignity by her employer despite being an amazing, beloved professor. Please, I’ll wait a minute while you go read it.
She was an adjunct professor, like most college professors, making very little money. Now, I’m sure that Sheldon, Raj, Leonard, and Howard are all paid a little more because they are research professors, but again, remember– they pay as much rent for two of them as one waitress for The Cheesecake Factory.
This all adds up to one inexorable conclusion: despite being possibly the smartest characters on television in terms of raw IQ, their incomes are probably closer to 2 Broke Girls than How I Met Your Mother and pale in comparison to Mad Men, The Newsroom, Suits, or Two and a Half Men. And here, Two and Half Men is probably the appropriate analog– both are Chuck Lorre shows, and whereas we have a group of brilliant characters showing zero signs of wealth in Big Bang, compare them to Ashton Kutcher’s character– private jet, fancy cars, huge house, all the latest gadgets, and stylish clothes.
People, we are undervaluing education, educators, brilliance, and overvaluing investment and capital. There is the social commentary. I’m not saying this is a show about the 99% vs the 1%, but there’s something in there. Just because they’re nerds doesn’t mean they wouldn’t spend their money ostentatiously if they had it. Anyone who’s spent any time recently in the posh and geeky areas of the Bay Areas among the nouveau riche of the tech boom knows of what I speak. And our Big Bang Theory pals. . . are not those guys.
So, take it as an indictment of the broken nature of our economy and educational systems. Or maybe it’s just an excuse to put two nerdy guys next door to a hot blond so we can have sitcom around it.
Whether the tropes and steretypes in “Big Bang Theory” are more exploitative or more true to life, I leave to your judgment and logic circuits, dear robot readers. Regardless, there is some value in the social commentary.
But what do you think about Big Bang Theory? Love it? Hate it? Is it a series we should review weekly? Leave your comments below.