Yes please! As someone with autism, I hate that it's represented as "thing that makes someone awkward, quirky and smart" in shows like this. It's extremely dangerous to younger minds who don't know what autism is.
@@PigeonPie-ki9ndthe creators of the show specifically said Sheldon isn't autistic to avoid stereotypes but I do think he's definitely still a stereotype.
I gave up on the show in that episode where Penny had to apologize to Howard because she was tired of the harassment, lashed out n everyone was like "u bitch", that was disgusting
Oh thank you. That episode makes me so mad. Every time i remember it I'm fuming. I think because we have probably all experienced the same thing at least once if not more if we had a group of friends that inclueded a lot of guys. It sets the worst example and made my skin crawl.
I didn't watch the first few seasons, I jumped in somewhere in the middle and watched like a season and a half. Gave up in an episode where they say they're gonna have a D&D night and Amy got very excited, saying she's always wanted to play but never had the friends to do so. As somebody who had been in that position a few years prior, I was immediately interested and vowed to forgive the show for all its dumb flaws if that episode ended with Amy getting to have a fun night playing D&D with friends. The boys told her she can't play with them, it's just for guys, and she instead had a night out with the girls (which included Raj for SOME reason ahem) and got to make a joke about herself about how she's _too ugly to be r*ped._ I stopped watching the show then.
I’m literally on hormonal birth control and I have some degree of Adam’s Apple. I think it’s just because I’m a short contralto, so my bigger vocal cords stick through my proportionally smaller neck.
Correction: there is another gay character in the show besides Blayne - a woman with whom Raj discusses having an arranged marriage in a later episode. She reveals that she is a lesbian and is only doing this to get her parents off her back. Of course the joke is that she assumes that Raj is also gay and is doing this for the same reason, so it’s just another example of the “Raj gay maybe” joke that you discuss at length.
I think I remember another queer character you might have missed: Raj goes on a date with a woman because their parents set them up, and she turns out to be lesbian if I remember correctly, and assumed he was gay and that they could be each other's beards.
Yes, that was a subplot. I don't remember the details for how it ended besides Raj obviously wanting to marry someone who was attracted to him. Which, fair.
Yeah, their parents set him up with a nice woman. It turns out she's a lesbian and was 'excited to meet another gay person' and starts making plans to fool their families. Raj keeps telling her hes not gay to which she's like 'lol of course you are' and point out how hes into fashion and etc. I think even his parents accuse him of being gay. Howard and Bernadette feel bad, so they give him a dog as a present (a little Yorkie he names Cinnamon) Then of course they need to squeeze in a 'haha Raj's feminine an probably gay' joke when he's like 'oohhh she'll fit perfectly in my man purse!"
Growing up a queer nerd I always apriciated that my nerd friends were my safe space. Later others came out, but when we were kids we were safe because we shared a love for so much. I never got that feeling from Big Bang.
Well, when people are being ostracized, there are two routes to got: Either you shove all that toxicity onto those that are even further down the hierarchical ladder than you, or you realize that no-one deserves to be treated that way and embrace those that have it rougher.
Absolutely! I'm a 48 year old trans guy who only came out a few years ago. I spent my entire life involved in geekdom. Not saying misogyny and homo/transphobia don't exist in nerd culture but I'd say it's less prevalent than in most other spheres such as business, sports, religion, etc. I think there are a few reasons but one of the big ones is that people who have experienced bullying and ostracization themselves are generally less likely to dish that shit out themselves. It's one of the issues I see with how mainstream nerddom has become. A lot of more mainstream attitudes have leaked in, most of them not very cool.
@@CorwinFound Speaking as someone who has also spent their entire life in geekdom, I think you're rose tinting that shit quite a bit. Some of the worst bullies I've ever met have been nerds. The problem is because they were bullied when they turn around and do it to other people they use their previous being bullied as a defense for how they can't possibly be that. Hell see how any minority gets treated if they share any stories of such encounters especially women. It's always swarms of guys saying "That wasn't my table! We would have loved to have had a girl!" then implying that because of this perception she must be making it up for attention and other bullshit. The idea that these attitudes seeped in as they became more mainstream doesn't really add up when some of the loudest voices are the same people complaining about the things becoming more mainstream. Its good you've managed to find groups that weren't, but I don't think its helpful to mythologise nerds like this. We can be just as cliquey and judgemental. Also in more ostracised groups its not uncommon to let some assholes slide because you don't have a lot of options for friends.
Yeah same, my friend group in high school were nothing but geeks and nerds, most have come out as trans or queer after graduating, some neurodivergent, etc. We had boy-girl sleepovers, hangouts after school, went on trips together, the typical stuff you'd see on a TV show about teenagers in the early 2000s. So The Big Bang Theory always rubbed me the wrong way at how mean-spirited they all were. Just creepy perverted assholes who didn't actually value women at all. It didn't reflect any nerdy friend group I've ever been in. Like yeah there's always gonna be one or two of THOSE guys but a whole toxic friend group would not last, they'd piss each other off eventually lmao I'm surprised the show even did last that long as much as I heard people complain about it during its earlier seasons. Having the characters all be like...that...then putting a laugh track over it was certainly a choice lmao
Tbh thats always been the thing i have NEVER understood with the show. The creator said he wanted to showcase incredible people... but these so called incredible people are racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic. Like whats so incredible about them other then them being incredibly horrible people?
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 also a very skewed representation of neurodivergence, combines with canned laughter to know when it's time to laugh at the haha funny jokey joke
Key difference is, the crew at It's Always Sunny (assuming that's an example your may be referring to) is they are smart, funny people. The writers don't suck, the characters do. In BBT, everyone kinda sucks. But the characters aren't SUPPOSED to. That's a problem.
I assumed the writer of TBBT just hate everything. They hate nerds and geeks, women, anyone LGBTQI+ and especially the characters they wrote. Lenoard is abused his whole childhood by his mother and he forgives her whilst she is still abusing him. A women who only entered psychiatry to better break people. Anyone the show touches is only in an attempt to hurt them. Bad writing, no jokes, just insults that are meant to make you laugh.
Autistic people as well, Sheldon obviously displays typical symptoms. Lead writer denies this so they don’t have to acknowledge that they make autism the punchline consistently.
I feel cheated they couldn't even give him a love interest at the end. Everyone else gets one, and they even set up and drop a romance subplot with him in the last season.
And he is objective the prettiest and less awful of the group with sheldon. Its wird how sheldon has a way more heatlthy relationship with penny than lenard.and makes her strengh shie eing social competent. Butyeah,rajis ostly senitive and atractive, more thn the cast, why?! Why not even an arc of, any arc. why make him as shitty.
@@marocat4749I didn't watch Big Bang Theory a lot, but when I did in the past, I was shipping Sheldon with Penny way more than Leonard. Their relationship actually had character development and it was nice having a male character not sexualizing her or having the "hots" for her.
I want you to know that your message is not falling on deaf ears. I truly appreciate your work here. I am a father raising a teenage daughter who is a member of the LGBTQ community and is in a relationship. I was a fan of the Big Bang Theory. I am always trying to educate myself on matters concerning the LGBTQ community with help from my daughter. I never stopped to think of the show on that level and thought about the issues you brought in the media I consume. Thank you very much. You have made a difference in my life from this day forward. I will like and subscribe for sure.
Going out of your way to listen to queer people talk about lgbt issues to educate yourself is the kind of behavior that so many queer kids would kill to have their parents do for them I bet your daughter will benefit from you learning about how every day things (even like a silly TV show) affect queer people, and I guarantee she appreciates the effort you're putting in ❤️
I used to binge TBBT when i was depressed as a teen. Eventually it all just clicked how disgusting it actually was. The racism, sexism, homophobia, the jewish jokes, how they were in awe penny could walk upright as she wasn't academic. Or how her deciding to not have children was something 'fixed' when she did become pregnant at the end. To say nothing of their blatent bastardisation of neurodiversity. It was all so bad it jump started critical thinking in me!
I didn't watch very much of TBBT. I was a huge nerd, always had been. Closest to 'cool' I got was when my grandpa forced me to join my high school football team but that didn't last long. Something always rubbed me the wrong way with how the show depicted nerd and geek culture and the spaces nerds and geeks inhabit. So I never watched the show long enough to realize just how troublesome it all was.
huh I always assumed the "you know I'm a dude right?" was more of a case of mistaken identity...like stuart just thought she was a tomboy and didn't realize the person he was out with was a dude
That's very possible. Of course that only makes that one joke better which is like straightening a brick on an already broken tower, but I'll give you it.
Putting aside when it's more likely to bring up gender because of explicitly kissing (usually people are knowingly experimenting when going from hetero to homo) ...and right where _she_ was supposed to say, "Oh, Stuart" she said... ...your name. Stuart is recounting the story from the _straight man (no pun intended)_ narrator
19:10 It goes beyond that too when you consider the implications These characters are meant to be so desperately lonely they'll settle for any woman who gives them any attention and they still wouldn't date trans women. The implication being that trans women are both not women, and that even "beggars can be choosers" when it comes to trans women, that they're undesirable to the undesirable.
these types of moments on 00s era sitcoms (like How I Met Your Mother, too) gave me a very skewed idea of desirability as a trans woman, prior to transition not that desirability to (presumably) cis het men should be a benchmark for anything but like... the dolls are not lacking in that arena
@@kikilerer689 Absolutely. And as I can only comment on this as a cis het dude, when I heard jokes like these or the ones in How I Met Your Mother, I found humour in them, admittedly because to me these jokes were in the "thats a terrible thing to say" category. I've always been pro-trans for the times, and by that I mean my idea of being pro-trans in 2005 is very different to how I see being pro trans now, and thus trans people have never been undesirable, but I also know that not everyone saw those jokes the same way and would have taken the humour from trans people being undesirable. Its a very loaded conversation, I think Lily perfectly summed it up perfectly in what she said in this video. EDIT: To clarify I don't find humour in those jokes now, which plays into the statement in which I said how I saw being pro trans in 2005 is different to how I see being pro trans now
@@EmpireGamingWynter Could you elaborate on how it was to be pro trans in 2005? Was it a less normal thing? I was born then so I have no idea what it was like
@@apinchofdisappointment I'm not going to lie and say I was super aware of trans people or the correct terminology back then. I was 14 and trans visibility was virtually non-existent, but I was aware of the general idea that some people aren't happy with the gender they were assigned at birth and had the attitude that "they're not hurting anyone, if thats what they want I'll happily respect it." I used phrases and words around trans people that are just not acceptable these days, but generally it was me saying if a trans woman wanted me to call her she/her and use her chosen name, or vice versa with a trans man I would have no issue with it, even though I never had to as I'd not met a trans person back then
My only surviving parent doesn't see me as a human any more, I am a "Sheldon" to her thanks to this garbage brainwashing her. Barbara Pit for everyone involved in this show.
@@nuclearcatbaby1131Look I aint trynna say how you should or shouldnt feel bout smth but like just because you say Sheldon is relatable to you doesnt mean hes ACTUAL good rep Its like if you were dark-skinned and saw a super obvious blackface that does all the stereotype tropes and you go like "Yep that is relatable to me as an African American" Aint there actual better rep than Sheldon from Shit Gags Theory?
Even though the writers clearly picked parts of different disorders and neurotypes for Sheldon, they have never actually confirmed whether Sheldon is neurodivergent. I don’t know if that makes it worse or not.
12:20 I dont understand how trans panic is a valid argument... like its litterally "I killed them because they were trans" but somehow people pretend its not just state sanctioned bigotry
Yeah. When the "defense" is that somebody has such poor emotional control over themselves that they couldn't help but hurt somebody, isn't that basically admitting that the defendant is too dangerous to be allowed to go free?
As an autistic person, I really loved this show as a young kid. I saw myself represented in Sheldon, and my peculiarities (though fortunately I don't have the more toxic aspects). So it was pretty devastating when I realized that Sheldon was the butt of the joke, the show had him that way purely to laugh at him. Now that I'm an adult and have started transitioning as a trans woman, I appreciate your video because it lets me understand how I came to hate myself simply for existing as my true self.
I'm not even trans, but have had to do serious work to deprogram my internalised misogyny this society instilled in me. Luckily acknowledging such things is already a huge step. (Although I am probably actually agender but I'm good with being a woman.)
I think it is worth noting that as much as Sheldon is the butt of the joke, he's also given a lot of empathy and humanity to him, too, especially later on. I think that's part of why he became the sort-of 'main character' of the cast, right? And sure he's not great representation and he does weird creepy stuff all the time, but it does feel kind-of bad to see so many people just bash him when Sheldon unironically has some of the best dramatic moments of the series where the actor got to really shine and have his character be taken 100% seriously by the plot. There's just so much here that it feels like people overlook because they think of the creepy weirdo stuff instead of the more fun and compelling character moments he gets later on.
They may have intended Louise to be a joke but the way he played her, if u take out the fake studio audience, was perfect. She had no reaction to Leonard staring n didn’t suddenly try to seduce him or anything, she was totally normal. N the way Sheldon talked about her in her 2nd reference showed he respected her for some of her qualities n we don’t know if she was a “bad neighbour” in any other way that could have set Sheldon off to not like her, hence his comment in the first reference. So my head cannon is she played her music too loud n has the singing voice of Whitney Houston that she uses to slay them drag shows before slapping on a badge that says Louis to go be an example of a good cop in L.A., a city known for shit cops. Keep keeping it real, Louise.
I know that the intended joke was her calling Sheldon crazy but from what we know of Sheldon by that point it's a perfectly valid assessment. My head canon was also too noisy cause she was throwing too many parties 💅
honestly, i took the "cop uniforms" line as a sort of innuendo for, like, bdsm in a way? sheldon in-universe is kinda naive around sex iirc (secondhand exposure IS deadly folks remember that), like he refuses to even say "butt", so i took it as him not realizing that they were less for actual cop stuff and more for kink. which, knowing this show, i wouldnt put it past them, and im hoping they meant it more straightforwardly.
@@kharmacal While I imagine that's what's intended I do think it could go either way. The joke could just be that it's a stereotypically masculine profession.
yeah I also always took the joke as a joke about leonard and his worldviews, not about Louise. And yes when Sheldon talks about her, it shows that he doesn't care that shes trans, more that she has other qualities he likes or dislikes (being very orderly vs being a loud neighbour
I found it funny in my late teens with minimal understanding of a lot of social issues until someone pointed out how many of the jokes were "laugh at the autistic guy". It was then quickly obvious that *every joke is a stereotype joke*
As an autistic guy i loved Sheldon personally the character was an overplayed representation of an autistic individual with a superiority complex it’s not real autism in the slightest but it helps me be able to laugh at myself it’s important to be able to do that but the show also makes fun of basically everything just Learn to laugh at the little things and not take everything as a personal attack other wise you’ll have a victim mindset and that’s a miserable way to live if there aren’t joke about you are you really being represented you don’t want to always be taken seriously if somebody ha to constantly tiptoe around you they aren’t going to want to talk about you or even acknowledge your existence that’s the problem with lgbtq they won’t let life really represent them they just want to be represented a certain way and it’s just boring lighten up have some fun laugh st someone else and yourselves don’t take everything personally people will want to be around you more and accepting of you
@@wolf2966 There is so much wrong with what you are saying that I genuinely don't know where to start. All I can say is that I'm truly sorry that you've been taught to think that it's necessary to accept your very existence as being a good source of ridicule in order to be accepted as a member of society, even when you're treated as a second-class, inferior, damaged member. I know this might blow your mind, but it's absolutely possible to exist within a community of people who *don't* ridicule you for being autistic, trans, gay, a woman, BIPOC, disabled, etc. With many decades of life behind me, I can say that life is a lot more pleasant when surrounded by people who aren't jerks. If someone's "jokes" rely on kicking down at others (and especially for something that they cannot change), when those people are already routinely the victim of discrimination, then no... that person's "jokes" aren't funny regardless of the canned laughter track, and anyone who thinks that they need to rethink their sense of humour to figure out why they do think it's acceptable and amusing. Ridicule, negative stereotyping, and bigotry are in no way a suitable alternative to decent representation... and the fact that somehow you've been taught to think it's okay to make neurodivergent people the butt of jokes in the absence of real representation is not only very sad but genuinely, I hope that you can work through whatever internalised ableism that you've been taught is "normal" and recognise that you (and all autistic people) deserve better than that.
There was a lot of psychological abuse from my moms ex husband when I was in middle school, but being told I should be flattered while he compared me to big bang theory characters still makes me want to barf
"Women can have Adams Apples, too." Yup. And facial hair, and a receding hairline, and a low voice, and pretty much anything else that we have to deal with. Most cishet people have this idea in their head of "male" and "female" being these completely separate species without any overlap. I mean, I'm living proof sex isn't binary. AMAB, supposedly went through male puberty; got seen as a woman for a long time before I was even out to myself as trans. Even when I cut my hair short, people thought I was underage cause I looked so young. I mean, I tend to dress really masc most of the time now, I don't shave my body hair, I don't wear makeup, I don't do anything with my voice, I have a side shave haircut, and I have my hair slicked back and in a pony tail half the time, and STILL PASS.
Literally!! Before I began transitioning (AFAB), I still had a hella prominent adam's apple. Of course it pokes out even more now, but it reminds me how brainless the "we can tell" crowd always is.
yup. i'm AFAB, and have pcos, which has a side effect of hirsutism. so i grew up with a mustache, unibrow, and extra hair in general. pcos is pretty common, too. i'm lucky to be agender, so it bothers me less than it probably would a cis woman (actually, i wish i could grow a full beard), but it's one of those things rarely talked about because it makes cis people uncomfortable.
Being both queer, a girl, and deeply into "nerd culture" (physical comics, sci-fi history, gaming, and microbiology, etc) during the rise of this show was SUPER uncomfortable. My parents were casual but enthusiastic fans and never really understood why I was so reluctant to join them. The show constantly references or makes jokes around the worst and the socially loudest problems of existing in nerd spaces with barely any criticism. If anything, the show condones these behaviors through deflection and victim carding. TBBT was also one of the stepping stones that helped modern pop culture appropriate a lot of these fandoms or interests by selling them as "wirky" and cool things to substitute for personalities, but heavily enforces that one should never do ANYTHING more than have a casual or surface knowledge because any deeper automatically turns you into a weirdo, emasculates you like the main boys, or for Penny's case when she got into MMOs, you lose all your feminine appeal and become completely undesirable. The show is shallow in all aspects, and the fact that it was so popular was disheartening.
Absolutely. I'm a 48 year old geek and I've never known any geek who liked the show. Oh, I know many non geek people who thought it was sooooo funny but nerds? Nope. Hard pass from everyone I've known. 95% of the jokes are "Look, geek reference, funny! Nerds funny! Laugh laugh at the nerds!" That's not comedy. That's mockery, pointing and laughing. For the exact same reason why all the trans crap wasn't funny. "Look, trans reference! How strange, how bizarre, laugh now funny!" Uggghh.
I was an edgy nerd teenager when this show was at its peak popularity and I would get a lot of the same confusion from people. Without fondness I remember that I would explain my dislike of the show as "Yeah dude it's like, the equivalent of a minstrel show but the subject is nerd culture". That would get the point across to people but I look back I'm like, holy moly what a problematic comparison that was, yikes. I cringe.
@@CorwinFound so true, the big bang theory is "for nerds" in the same way that blackish was for black people, which is that it's really only "for" these people in name alone, otherwise it's just for other people entirely.
I’m a big nerd and I enjoyed the show a lot. As it went on I enjoyed it less, partly because I matured a bit and partly because the show failed to mature on that front. That said, while the show’s comedic premise got tired I do think adding more women to the main lineup in later seasons was a good move and the ensemble dynamic had developed to give some really nice character moments. I’ll never defend it as good “geek representation” nor will I defend the more offensive comedy it often used but it is a little nostalgic for me and I do still get enough out of the show that I’ll watch reruns.
As a young genderqueer person I really admire the perspective you put on different corners of pop culture! It's very interesting and always cool to learn more about how the community is being portrayed in media through different years and decades.
I’ve not watched the whole video yet, you’ve mentioned how Rajesh was mocked for his femininity then on the other side sheldon always mocked and made jokes about penny’s masculine traits
The guy interested in Sheldon is actually something I like for one small fact, if I remember correctly, he is played by Jim Parsons (Sheldon) real life husband!
22:16 Can we also talk about the inadvertent racism of Sheldon mentioning a "skin condition", and when we finally see them there's no actual skin condition to be seen (24:42)? I'm gonna chose to believe it was an oversight, but it's a pretty terrible one at that. Another example that's seared into my mind is the Season 2 Episode 2 aka The Codpiece Topology: Leonard: Uh, what about that girl last year at Comic-con? Raj: Doesn't count. Leonard: Why not? Raj: What happens in costume at Comic-con, stays at Comic-con. Howard: You're only saying that because of what happened to you. Leonard: What happened to you? Raj N-n-n-nothing happened to me. Howard: It wasn't your fault, Raj, he was dressed as a green Orion slave girl. Raj H-h-h-how did we get on me, we were mocking Leonard for not moving on. [...] Technically it would only be rebound if he and Penny had actually engaged in physical intimacy. Howard: You mean like you and Richard the slave girl? Raj: I bought him dinner and we kissed once, that was it. (Leaving) And he told me his name was Kimberley! Just one more case of "haha man got trapped". This is why I'll never understand how transphobic queer people exist, from their view trans women are "just men in dresses", how do they not realise that that rhetoric pushes queer and gender-nonconforming men into the crossfire? Transphobes have never stopped to distinguish between a trans woman and an effeminate man (queer or straight) because they don't actually care about queer/GNC people either, trans people are just the lowest hanging fruit for them to pick on. It's just a rebranding of the "predatory homosexual" trope, transphobia is rooted in traditional gender roles which queer and GNC people are also targeted for. An attack on trans people is an attack on anyone who doesn't conform to those traditional roles.
I think on some level they do know, because they'll also happily turn around and claim 60s trans women weren't really trans and were just effeminate gay guys. Even though when you look deeper the argument is purely about terminology and how the wider public grouped them all together.
I'm a straight cis guy, so not part of LGBTQ in any way, but I do like your videos. Not because I can relate them, but they're always well thought out and put together, look at different perspectives and are often quite informative at shedding light on aspects of shows sometimes overlooked, or appreciating progressiveness where it exists. Great work as always
@@lucalycan "I believe you, but I actually don't believe you. I know your identity better than you do." That's how your comment reads. How are you unironically doing that on a video about critically examining the way gender expression is treated?
I'd go the opposite direction I'm not cis or straight but I'm hatewatching these videos just because they're very "woke" & I don't like woke Lily is very hit & miss. Sometimes she calls out transphobia as transphobia. Sometimes she tries too hard to paint something that *isn't* transphobic as transphobic & openly admits she's doing it for views
@@Aster_Risk people calling me an egg helped me realize I was genderfluid granted I said a *very* eggish thing to say. OP didn't say anything like that but still there is room for a stranger online to notice something the person hasn't realized themselves & it's quite common for peeps to not fully understand their own gender identity
@@teddybaker4759Maybe I've missed some stuff, but as far as I've seen it doesn't seem she'd make up transphobia for views. The closest I can think of exploring unintended themes and portrayals, but that's nothing new in the field literary discussion and criticism. Also, I'm kinda curious what definition of woke you use, there's the original "aware of injustice" and there's a plethora of more conservative definitions.
I remember watching the Big Bang Theory with my family and we basically just spent the whole time talking about how it was steeped in toxic masculinity.
God i wish my dad could talk about stuff like that. He’s not sexist (in theory), but he’s just not equipped to talk about and understand how to critically engage with the media he watches. Especially when it comes to sexism and transphobia. It’s really sad.
@@AnEmu404It takes a fair amount of specialized training to pick up on and notice things, so I wouldn't take him to task TOO hard. It's by design, you see--make it all so normal It becomes background noise.
The funny thing is I did use "you know I'm a guy" two times in the past week when men were hitting on me as a trans guy so my first reaction to hearing that was "yeah that happens sometimes lol".
Lily, I am a gender therapist working in the Pacific Northwest. I really enjoy your thoughtful, thorough, and engaging analyses of these shows. Keep it up.
big bang theory was kind of my family's "spend time together" show. as i got older as figured more stuff about myself and my queerness, the more uncomfortable i got with it. even now, with reruns my mom puts on, i'm even *more* uncomfortable somehow, now that i'm an adult with a partner and a young child. especially with the parenting dynamic of howard and bernadette, and the fact that i'm sure that my own and my boyfriend's identities and our careers would be the subject of ridicule by the ""nerdy"" (i.e. fragile masculinity masked with entry level nerd shit) sensibilities of the show.
@@shadenox8164 not really. a lot of them become awkwardly paced as the actors stand around waiting for a laugh track that isn't coming, but jokes are still being told. removing the laugh track from bbt gets you four people who clearly despise each other just coldly making insults back and forth.
So what learn to laugh at yourself or things you relate to straight people are also made fun of in the show don’t take everything so personal the show makes fun of everyone in the most outlandish ways you know religious people are also made fun of especially Christianity aka Sheldon’s mom just learn to laugh and not see everything as a victim life isn’t that horrible everyone has struggles not just you if most people can laugh at themselves so can you
@@wolf2966 I'm sorry but it's not that deep, you got a lot out of my not super descript sentence that wasn't there. No hate or anything apologies if it looked like I was hating on the show.
Was still an awesome show, despite the occaisional -phobic joke. All of that era's shows had some level of LGBTQI+-phobia and shouldn't be the yard stick you use to determine if a show is good or bad. lf that's how you see it then just avoid any show made before 2015. We didn't even have legalised gay marriage here until 2017 ffs. l was engaged in 2003 so we wouldve had to wait for 14 years to officially tie the knot, that is if he hadn't of passed away of cancer in '04.
@@matildastanford7019 Scrubs was before 2015. While they did have three 3️⃣ instances of subtle transphobia it was only three 3️⃣ times in 168 episodes. Bb theory was also misogynistic homophobic and racist
I will say i find jokes in TBBT funny only when the women of the show are the ones making them. I found Penny to be quite a funny character many times because she punches back at the guys constantly mistreating her in very funny ways, and i also enjoyed Bernadette's witty humour and how evil she could be at times. Amy might be my least favourite tho, but i gen. think the women in the show made it funny sometimes. With that being said they got added much later in the show and they don't appear nearly as much as the men so the show still lacks humour, but it comes to show how the show could have been fun.
Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people ignore or don't really talk about. I know it's a cliche to say "things get better", but as the show goes on things actually do genuinely get better. Amy really was so much fun and I appreciated that they never tried to 'un-dorkify' her or something, she just got to stay one of the nerds and just kind-of owned it. I feel like even now it's pretty rare to see a fun female character who isn't framed as traditionally attractive but that also doesn't get body-shamed or go through a big glow-up makeover. She just had her own stuff going on, and I feel like that worked pretty well.
I did too but never realized there were that many transphobic comments, I also instead of listening to the laugh track, look at the characters reactions because when Raj said "She's been a woman her whole life" Amy looked shocked like she didn't know what to say Also the person who plays Sheldon is Gay so Idk why the writers didn't ask him about the LGBT+ The other situations (If there were no laugh track) just seem like common situations like thinking someones Gay or knocking on the wrong door, it would've been interesting if Louie/Louise was actually in the show
@@samueldeandrade8535 não é pra ter NENHUMA transfobia, samuel. focando no fato que você é cis pela forma que você referiu a pessoas trans como "o outro" nos comentários que você deixou nos vídeos da moça, pq vc tá se metendo nesse assunto? se for pra falar bosta, faz isso longe daqui
@@inrodu_1027 tu interpretou errado um comentário meu, ficasse com indignação e tá querendo me exorcizar. Por favor, amadureça. Eu não falei bosta nenhuma. Esse meu comentário não nega que "não é pra ter NENHUMA transfobia". Mas tu começa teu comentário como se eu tivesse dito "ah pode ter uma pitada de transfobia, né, gente? Só uma pitada". Eu falei isso? Não. O que eu falei, partindo de uma interpretação básica, é que entre os atos transfóbicos, podemos dizer que um é pior que o outro, eles não são igualmente ruins. Portanto, se a transfobia estivesse limitada aos atos mencionados no vídeo, então o mundo trans estaria ótimo, porque, por exemplo, o ato transfóbico de matar trans por ser trans não estaria incluído nessa transfobia limitada hipotética. Eu terminei com "que desperdício de reclamações" porque o que foi mencionado no vídeo não chega nem perto de ser tóxico. Oras! É isso. Faça o favor de ler e interpretar direito. Ou continua sofrendo de paranóia. Tu que sabe.
I loved BBT growing up. I was a little girl who wanted to be a physicist, and it made me feel like it was okay for me to pursue that dream. It still holds a special place in my heart because it made me feel seen at such a young age. That being said, I fucking hate this show. I hate that this was the thing that inspired me as a child. It's rife with bigotry and luckily I didn't internalize much of it because my family was constantly showing me different messages regarding women, queer people, and POC.
I interpreted "You know I'm a dude, right?" in a way that wasn't mentioned. Instead of anything being trans related, I thought the date wasn't a woman at all but was just mistaken for one. The date thought it was just a normal date between two men until he started picking up the signs that lead to the question.
You know what I hate the most? Amy being an intelligent woman .... who doesn't track her period?? She is a biologist on a high level?? Hell, I bet she could check her own hormone levels to exactly predict when her period happens. Also, she is very much portrayed as this asexual character when she's introduced. And then she has her .... sexual awakening in her 30s? Aphobic as hell. It's disgusting how they suddenly paint her as this sex-crazed lady. Also, there don't seem to be any female geeks on the show? And another thing, it seems like this show flipped the definition of nerd and geek so now I have to hear people tell me that a nerd likes comic stuff and a geek is smart. Even if it's the other way around. And you know what's the worst about this stupid show? It has such an impact that a coworker of mine told me after I tried to explain the plot of the wonderful book 'Activation Degradation' to her that she 'had to think of Sheldon Cooper'. Yikes girl. I do not want to be likened to a very bad trope character from a terrible show. (Also, read Activation Degradation, it's a great book about transhumanism with a non-binary main character.) And mind you, this coworker also reads books. But apparently the moment a book is in the science fiction genre, it's suddenly too geeky? And bad?? When there's many really great books that talk about human nature. Take Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness for example. Which at the time it was published was revolutionary on how it viewed gender in a fictional universe. Anyway, I'm rambling. But I hope you see what I mean. All of this great stuff just buried under 'eeheheh Sheldon Cooper' 🙄🙄
@@kordobaaI haven't seen the show but based on what the comment says I'm assuming it's a very sudden change, like the writers were like "hmmm, this character isn't the way we want her to be, instead of writing her the way we want to be slowly let's make her suddenly the way we want her to be, that's such a great idea" again, I've never seen the show, so I'm not sure but sudden changes in characters can be annoying
F🦆ck i just realize that shows like these were one of the reasons i thought being trans would be a bad thing for me(i never harrassed someone else, just felt shame for being this way). After my coming out, noone was hateful towards me or disgusted, everyone was pretty chill about it. Especially my general practitioner i knew since i was little. I was asking myself why i thought it would've been a bad thing since i never had a problem with others who were trans and i admired some people for their beauty...also no one in my area, ever expressed hate or disgust towards trans people....This thought ..the thing that kept me in my silly little eggshell, where shows like thebigbang theory, something i watched every day and could probably speak most of the episode as they aired(in my native tongue). I will always learn new things btw. in a week i get my hrt and I'm so excited. I tried to get on hrt for well over a year now...but it takes a long time in Germany. good video
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the parts where it’s implied that Amy secretly wants to be a man. In the episode where her and all the others are speaking at some kind of convention or something with penny tagging along, she randomly says to either penny or Bernadette that she often thinks about what it would be like to have a penis. Then again at the podium, when penny gets mad at Lenard and leaves, and Sheldon gives a concerning look at the camera. Also I don’t know if this is in the same episode or not, but I do remember a bit where Amy talks about what her name would be if she was a man and then pretends to have a mustache
As an autistic lesbian (although i do have multiple other disabilities), looking back I cant believe I used to watch this show ALL. THE. TIME. What was I thinking?
I used to love "The Big Bang Theory", because I related to all the nerdy characters, my shared interests with them, and the struggle to get a date. But when I realised I was a trans woman, the sexist and transphobic remarks made me feel alienated, as though women somehow can't enjoy geeky stuff, not to mention the homophobia and racism. It contributed to my thinking I was disgusting for being a trans woman, and made it harder for me to come out to myself. So much for the scientists and science-fiction geeks appreciating the beauty in our world.
Cheyenne Lin also has great videos also on the BBT! On the misogyny mostly, and also talked about Raj`s "girliness", homophobic themes etc, id recommend her videos for more examples of bigotry of the shows humor and the story in general
I was also thinking if cheyenne lin's video. But I was thinking of her calling attention to how the show also laughs at penny being too masculine (either body shape wise or her masculine interests), even when penny is the object of desire. Just more laughs for gender nonconfrormance, even if some of the joke is shes more masculine then then men.
@@katies3733 yeah the shows laughing at penny never ends... the body shape stuff is so stupid, its like showrunners seeing a normal, pretty by social standarts woman: "wow looks like a man, lets joke about that 500 times" :/ it was so detached from reality for me that i always forget about it
right? I *hate* it when people enjoy a show for reasons that make sense to them we should all get together & form a council that will decide what people are allowed to be entertained by
@@teddybaker4759relax, teddiursa. They only said that they were uncomfortable when their friends defended a show like this. They didn't say we should policy what everyone enjoys
@@daisythegoddes3483 fair enough I still think it's easy to accept that they might like something else about it like I'm not a fan of the show I could never get into it but if I did it'd be because Alyson Hannigan is my favorite actress his friends might have their own reasons
Yeah, I have a friend whose special interest is TBBT. It sucks when she brings it up cause I’m not cis, and am out as a lesbian. We’re both also autistic and I feel like she should know that the representation is bad but also don’t want to talk to her about it because she cares about it so much, and I would hate so much to be the reason that she stops loving something she loves so much because of my issues with the show.
I've noticed that in these shows the transphobia is almost exclusively just towards trans women, barely ever towards trans men. Because somehow we still live in a society where a woman in pants is seen as normal but man in dress is super funny and weird and emasculating. It's upsetting, really.
One thing that's becoming more apparent as I'm watching these series is when they do push for these "jokes", they always have to find the most hyper masculine guy that they possible can to highlight the stark differences in typically masculine bodies compared to more feminine one's or else the joke would fall flat. It's always someone who's almost a bodybuilder with a chiseled jaw, and rippling muscles. And never someone with proportions closer to an overall average, or even feminine leaning. If they did that, then the joke would fail outright.
As someone who spent a large portion of their life in the gamer community the toxicity of the BBT friend group was one of the real things about the show. Social outcasts that group together are some of the meanest assholes you'll ever meet. Please don't think this is me glorifying this aspect. It took me twenty years to break free from my old friend group because of the fear of being alone is worse than being cut down all the time. Humans are horrible creatures and poorly socialized ones are even worse. I enjoy you channel thanks for everything you do.
I'm sorry your experience with people has left you disillusioned. I hope that one day you'll meet enough good-hearted people to feel hopeful again. I promise they're out there.
@@winterzealot In the nearly 40 years I've been in the gaming community, I have met wonderful people, I have also met a larger amount of damaged and toxic people who destroy all those around them either through ignorance or direct malice. Humans are horrible creatures with some exceptions.
shows like this and other shows you've covered that i watched growing up really did mould my behaviours and my interpretation of queer people growing up, which sucks because looking back at some things in my past, i deeply regret being so closed minded back then. i think this also caused my internalised homophobia and transphobia, not acknowledging my bisexuality and even when i did acknowledge it, try to sweep it under the rug, and also struggle for so long to realise that i'm not cis. and now that i know i'm not cis, i'm hesitant to actually start living the way i want to because i know other people's mindsets are moulded from these types of shows and other media presented to them. i'm really glad i was able to overcome my closed mindedness from back then and also realise that i myself am queer, but sadly there's still a long way to go for society as a whole.
The lowbrow joke on Louise's on screen appearance is so unfunny you wouldn't be able to tell they tried to tell a joke if they didn't shove an overly-long laugh track
i am gender fluid and autistic, even when at a young age i knew to stay away from this show, it just repeled me in every way possible, but i dindt know it was THIS bad, holy.
@@wolf2966 you sound like someone that'd rationalize getting bullied as banter culture so you wouldn't feel like you had to stand up for yourself it's not a big deal to have self-respect and choosing to exercise it
What's so funny about Blaine even? Like... he's just a guy who's into Sheldon. Like can you imagine how these characters would react if ANY woman was attracted to them, even if she wasn't their type?
As a Cis male who wants to the the best Ally he can be, I appreciate these videos. They help me catch any Male Toxicity I may still have. So thank you.
@@Hauntaku Unfortunately its not as easy as that, since kindness and respect is always influenced by bias. I mean, if someone is a kid diddler, theres a good chance you arent gonna be kind or respectful (because why would you be nice, they commited and abomination). Its just a matter of finding the roots of your biases and deciding there if its a good idea to keep the ideas these biases uphold.
The thing I probably hate most about The Big Bang Theory is that Sheldon clearly starts off as asexual and aromantic, but then they pull the "ace person is 'cured' of their asexuality after meeting the right person" thing. I consider myself to be on the asexual spectrum so seeing that is kind of upsetting to me.
The way queerness was treated in the show in general was awful. We had 3 characters clearly written as Bi coded Raj, Howard and Amy but it's all used awfully. It's so bad. Like having Amy gift Penny a painting of them together whilst making loads of hints to her being very attracted to Penny whilst literally wearing a striped cardigan that has the colours of the Bi flag on it is so on the nose its cringe.
I used to rlly like the show when I was younger, becuz it was smth my parents would always watch, so i could spend time with them while watching it, laughing over the same stuff and bonding. But as I’ve grown older I realised how messed up big parts of the show are, including the autism „rep“
The most glaring issue that comes from all these sitcoms is the fact that the writers think any trans woman would be even _remotely_ interested in dating a cis man.
I'm a 64 year old man who seldom gave thought about this subject. I try to accept everyone for who they are and have no problem with whatever lifestyle you live. Watching this show over the years I never realized the bigotry therein. I need the education that I'm getting from videos like this. Thanks for the opportunity to never get too old to learn. I will devour all such content from here on in.
I ended up watching a lot of BBT growing up, but I can't stand it much anymore when 1 in 10 jokes are actual good written jokes. (And now for something unrelated) I distinctly remember an episode of Two and a Half Men where Charlie meets with an ex and the ex had transitioned into a man (one of my first exposures to trans people as a concept), maybe that would be something looking into in terms of rep? I don't remember it being egregious, but it's also been /years/ and wouldn't have picked up on stuff as a baby child.
Yeah, I remember seeing that episode in my formative years too! I do believe I can recall the guy being mostly treated and acknowledged as a guy at least. Even if the show did make a number of tasteless jokes around the subject. So that might be the bare minimum down. Still, I'd love to hear Lily's perspective on it.
ithinkthe joke was on charlie being the joke and not taking "hints" , and how charlie atchsup,and how his mom, okcharlieand his momare shown as bad people mostly, but ithinkhis mom doesnt think twice about it, ad charlie is more really dense. I mean there could be more bout his ex but they are treated as person.and his mom doesnt care,so decent?!
A lot of the "homophobic" and "transphobic' jokes in TBBT are a lot less offensive when the context behind them is actually included Stewart doesn't want to find out he made out with a dude because that's not the way he swings. I doubt a gay guy would want to find out he actually kissed a girl, but if they made jokes about that, it would be considered okay. It's also a fictional comedy show. Oh no, anyway. The world continues revolving, we continue living
I'm glad I found this channel ❤ it's nice to hear someone talk about the blatantly transphobic TV shows I was forced to accept as comedy in my household growing up ❤ you Lily
He was the highest paid actor on TV for a while, so my guess is he kinda just left his personal feelings and morals at the door in the pursuit of extreme wealth. It worked, but I would feel awfully soulless if I were him. And for good reason too. He should at least donate some of those tens of millions to LGBTQ+ charities imo.
BBT is a kind of guilty pleasure show for me, but damn do some of the jokes make me uncomfortable. I'm so glad you're talking about the transphobia in this show because it's weirdly frequent
people can’t even use the whole “it’s just a joke bro” argument cause the jokes… aren’t funny. i’ve seen plenty of trans based jokes that are funny and aren’t transphobic so yes it’s possible. it just takes actual effort and humour
I love that my distaste in this series is being validated over and over again. Im very nerdy and would realistically be in the same circles as the main group on big bang. So watching the series i was excited to see nerdy rep - and i wont pretend that the mainstream nerdy rep hasnt been beneficial to some people because it has - but as the show went on and as i watched, i found myself isolated further and further by the tired tropes, the sexism, and the fact that they were and are an outdated nerd. What i mean is, i assumed these guys were around my age when the series started, so dudes in their early to mid 20s. Dudes who would have had anime as they grew up and would have experienced the anime boom of the 90s... Except that the show treats anime like this hard to get, niche thing when the show first started, anime and manga was pretty common place and easier to find. But in all the show i can only recall them talking about anime once and it was essentally a super nerdy bit about how anime is so different and new and shiney... But Cartoon Network had their Toonami block in 1997, Sailor Moon, DBZ, Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, were all dubbed or being dubbed and broadcast by then. Past that, there was never any mention of anime or manga fans or cons or... Anything. So not only does this show feature comedy stright out of the 1980s complete with its sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia, but it failed - in my opinion - to land with the people the show was attempting to showcase. Big Bang Theory failed to deliver actual comedy, as well as failed to showcase nerds in their many variations.
so ur main gripe isn't that they aren't all weebs? if I didn't think the show was so boring I'd view that as a positive FINALLY a positive message for nerd culture, not all nerds are weebs
Nothing in this show was meant to be taken seriously or literally everyone and everything was made fun of in this show not just lgbt and women everyone and everything was made the but of a joke in this show Learn to laugh at yourself your more interesting and accepted when you can do that with other people
It astounds me how Friends has better rep despite being an older show. I can't believe I _liked_ big bang theory as a kid growing up. As soon as I realized all their dnd, cosplay, and convention jokes were "women don't enjoy this lol" it lost all favor with me. That and even as a teen I was disappointed when Sheldon ended up in a relationship- I thought he was like me, before I knew what asexuality was.
People around me are constantly recommending this show to me because I watched Friends and am most likely neurodivergent, so thank you for helping me stay strong and make sure I’ll never even consider looking at it again
i know the show has a bajillion episodes, so i wouldnt expect you to cover it entirely. But I'd love to see you cover the Hayley Cropper character + storylines from Coronation Street. Has to be one of the best mainstream trans representation I remember.
I stopped enjoying the big bang theory when my own famiky was comparing me to Sheldon. I found it insulting, while they thought it was funny "and [I] should learn to take a joke"
The joke about Howard and Raj being in a gay relationship also isn't homophobic. It's funny because they're not in a gay relationship, and to imply they are makes them uncomfortable. You can be uncomfortable with the idea of someone suggesting you're in a sexual relationship with someone of the sex you're not attracted to, without being prejudiced against gay or straight people.
Oh no, I've got Attack on Titan as an autistic hyperfixation and now *I* have someone to feel bad for. At least parts of AoT are good and it's not queerphobic.
my parents loved this show and my little sibling is watching it, i cant wait to ruin their views on it lmaoooo. PS, as a person who falls under the trans umbrella (non-binary trans masc- demi-boy) i absolutely adore your videos and love these sorts of things!
4:00 obviously that scene is much worse with context, but without context, that is iconic. Of course as it gets brought up immediately, that show uses them acting terribly as a way to make the audience enjoy them being uncomfortable (which is why I can't watch it, but my physics teacher in high school used to put it on. Concerning)
I've seen "The Adorkable Misogyny of The Big Bang Theory", now this, now for the trifecta I need "The Quirked Up Ableism of The Big Bang Theory"
Yes please!
As someone with autism, I hate that it's represented as "thing that makes someone awkward, quirky and smart" in shows like this.
It's extremely dangerous to younger minds who don't know what autism is.
@@PigeonPie-ki9ndthe creators of the show specifically said Sheldon isn't autistic to avoid stereotypes but I do think he's definitely still a stereotype.
Pop culture detective also made another BBT video but the name escapes me
5:05
@@PabloLewis-ve6udYeah no matter what they say my family has still compared me to sheldon because of my autistic traits
Apparently my aversion to shows with laugh tracks has saved me from a lot of transphobia
Seems we share a boat- although it could also be a slight aversion to non-animated media in general on my end.
Agreed! Thank goodness!
I was gonna mention The Good Place as an exception, but then I remembered that it doesn’t have a laugh track 😗
The laugh track would be endurable if only the show was ever funny
YOU ARE WRONG! The Big Bang Theory is the FUNNIEST BEST SHOW EVER
I gave up on the show in that episode where Penny had to apologize to Howard because she was tired of the harassment, lashed out n everyone was like "u bitch", that was disgusting
What season and episode was this?
@@chris135x Season 2 Episode 12 if my search is correct :)
100% she was justified. even as a kid i thought it was strange she had to go over and apologise
Oh thank you. That episode makes me so mad. Every time i remember it I'm fuming. I think because we have probably all experienced the same thing at least once if not more if we had a group of friends that inclueded a lot of guys.
It sets the worst example and made my skin crawl.
I didn't watch the first few seasons, I jumped in somewhere in the middle and watched like a season and a half. Gave up in an episode where they say they're gonna have a D&D night and Amy got very excited, saying she's always wanted to play but never had the friends to do so. As somebody who had been in that position a few years prior, I was immediately interested and vowed to forgive the show for all its dumb flaws if that episode ended with Amy getting to have a fun night playing D&D with friends.
The boys told her she can't play with them, it's just for guys, and she instead had a night out with the girls (which included Raj for SOME reason ahem) and got to make a joke about herself about how she's _too ugly to be r*ped._
I stopped watching the show then.
the adams apple argument is especially funny to me as a pre-transition trans man because i have a pretty visible adams apple
meanwhile i am transfem and cannot even feel it let alone see it. almost like it doesn't mean anything
@@genderender same 😭😭
I’m literally on hormonal birth control and I have some degree of Adam’s Apple. I think it’s just because I’m a short contralto, so my bigger vocal cords stick through my proportionally smaller neck.
It is a beautiful Eve's apple!
@@fabdragon2071eve doesn’t have an apple, adam legally owns them all
Correction: there is another gay character in the show besides Blayne - a woman with whom Raj discusses having an arranged marriage in a later episode. She reveals that she is a lesbian and is only doing this to get her parents off her back. Of course the joke is that she assumes that Raj is also gay and is doing this for the same reason, so it’s just another example of the “Raj gay maybe” joke that you discuss at length.
I think I remember another queer character you might have missed: Raj goes on a date with a woman because their parents set them up, and she turns out to be lesbian if I remember correctly, and assumed he was gay and that they could be each other's beards.
Yes, that was a subplot. I don't remember the details for how it ended besides Raj obviously wanting to marry someone who was attracted to him. Which, fair.
Yeah, their parents set him up with a nice woman. It turns out she's a lesbian and was 'excited to meet another gay person' and starts making plans to fool their families. Raj keeps telling her hes not gay to which she's like 'lol of course you are' and point out how hes into fashion and etc. I think even his parents accuse him of being gay. Howard and Bernadette feel bad, so they give him a dog as a present (a little Yorkie he names Cinnamon)
Then of course they need to squeeze in a 'haha Raj's feminine an probably gay' joke when he's like 'oohhh she'll fit perfectly in my man purse!"
@@shipper-of-heart8898 I think Raj was superposed to be metro-sexual.
Growing up a queer nerd I always apriciated that my nerd friends were my safe space. Later others came out, but when we were kids we were safe because we shared a love for so much. I never got that feeling from Big Bang.
Yeah, the show really does dial in on the most toxic elements of nerd culture.
Well, when people are being ostracized, there are two routes to got: Either you shove all that toxicity onto those that are even further down the hierarchical ladder than you, or you realize that no-one deserves to be treated that way and embrace those that have it rougher.
Absolutely! I'm a 48 year old trans guy who only came out a few years ago. I spent my entire life involved in geekdom. Not saying misogyny and homo/transphobia don't exist in nerd culture but I'd say it's less prevalent than in most other spheres such as business, sports, religion, etc. I think there are a few reasons but one of the big ones is that people who have experienced bullying and ostracization themselves are generally less likely to dish that shit out themselves. It's one of the issues I see with how mainstream nerddom has become. A lot of more mainstream attitudes have leaked in, most of them not very cool.
@@CorwinFound Speaking as someone who has also spent their entire life in geekdom, I think you're rose tinting that shit quite a bit. Some of the worst bullies I've ever met have been nerds. The problem is because they were bullied when they turn around and do it to other people they use their previous being bullied as a defense for how they can't possibly be that.
Hell see how any minority gets treated if they share any stories of such encounters especially women. It's always swarms of guys saying "That wasn't my table! We would have loved to have had a girl!" then implying that because of this perception she must be making it up for attention and other bullshit.
The idea that these attitudes seeped in as they became more mainstream doesn't really add up when some of the loudest voices are the same people complaining about the things becoming more mainstream. Its good you've managed to find groups that weren't, but I don't think its helpful to mythologise nerds like this. We can be just as cliquey and judgemental.
Also in more ostracised groups its not uncommon to let some assholes slide because you don't have a lot of options for friends.
Yeah same, my friend group in high school were nothing but geeks and nerds, most have come out as trans or queer after graduating, some neurodivergent, etc. We had boy-girl sleepovers, hangouts after school, went on trips together, the typical stuff you'd see on a TV show about teenagers in the early 2000s. So The Big Bang Theory always rubbed me the wrong way at how mean-spirited they all were. Just creepy perverted assholes who didn't actually value women at all. It didn't reflect any nerdy friend group I've ever been in. Like yeah there's always gonna be one or two of THOSE guys but a whole toxic friend group would not last, they'd piss each other off eventually lmao
I'm surprised the show even did last that long as much as I heard people complain about it during its earlier seasons. Having the characters all be like...that...then putting a laugh track over it was certainly a choice lmao
i cant believe nerds are more transphobic than characters deliberately written to be assholes
Tbh thats always been the thing i have NEVER understood with the show. The creator said he wanted to showcase incredible people... but these so called incredible people are racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic. Like whats so incredible about them other then them being incredibly horrible people?
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 also a very skewed representation of neurodivergence, combines with canned laughter to know when it's time to laugh at the haha funny jokey joke
It checks with reality. "I may be outside of the mainstream, but I'm not THAT outside of the mainstream! Please accept me!"
They *are* written to be assholes, that's the joke.
Key difference is, the crew at It's Always Sunny (assuming that's an example your may be referring to) is they are smart, funny people. The writers don't suck, the characters do. In BBT, everyone kinda sucks. But the characters aren't SUPPOSED to. That's a problem.
I assumed the writer of TBBT just hate everything. They hate nerds and geeks, women, anyone LGBTQI+ and especially the characters they wrote. Lenoard is abused his whole childhood by his mother and he forgives her whilst she is still abusing him. A women who only entered psychiatry to better break people. Anyone the show touches is only in an attempt to hurt them. Bad writing, no jokes, just insults that are meant to make you laugh.
Thats exactly what happens in real life tho. People who are "abused" like leonard was never really turn on their parents.
@@xaviersmith5154”I-I was beaten as a kid and I turned out fine1!1!🤓☝🏼”
I'd like to add short people. The heights of Leonard, Howard and Bernadette were always things to laugh at in the show
Autistic people as well, Sheldon obviously displays typical symptoms. Lead writer denies this so they don’t have to acknowledge that they make autism the punchline consistently.
I mean, wasn't the BBT written by the person who also created 2 and ½ men? It's a reoccurring pattern.
I got an ad part way through, and I got confused for a sec lol
“Now, let’s get into the trans-SIZZLING BACON”
The treatment of Raj Koothrapali and the guy who acts him was sad. The blatant racism disguised as "comedy" was questionable.
I feel cheated they couldn't even give him a love interest at the end. Everyone else gets one, and they even set up and drop a romance subplot with him in the last season.
And he is objective the prettiest and less awful of the group with sheldon. Its wird how sheldon has a way more heatlthy relationship with penny than lenard.and makes her strengh shie eing social competent.
Butyeah,rajis ostly senitive and atractive, more thn the cast, why?! Why not even an arc of, any arc.
why make him as shitty.
@@marocat4749I didn't watch Big Bang Theory a lot, but when I did in the past, I was shipping Sheldon with Penny way more than Leonard. Their relationship actually had character development and it was nice having a male character not sexualizing her or having the "hots" for her.
If you think that is racism you my friend have never seen actual racism
@@michaelkehaSorry. Next time we'll only call out racism when people are getting lynched.
I was NEVER a fan of Big Bang Theory. I always had the feeling that the show was laughing AT the geeks all the time. Nobody feels like a real person.
I was never super comfortable with the portrayal of Sheldon, it came across as making fun of a neurodivergent person.
The catchy theme song fools you into thinking the show isn't going to be as mean spirited as it is
YOU ARE WRONG! The Big Bang Theory is the FUNNIEST SMARTEST SHOW EVERRRR
Ironically as an autistic I actually find Sheldon to be the most relatable character despite being a caricature.
BBT is just It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia without the self-awareness.
I want you to know that your message is not falling on deaf ears. I truly appreciate your work here. I am a father raising a teenage daughter who is a member of the LGBTQ community and is in a relationship. I was a fan of the Big Bang Theory. I am always trying to educate myself on matters concerning the LGBTQ community with help from my daughter. I never stopped to think of the show on that level and thought about the issues you brought in the media I consume. Thank you very much. You have made a difference in my life from this day forward. I will like and subscribe for sure.
You truly sound like an amazing father, wishing you well
@@salem-01 Thank you. I do try my best.
Awww you’re so sweet! I appreciate you and your daughter is lucky to have you as a dad!
That is lovely to read. Thank you for caring and learning.
Going out of your way to listen to queer people talk about lgbt issues to educate yourself is the kind of behavior that so many queer kids would kill to have their parents do for them
I bet your daughter will benefit from you learning about how every day things (even like a silly TV show) affect queer people, and I guarantee she appreciates the effort you're putting in ❤️
I used to binge TBBT when i was depressed as a teen. Eventually it all just clicked how disgusting it actually was. The racism, sexism, homophobia, the jewish jokes, how they were in awe penny could walk upright as she wasn't academic. Or how her deciding to not have children was something 'fixed' when she did become pregnant at the end.
To say nothing of their blatent bastardisation of neurodiversity. It was all so bad it jump started critical thinking in me!
I didn't watch very much of TBBT. I was a huge nerd, always had been. Closest to 'cool' I got was when my grandpa forced me to join my high school football team but that didn't last long. Something always rubbed me the wrong way with how the show depicted nerd and geek culture and the spaces nerds and geeks inhabit. So I never watched the show long enough to realize just how troublesome it all was.
huh I always assumed the "you know I'm a dude right?" was more of a case of mistaken identity...like stuart just thought she was a tomboy and didn't realize the person he was out with was a dude
This is first comment I've seen that actually defended one of the jokes, instead of defending the show without watching the video. Kudos.
That's very possible. Of course that only makes that one joke better which is like straightening a brick on an already broken tower, but I'll give you it.
Putting aside when it's more likely to bring up gender because of explicitly kissing (usually people are knowingly experimenting when going from hetero to homo)
...and right where _she_ was supposed
to say, "Oh, Stuart" she said...
...your name.
Stuart is recounting the story from the _straight man (no pun intended)_ narrator
19:10 It goes beyond that too when you consider the implications
These characters are meant to be so desperately lonely they'll settle for any woman who gives them any attention and they still wouldn't date trans women. The implication being that trans women are both not women, and that even "beggars can be choosers" when it comes to trans women, that they're undesirable to the undesirable.
LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!
these types of moments on 00s era sitcoms (like How I Met Your Mother, too) gave me a very skewed idea of desirability as a trans woman, prior to transition
not that desirability to (presumably) cis het men should be a benchmark for anything but like... the dolls are not lacking in that arena
@@kikilerer689 Absolutely. And as I can only comment on this as a cis het dude, when I heard jokes like these or the ones in How I Met Your Mother, I found humour in them, admittedly because to me these jokes were in the "thats a terrible thing to say" category. I've always been pro-trans for the times, and by that I mean my idea of being pro-trans in 2005 is very different to how I see being pro trans now, and thus trans people have never been undesirable, but I also know that not everyone saw those jokes the same way and would have taken the humour from trans people being undesirable.
Its a very loaded conversation, I think Lily perfectly summed it up perfectly in what she said in this video.
EDIT: To clarify I don't find humour in those jokes now, which plays into the statement in which I said how I saw being pro trans in 2005 is different to how I see being pro trans now
@@EmpireGamingWynter Could you elaborate on how it was to be pro trans in 2005? Was it a less normal thing? I was born then so I have no idea what it was like
@@apinchofdisappointment I'm not going to lie and say I was super aware of trans people or the correct terminology back then. I was 14 and trans visibility was virtually non-existent, but I was aware of the general idea that some people aren't happy with the gender they were assigned at birth and had the attitude that "they're not hurting anyone, if thats what they want I'll happily respect it." I used phrases and words around trans people that are just not acceptable these days, but generally it was me saying if a trans woman wanted me to call her she/her and use her chosen name, or vice versa with a trans man I would have no issue with it, even though I never had to as I'd not met a trans person back then
The autism representation is awful enough and their blatnent transphobia and homophobia only makes their situation worse.
My only surviving parent doesn't see me as a human any more, I am a "Sheldon" to her thanks to this garbage brainwashing her. Barbara Pit for everyone involved in this show.
As an autistic I still find Sheldon to be the most relatable character. All the others are whory and unrelatable especially the women.
@@nuclearcatbaby1131Look I aint trynna say how you should or shouldnt feel bout smth but like just because you say Sheldon is relatable to you doesnt mean hes ACTUAL good rep
Its like if you were dark-skinned and saw a super obvious blackface that does all the stereotype tropes and you go like "Yep that is relatable to me as an African American"
Aint there actual better rep than Sheldon from Shit Gags Theory?
Even though the writers clearly picked parts of different disorders and neurotypes for Sheldon, they have never actually confirmed whether Sheldon is neurodivergent. I don’t know if that makes it worse or not.
@@enderluckjarmg985 Sadly I don’t know if there is
Screw you, teach! I'm not doing your lousy detention! *Skateboards away into the night*
This always happens...
what a radical legend brah
Is that my cousin Throckmortin??
12:20 I dont understand how trans panic is a valid argument... like its litterally "I killed them because they were trans" but somehow people pretend its not just state sanctioned bigotry
Yeah. When the "defense" is that somebody has such poor emotional control over themselves that they couldn't help but hurt somebody, isn't that basically admitting that the defendant is too dangerous to be allowed to go free?
They don't see us as people, they see us as vermin
I'm trans, bi, and autistic... I HATE this show bc I was never able to watch it without feeling like I was the joke.
Damn Im trans bi nd autistic too but its one of my fav shows
@@bruised-day good for you?
@@bruised-day Same here. It's one of my favorites, despite it's many flaws.
Seriously?
Hello me
As an autistic person, I really loved this show as a young kid. I saw myself represented in Sheldon, and my peculiarities (though fortunately I don't have the more toxic aspects). So it was pretty devastating when I realized that Sheldon was the butt of the joke, the show had him that way purely to laugh at him.
Now that I'm an adult and have started transitioning as a trans woman, I appreciate your video because it lets me understand how I came to hate myself simply for existing as my true self.
Relatable, unfortunately. Best of luck with your transition, you deserve happiness and respect.
You are not an autistic person. You are a person who has autism.
Honestly same...
I'm not even trans, but have had to do serious work to deprogram my internalised misogyny this society instilled in me.
Luckily acknowledging such things is already a huge step.
(Although I am probably actually agender but I'm good with being a woman.)
I think it is worth noting that as much as Sheldon is the butt of the joke, he's also given a lot of empathy and humanity to him, too, especially later on. I think that's part of why he became the sort-of 'main character' of the cast, right? And sure he's not great representation and he does weird creepy stuff all the time, but it does feel kind-of bad to see so many people just bash him when Sheldon unironically has some of the best dramatic moments of the series where the actor got to really shine and have his character be taken 100% seriously by the plot.
There's just so much here that it feels like people overlook because they think of the creepy weirdo stuff instead of the more fun and compelling character moments he gets later on.
They may have intended Louise to be a joke but the way he played her, if u take out the fake studio audience, was perfect. She had no reaction to Leonard staring n didn’t suddenly try to seduce him or anything, she was totally normal. N the way Sheldon talked about her in her 2nd reference showed he respected her for some of her qualities n we don’t know if she was a “bad neighbour” in any other way that could have set Sheldon off to not like her, hence his comment in the first reference. So my head cannon is she played her music too loud n has the singing voice of Whitney Houston that she uses to slay them drag shows before slapping on a badge that says Louis to go be an example of a good cop in L.A., a city known for shit cops. Keep keeping it real, Louise.
EXACTLY. louise is so iconic
I know that the intended joke was her calling Sheldon crazy but from what we know of Sheldon by that point it's a perfectly valid assessment.
My head canon was also too noisy cause she was throwing too many parties 💅
honestly, i took the "cop uniforms" line as a sort of innuendo for, like, bdsm in a way? sheldon in-universe is kinda naive around sex iirc (secondhand exposure IS deadly folks remember that), like he refuses to even say "butt", so i took it as him not realizing that they were less for actual cop stuff and more for kink. which, knowing this show, i wouldnt put it past them, and im hoping they meant it more straightforwardly.
@@kharmacal While I imagine that's what's intended I do think it could go either way. The joke could just be that it's a stereotypically masculine profession.
yeah I also always took the joke as a joke about leonard and his worldviews, not about Louise.
And yes when Sheldon talks about her, it shows that he doesn't care that shes trans, more that she has other qualities he likes or dislikes (being very orderly vs being a loud neighbour
I found it funny in my late teens with minimal understanding of a lot of social issues until someone pointed out how many of the jokes were "laugh at the autistic guy". It was then quickly obvious that *every joke is a stereotype joke*
it gets pretty mind numbingly boring pretty quickly once you recognize it's all the same joke
This is a perfect summary.
As an autistic guy i loved Sheldon personally the character was an overplayed representation of an autistic individual with a superiority complex it’s not real autism in the slightest but it helps me be able to laugh at myself it’s important to be able to do that but the show also makes fun of basically everything just Learn to laugh at the little things and not take everything as a personal attack other wise you’ll have a victim mindset and that’s a miserable way to live if there aren’t joke about you are you really being represented you don’t want to always be taken seriously if somebody ha to constantly tiptoe around you they aren’t going to want to talk about you or even acknowledge your existence that’s the problem with lgbtq they won’t let life really represent them they just want to be represented a certain way and it’s just boring lighten up have some fun laugh st someone else and yourselves don’t take everything personally people will want to be around you more and accepting of you
@@wolf2966 Hi do you know what punctuation is
@@wolf2966 There is so much wrong with what you are saying that I genuinely don't know where to start. All I can say is that I'm truly sorry that you've been taught to think that it's necessary to accept your very existence as being a good source of ridicule in order to be accepted as a member of society, even when you're treated as a second-class, inferior, damaged member.
I know this might blow your mind, but it's absolutely possible to exist within a community of people who *don't* ridicule you for being autistic, trans, gay, a woman, BIPOC, disabled, etc. With many decades of life behind me, I can say that life is a lot more pleasant when surrounded by people who aren't jerks. If someone's "jokes" rely on kicking down at others (and especially for something that they cannot change), when those people are already routinely the victim of discrimination, then no... that person's "jokes" aren't funny regardless of the canned laughter track, and anyone who thinks that they need to rethink their sense of humour to figure out why they do think it's acceptable and amusing.
Ridicule, negative stereotyping, and bigotry are in no way a suitable alternative to decent representation... and the fact that somehow you've been taught to think it's okay to make neurodivergent people the butt of jokes in the absence of real representation is not only very sad but genuinely, I hope that you can work through whatever internalised ableism that you've been taught is "normal" and recognise that you (and all autistic people) deserve better than that.
You tried to watch the Big Bang Theory three times? Blink twice if you need to be rescued.
There was a lot of psychological abuse from my moms ex husband when I was in middle school, but being told I should be flattered while he compared me to big bang theory characters still makes me want to barf
"Women can have Adams Apples, too." Yup. And facial hair, and a receding hairline, and a low voice, and pretty much anything else that we have to deal with. Most cishet people have this idea in their head of "male" and "female" being these completely separate species without any overlap. I mean, I'm living proof sex isn't binary. AMAB, supposedly went through male puberty; got seen as a woman for a long time before I was even out to myself as trans. Even when I cut my hair short, people thought I was underage cause I looked so young.
I mean, I tend to dress really masc most of the time now, I don't shave my body hair, I don't wear makeup, I don't do anything with my voice, I have a side shave haircut, and I have my hair slicked back and in a pony tail half the time, and STILL PASS.
Literally!! Before I began transitioning (AFAB), I still had a hella prominent adam's apple. Of course it pokes out even more now, but it reminds me how brainless the "we can tell" crowd always is.
yup. i'm AFAB, and have pcos, which has a side effect of hirsutism. so i grew up with a mustache, unibrow, and extra hair in general. pcos is pretty common, too. i'm lucky to be agender, so it bothers me less than it probably would a cis woman (actually, i wish i could grow a full beard), but it's one of those things rarely talked about because it makes cis people uncomfortable.
Whoa. Wish I could do that.
God I'm jealous
I don't even think i have an adam apple and a trans woman.
Being both queer, a girl, and deeply into "nerd culture" (physical comics, sci-fi history, gaming, and microbiology, etc) during the rise of this show was SUPER uncomfortable. My parents were casual but enthusiastic fans and never really understood why I was so reluctant to join them. The show constantly references or makes jokes around the worst and the socially loudest problems of existing in nerd spaces with barely any criticism. If anything, the show condones these behaviors through deflection and victim carding. TBBT was also one of the stepping stones that helped modern pop culture appropriate a lot of these fandoms or interests by selling them as "wirky" and cool things to substitute for personalities, but heavily enforces that one should never do ANYTHING more than have a casual or surface knowledge because any deeper automatically turns you into a weirdo, emasculates you like the main boys, or for Penny's case when she got into MMOs, you lose all your feminine appeal and become completely undesirable. The show is shallow in all aspects, and the fact that it was so popular was disheartening.
Absolutely. I'm a 48 year old geek and I've never known any geek who liked the show. Oh, I know many non geek people who thought it was sooooo funny but nerds? Nope. Hard pass from everyone I've known. 95% of the jokes are "Look, geek reference, funny! Nerds funny! Laugh laugh at the nerds!" That's not comedy. That's mockery, pointing and laughing. For the exact same reason why all the trans crap wasn't funny. "Look, trans reference! How strange, how bizarre, laugh now funny!" Uggghh.
@@CorwinFoundI was always suspicious of any adult who identified as a nerd and liked this show.
I was an edgy nerd teenager when this show was at its peak popularity and I would get a lot of the same confusion from people. Without fondness I remember that I would explain my dislike of the show as "Yeah dude it's like, the equivalent of a minstrel show but the subject is nerd culture".
That would get the point across to people but I look back I'm like, holy moly what a problematic comparison that was, yikes. I cringe.
@@CorwinFound so true, the big bang theory is "for nerds" in the same way that blackish was for black people, which is that it's really only "for" these people in name alone, otherwise it's just for other people entirely.
I’m a big nerd and I enjoyed the show a lot. As it went on I enjoyed it less, partly because I matured a bit and partly because the show failed to mature on that front. That said, while the show’s comedic premise got tired I do think adding more women to the main lineup in later seasons was a good move and the ensemble dynamic had developed to give some really nice character moments. I’ll never defend it as good “geek representation” nor will I defend the more offensive comedy it often used but it is a little nostalgic for me and I do still get enough out of the show that I’ll watch reruns.
As a young genderqueer person I really admire the perspective you put on different corners of pop culture! It's very interesting and always cool to learn more about how the community is being portrayed in media through different years and decades.
I’ve not watched the whole video yet, you’ve mentioned how Rajesh was mocked for his femininity then on the other side sheldon always mocked and made jokes about penny’s masculine traits
The guy interested in Sheldon is actually something I like for one small fact, if I remember correctly, he is played by Jim Parsons (Sheldon) real life husband!
Actually, Blaine is played by Tyler J. Olson. Jim Parson is married to Todd Spiewak.
I'm quite interested in what part of the dialogue he is mocked at all...
22:16 Can we also talk about the inadvertent racism of Sheldon mentioning a "skin condition", and when we finally see them there's no actual skin condition to be seen (24:42)? I'm gonna chose to believe it was an oversight, but it's a pretty terrible one at that.
Another example that's seared into my mind is the Season 2 Episode 2 aka The Codpiece Topology:
Leonard: Uh, what about that girl last year at Comic-con?
Raj: Doesn't count.
Leonard: Why not?
Raj: What happens in costume at Comic-con, stays at Comic-con.
Howard: You're only saying that because of what happened to you.
Leonard: What happened to you?
Raj N-n-n-nothing happened to me.
Howard: It wasn't your fault, Raj, he was dressed as a green Orion slave girl.
Raj H-h-h-how did we get on me, we were mocking Leonard for not moving on. [...] Technically it would only be rebound if he and Penny had actually engaged in physical intimacy.
Howard: You mean like you and Richard the slave girl?
Raj: I bought him dinner and we kissed once, that was it. (Leaving) And he told me his name was Kimberley!
Just one more case of "haha man got trapped". This is why I'll never understand how transphobic queer people exist, from their view trans women are "just men in dresses", how do they not realise that that rhetoric pushes queer and gender-nonconforming men into the crossfire? Transphobes have never stopped to distinguish between a trans woman and an effeminate man (queer or straight) because they don't actually care about queer/GNC people either, trans people are just the lowest hanging fruit for them to pick on. It's just a rebranding of the "predatory homosexual" trope, transphobia is rooted in traditional gender roles which queer and GNC people are also targeted for. An attack on trans people is an attack on anyone who doesn't conform to those traditional roles.
I think on some level they do know, because they'll also happily turn around and claim 60s trans women weren't really trans and were just effeminate gay guys. Even though when you look deeper the argument is purely about terminology and how the wider public grouped them all together.
I think the skin condition was just forgot about. The continuity in the show isn't that great especially in earlier seasons.
I'm a straight cis guy, so not part of LGBTQ in any way, but I do like your videos.
Not because I can relate them, but they're always well thought out and put together, look at different perspectives and are often quite informative at shedding light on aspects of shows sometimes overlooked, or appreciating progressiveness where it exists.
Great work as always
Trust me when I say that I believe someone is who they tell me they are, but... juuuusssstt leaving this here....
just in case ;)
🥚
@@lucalycan "I believe you, but I actually don't believe you. I know your identity better than you do." That's how your comment reads. How are you unironically doing that on a video about critically examining the way gender expression is treated?
I'd go the opposite direction
I'm not cis or straight but I'm hatewatching these videos just because they're very "woke" & I don't like woke
Lily is very hit & miss. Sometimes she calls out transphobia as transphobia. Sometimes she tries too hard to paint something that *isn't* transphobic as transphobic & openly admits she's doing it for views
@@Aster_Risk
people calling me an egg helped me realize I was genderfluid
granted I said a *very* eggish thing to say. OP didn't say anything like that
but still there is room for a stranger online to notice something the person hasn't realized themselves & it's quite common for peeps to not fully understand their own gender identity
@@teddybaker4759Maybe I've missed some stuff, but as far as I've seen it doesn't seem she'd make up transphobia for views. The closest I can think of exploring unintended themes and portrayals, but that's nothing new in the field literary discussion and criticism.
Also, I'm kinda curious what definition of woke you use, there's the original "aware of injustice" and there's a plethora of more conservative definitions.
I remember watching the Big Bang Theory with my family and we basically just spent the whole time talking about how it was steeped in toxic masculinity.
Your family seems like such a breath of fresh air compared to mine. 😅
God i wish my dad could talk about stuff like that. He’s not sexist (in theory), but he’s just not equipped to talk about and understand how to critically engage with the media he watches. Especially when it comes to sexism and transphobia. It’s really sad.
@@AnEmu404It takes a fair amount of specialized training to pick up on and notice things, so I wouldn't take him to task TOO hard. It's by design, you see--make it all so normal It becomes background noise.
Cringe
@@Randorandom232 my face when watching The Big Bang Theory. xD
The funny thing is I did use "you know I'm a guy" two times in the past week when men were hitting on me as a trans guy so my first reaction to hearing that was "yeah that happens sometimes lol".
Lily, I am a gender therapist working in the Pacific Northwest. I really enjoy your thoughtful, thorough, and engaging analyses of these shows. Keep it up.
big bang theory was kind of my family's "spend time together" show. as i got older as figured more stuff about myself and my queerness, the more uncomfortable i got with it.
even now, with reruns my mom puts on, i'm even *more* uncomfortable somehow, now that i'm an adult with a partner and a young child. especially with the parenting dynamic of howard and bernadette, and the fact that i'm sure that my own and my boyfriend's identities and our careers would be the subject of ridicule by the ""nerdy"" (i.e. fragile masculinity masked with entry level nerd shit) sensibilities of the show.
holy shit. grow up, and enjoy the time you have left with your mom
@@niceduck6199 til you have to support all things your parents do, even the harmful ones, because one day they're going to die
Watching Big Bang Theory without the laugh tracks is so fascinating.
I mean that's just any comedy with a laugh track.
@@shadenox8164 not really. a lot of them become awkwardly paced as the actors stand around waiting for a laugh track that isn't coming, but jokes are still being told. removing the laugh track from bbt gets you four people who clearly despise each other just coldly making insults back and forth.
@@heathersmith4042Yeah, like most comedies with laugh tracks.
My mom watches BBT and ill join her sometimes and it can be so uncomfortable ;-; especially cause she already knows im trans
So what learn to laugh at yourself or things you relate to straight people are also made fun of in the show don’t take everything so personal the show makes fun of everyone in the most outlandish ways you know religious people are also made fun of especially Christianity aka Sheldon’s mom just learn to laugh and not see everything as a victim life isn’t that horrible everyone has struggles not just you if most people can laugh at themselves so can you
@@wolf2966 I'm sorry but it's not that deep, you got a lot out of my not super descript sentence that wasn't there.
No hate or anything apologies if it looked like I was hating on the show.
@@wolf2966 L take, you're more triggered about homie's comment than they are about the show, calm down.
Good, you should feel bad. You need a doctor. A REAL doctor. Not someone pretending to be one that wants you mutilated.
@@RickNasty42069YOLO none of that now
Back when I didn’t know much about lgbt 🏳️🌈 people I liked watching big bang ‼️ theory. It was on the air way too long.
exactly. its not an excuse tho its an explaination
Was still an awesome show, despite the occaisional -phobic joke.
All of that era's shows had some level of LGBTQI+-phobia and shouldn't be the yard stick you use to determine if a show is good or bad. lf that's how you see it then just avoid any show made before 2015.
We didn't even have legalised gay marriage here until 2017 ffs.
l was engaged in 2003 so we wouldve had to wait for 14 years to officially tie the knot, that is if he hadn't of passed away of cancer in '04.
@@matildastanford7019 Scrubs was before 2015. While they did have three 3️⃣ instances of subtle transphobia it was only three 3️⃣ times in 168 episodes. Bb theory was also misogynistic homophobic and racist
I'm as Cis as they come and I don't have an Adam's Apple. People are strange.
I will say i find jokes in TBBT funny only when the women of the show are the ones making them. I found Penny to be quite a funny character many times because she punches back at the guys constantly mistreating her in very funny ways, and i also enjoyed Bernadette's witty humour and how evil she could be at times. Amy might be my least favourite tho, but i gen. think the women in the show made it funny sometimes. With that being said they got added much later in the show and they don't appear nearly as much as the men so the show still lacks humour, but it comes to show how the show could have been fun.
yeah, it was a bit better that way later on since they settled in more as part of the group rather than objects to pursue.
Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people ignore or don't really talk about. I know it's a cliche to say "things get better", but as the show goes on things actually do genuinely get better. Amy really was so much fun and I appreciated that they never tried to 'un-dorkify' her or something, she just got to stay one of the nerds and just kind-of owned it.
I feel like even now it's pretty rare to see a fun female character who isn't framed as traditionally attractive but that also doesn't get body-shamed or go through a big glow-up makeover. She just had her own stuff going on, and I feel like that worked pretty well.
I have no idea why but I used to watch this so much when I was younger. So much transphobia all around us is just baked into society.
I did too but never realized there were that many transphobic comments, I also instead of listening to the laugh track, look at the characters reactions because when Raj said "She's been a woman her whole life" Amy looked shocked like she didn't know what to say
Also the person who plays Sheldon is Gay so Idk why the writers didn't ask him about the LGBT+
The other situations (If there were no laugh track) just seem like common situations like thinking someones Gay or knocking on the wrong door, it would've been interesting if Louie/Louise was actually in the show
@@kaylatarapaskoski2390 Well, there's also division within the LGBTQIA+ community around trans and bisexual individuals.
If all transphobia was just like this supposed transphobia in TBBT the world of trans would be fine, good, freaking great. What a waste of complaints.
@@samueldeandrade8535 não é pra ter NENHUMA transfobia, samuel. focando no fato que você é cis pela forma que você referiu a pessoas trans como "o outro" nos comentários que você deixou nos vídeos da moça, pq vc tá se metendo nesse assunto? se for pra falar bosta, faz isso longe daqui
@@inrodu_1027 tu interpretou errado um comentário meu, ficasse com indignação e tá querendo me exorcizar. Por favor, amadureça. Eu não falei bosta nenhuma. Esse meu comentário não nega que "não é pra ter NENHUMA transfobia". Mas tu começa teu comentário como se eu tivesse dito "ah pode ter uma pitada de transfobia, né, gente? Só uma pitada". Eu falei isso? Não. O que eu falei, partindo de uma interpretação básica, é que entre os atos transfóbicos, podemos dizer que um é pior que o outro, eles não são igualmente ruins. Portanto, se a transfobia estivesse limitada aos atos mencionados no vídeo, então o mundo trans estaria ótimo, porque, por exemplo, o ato transfóbico de matar trans por ser trans não estaria incluído nessa transfobia limitada hipotética.
Eu terminei com "que desperdício de reclamações" porque o que foi mencionado no vídeo não chega nem perto de ser tóxico. Oras! É isso. Faça o favor de ler e interpretar direito. Ou continua sofrendo de paranóia. Tu que sabe.
I loved BBT growing up. I was a little girl who wanted to be a physicist, and it made me feel like it was okay for me to pursue that dream. It still holds a special place in my heart because it made me feel seen at such a young age. That being said, I fucking hate this show. I hate that this was the thing that inspired me as a child. It's rife with bigotry and luckily I didn't internalize much of it because my family was constantly showing me different messages regarding women, queer people, and POC.
I interpreted "You know I'm a dude, right?" in a way that wasn't mentioned. Instead of anything being trans related, I thought the date wasn't a woman at all but was just mistaken for one. The date thought it was just a normal date between two men until he started picking up the signs that lead to the question.
i interpreted it as another joke about transsexuals, which are oddly common.
as a trans person i can confirm it is absolutely hilarious when i am in situations
theres basically a laugh track inserted into the code of trans people atp 😭
Because you are a comedian , right ?
Because you're a comedian, right ?
You know what I hate the most?
Amy being an intelligent woman .... who doesn't track her period?? She is a biologist on a high level?? Hell, I bet she could check her own hormone levels to exactly predict when her period happens. Also, she is very much portrayed as this asexual character when she's introduced. And then she has her .... sexual awakening in her 30s? Aphobic as hell. It's disgusting how they suddenly paint her as this sex-crazed lady.
Also, there don't seem to be any female geeks on the show? And another thing, it seems like this show flipped the definition of nerd and geek so now I have to hear people tell me that a nerd likes comic stuff and a geek is smart. Even if it's the other way around.
And you know what's the worst about this stupid show? It has such an impact that a coworker of mine told me after I tried to explain the plot of the wonderful book 'Activation Degradation' to her that she 'had to think of Sheldon Cooper'. Yikes girl. I do not want to be likened to a very bad trope character from a terrible show. (Also, read Activation Degradation, it's a great book about transhumanism with a non-binary main character.) And mind you, this coworker also reads books. But apparently the moment a book is in the science fiction genre, it's suddenly too geeky? And bad?? When there's many really great books that talk about human nature. Take Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness for example. Which at the time it was published was revolutionary on how it viewed gender in a fictional universe.
Anyway, I'm rambling. But I hope you see what I mean. All of this great stuff just buried under 'eeheheh Sheldon Cooper' 🙄🙄
I've always read Amy as demisexual
@janecorriage6202 yeah, that was my read on Amy as well. I also read Sheldon as sapiosexual, if I'm being honest.
I'm aphobic
I have no fears
I think the writers don't even know what aphobia is. Btw what's wrong with her having a late "sexual awakening"?
@@kordobaaI haven't seen the show but based on what the comment says I'm assuming it's a very sudden change, like the writers were like "hmmm, this character isn't the way we want her to be, instead of writing her the way we want to be slowly let's make her suddenly the way we want her to be, that's such a great idea" again, I've never seen the show, so I'm not sure but sudden changes in characters can be annoying
F🦆ck i just realize that shows like these were one of the reasons i thought being trans would be a bad thing for me(i never harrassed someone else, just felt shame for being this way).
After my coming out, noone was hateful towards me or disgusted, everyone was pretty chill about it. Especially my general practitioner i knew since i was little.
I was asking myself why i thought it would've been a bad thing since i never had a problem with others who were trans and i admired some people for their beauty...also no one in my area, ever expressed hate or disgust towards trans people....This thought ..the thing that kept me in my silly little eggshell, where shows like thebigbang theory, something i watched every day and could probably speak most of the episode as they aired(in my native tongue).
I will always learn new things
btw. in a week i get my hrt and I'm so excited. I tried to get on hrt for well over a year now...but it takes a long time in Germany. good video
Congratulations on your upcoming hrt! I started mine a few months ago and it’s still a thrill when I administer it every day! 🥳🥰
@@literaterose6731 Thank you ^^ and congratulations to you too (even if its late but it's still a big thing, always will be)
Congratulations on your HRT!!!
it is a bad thing for you. congrats on turning yourself into a forever customer for big pharma
@@niceduck6199 Wow your username really doesn't check out! Bad duck, come back when you learn some manners!
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the parts where it’s implied that Amy secretly wants to be a man. In the episode where her and all the others are speaking at some kind of convention or something with penny tagging along, she randomly says to either penny or Bernadette that she often thinks about what it would be like to have a penis. Then again at the podium, when penny gets mad at Lenard and leaves, and Sheldon gives a concerning look at the camera. Also I don’t know if this is in the same episode or not, but I do remember a bit where Amy talks about what her name would be if she was a man and then pretends to have a mustache
As an autistic lesbian (although i do have multiple other disabilities), looking back I cant believe I used to watch this show ALL. THE. TIME. What was I thinking?
I used to love "The Big Bang Theory", because I related to all the nerdy characters, my shared interests with them, and the struggle to get a date. But when I realised I was a trans woman, the sexist and transphobic remarks made me feel alienated, as though women somehow can't enjoy geeky stuff, not to mention the homophobia and racism. It contributed to my thinking I was disgusting for being a trans woman, and made it harder for me to come out to myself. So much for the scientists and science-fiction geeks appreciating the beauty in our world.
Cheyenne Lin also has great videos also on the BBT! On the misogyny mostly, and also talked about Raj`s "girliness", homophobic themes etc, id recommend her videos for more examples of bigotry of the shows humor and the story in general
I was also thinking if cheyenne lin's video. But I was thinking of her calling attention to how the show also laughs at penny being too masculine (either body shape wise or her masculine interests), even when penny is the object of desire. Just more laughs for gender nonconfrormance, even if some of the joke is shes more masculine then then men.
@@katies3733 yeah the shows laughing at penny never ends... the body shape stuff is so stupid, its like showrunners seeing a normal, pretty by social standarts woman: "wow looks like a man, lets joke about that 500 times" :/ it was so detached from reality for me that i always forget about it
Sorry guys, I can’t go out, the pretty pop culture commentary lady uploaded a video essay about transphobia in a show I never watched.
The worst part of this show was, for me, having friends I respect defend it. It made me super uncomfortable whenever they would mention enjoying it.
right? I *hate* it when people enjoy a show for reasons that make sense to them
we should all get together & form a council that will decide what people are allowed to be entertained by
@@teddybaker4759relax, teddiursa. They only said that they were uncomfortable when their friends defended a show like this. They didn't say we should policy what everyone enjoys
@@daisythegoddes3483
fair enough
I still think it's easy to accept that they might like something else about it
like I'm not a fan of the show I could never get into it but if I did it'd be because Alyson Hannigan is my favorite actress
his friends might have their own reasons
Yeah, I have a friend whose special interest is TBBT. It sucks when she brings it up cause I’m not cis, and am out as a lesbian. We’re both also autistic and I feel like she should know that the representation is bad but also don’t want to talk to her about it because she cares about it so much, and I would hate so much to be the reason that she stops loving something she loves so much because of my issues with the show.
just seeing clips from big bang theory gave me brain damage
I've noticed that in these shows the transphobia is almost exclusively just towards trans women, barely ever towards trans men. Because somehow we still live in a society where a woman in pants is seen as normal but man in dress is super funny and weird and emasculating. It's upsetting, really.
One thing that's becoming more apparent as I'm watching these series is when they do push for these "jokes", they always have to find the most hyper masculine guy that they possible can to highlight the stark differences in typically masculine bodies compared to more feminine one's or else the joke would fall flat. It's always someone who's almost a bodybuilder with a chiseled jaw, and rippling muscles. And never someone with proportions closer to an overall average, or even feminine leaning. If they did that, then the joke would fail outright.
Everyone was made fun of in this show not just one specific group
also the fact that louise is played by a black man, feeding into racist black masculinity fears
As someone who spent a large portion of their life in the gamer community the toxicity of the BBT friend group was one of the real things about the show. Social outcasts that group together are some of the meanest assholes you'll ever meet. Please don't think this is me glorifying this aspect. It took me twenty years to break free from my old friend group because of the fear of being alone is worse than being cut down all the time. Humans are horrible creatures and poorly socialized ones are even worse. I enjoy you channel thanks for everything you do.
humans are wonderful creatures
I'll never adopt the Ferngully "human bad" mentality
I'm sorry your experience with people has left you disillusioned. I hope that one day you'll meet enough good-hearted people to feel hopeful again. I promise they're out there.
@@winterzealot In the nearly 40 years I've been in the gaming community, I have met wonderful people, I have also met a larger amount of damaged and toxic people who destroy all those around them either through ignorance or direct malice. Humans are horrible creatures with some exceptions.
shows like this and other shows you've covered that i watched growing up really did mould my behaviours and my interpretation of queer people growing up, which sucks because looking back at some things in my past, i deeply regret being so closed minded back then. i think this also caused my internalised homophobia and transphobia, not acknowledging my bisexuality and even when i did acknowledge it, try to sweep it under the rug, and also struggle for so long to realise that i'm not cis. and now that i know i'm not cis, i'm hesitant to actually start living the way i want to because i know other people's mindsets are moulded from these types of shows and other media presented to them. i'm really glad i was able to overcome my closed mindedness from back then and also realise that i myself am queer, but sadly there's still a long way to go for society as a whole.
Why does the opening for such a terrible show have to go so hard
The lowbrow joke on Louise's on screen appearance is so unfunny you wouldn't be able to tell they tried to tell a joke if they didn't shove an overly-long laugh track
There are a shocking amount of jokes on this show that feel like "jokes by technicality" like that.
i am gender fluid and autistic, even when at a young age i knew to stay away from this show, it just repeled me in every way possible, but i dindt know it was THIS bad, holy.
It’s not bad at all if you can laugh at yourself and take a joke no matter who you are
@@wolf2966 you sound like someone that'd rationalize getting bullied as banter culture so you wouldn't feel like you had to stand up for yourself
it's not a big deal to have self-respect and choosing to exercise it
@@dopaminecloud there’s a difference between bullying and making fun of someone there’s a friendly way of doing it
What's so funny about Blaine even? Like... he's just a guy who's into Sheldon. Like can you imagine how these characters would react if ANY woman was attracted to them, even if she wasn't their type?
As a Cis male who wants to the the best Ally he can be, I appreciate these videos. They help me catch any Male Toxicity I may still have. So thank you.
As long as you're being kind to others and respecting people for who they are, then you'll do well.
@@Hauntaku Unfortunately its not as easy as that, since kindness and respect is always influenced by bias. I mean, if someone is a kid diddler, theres a good chance you arent gonna be kind or respectful (because why would you be nice, they commited and abomination).
Its just a matter of finding the roots of your biases and deciding there if its a good idea to keep the ideas these biases uphold.
The thing I probably hate most about The Big Bang Theory is that Sheldon clearly starts off as asexual and aromantic, but then they pull the "ace person is 'cured' of their asexuality after meeting the right person" thing. I consider myself to be on the asexual spectrum so seeing that is kind of upsetting to me.
The way queerness was treated in the show in general was awful. We had 3 characters clearly written as Bi coded Raj, Howard and Amy but it's all used awfully. It's so bad. Like having Amy gift Penny a painting of them together whilst making loads of hints to her being very attracted to Penny whilst literally wearing a striped cardigan that has the colours of the Bi flag on it is so on the nose its cringe.
I used to rlly like the show when I was younger, becuz it was smth my parents would always watch, so i could spend time with them while watching it, laughing over the same stuff and bonding. But as I’ve grown older I realised how messed up big parts of the show are, including the autism „rep“
So you got your feelings hurt by a tv show? wow..
Just engagin’ with the content here, Barnes
Ooh ive been waiting for this one.
The most glaring issue that comes from all these sitcoms is the fact that the writers think any trans woman would be even _remotely_ interested in dating a cis man.
I'm a 64 year old man who seldom gave thought about this subject. I try to accept everyone for who they are and have no problem with whatever lifestyle you live. Watching this show over the years I never realized the bigotry therein. I need the education that I'm getting from videos like this. Thanks for the opportunity to never get too old to learn. I will devour all such content from here on in.
"What are you doing here?" IDK it's 3 in the morning I got nothing better to do
I ended up watching a lot of BBT growing up, but I can't stand it much anymore when 1 in 10 jokes are actual good written jokes.
(And now for something unrelated) I distinctly remember an episode of Two and a Half Men where Charlie meets with an ex and the ex had transitioned into a man (one of my first exposures to trans people as a concept), maybe that would be something looking into in terms of rep? I don't remember it being egregious, but it's also been /years/ and wouldn't have picked up on stuff as a baby child.
Yeah, I remember seeing that episode in my formative years too! I do believe I can recall the guy being mostly treated and acknowledged as a guy at least. Even if the show did make a number of tasteless jokes around the subject. So that might be the bare minimum down. Still, I'd love to hear Lily's perspective on it.
ithinkthe joke was on charlie being the joke and not taking "hints" , and how charlie atchsup,and how his mom, okcharlieand his momare shown as bad people mostly, but ithinkhis mom doesnt think twice about it, ad charlie is more really dense.
I mean there could be more bout his ex but they are treated as person.and his mom doesnt care,so decent?!
Wasn't the other way around in Two and a Half Men too?
Like Charlie met one of his old friends who transitioned into a woman?
My favorite thing to do is watch big bang theory without rh laugh track, makes you realize what they try to peddle as a joke is nothing
How can you do that? Is that a DVD option?
@@home-bodyz people will edit out the laughing and upload them on yt
A lot of the "homophobic" and "transphobic' jokes in TBBT are a lot less offensive when the context behind them is actually included
Stewart doesn't want to find out he made out with a dude because that's not the way he swings. I doubt a gay guy would want to find out he actually kissed a girl, but if they made jokes about that, it would be considered okay. It's also a fictional comedy show. Oh no, anyway. The world continues revolving, we continue living
I almost did a science project titled “does watching big bang theory make you less funny? (How big bang theory poisons the mind and soul)”
Thank you Lily, watching your videos gave me the confidence to come out as gender-fluid and express myself the way that feels right for me
We love to see it 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵
Go seek help. This is NOT normal.
I'm glad I found this channel ❤ it's nice to hear someone talk about the blatantly transphobic TV shows I was forced to accept as comedy in my household growing up
❤ you Lily
There’s nothing transphobic about this show transgenderism is barley if ever brought up
@@wolf2966 I said "shows." Plural
3:45 which is ironic considering Jim Parsons is gay... makes wonder how the actor felt while filming during the whole thing...
He was the highest paid actor on TV for a while, so my guess is he kinda just left his personal feelings and morals at the door in the pursuit of extreme wealth.
It worked, but I would feel awfully soulless if I were him. And for good reason too. He should at least donate some of those tens of millions to LGBTQ+ charities imo.
looking forward to the always sunny episode! :)
This video just popped up in my suggestions and all I wonder is 'which mtg card is hanging there in the background?'
BBT is a kind of guilty pleasure show for me, but damn do some of the jokes make me uncomfortable. I'm so glad you're talking about the transphobia in this show because it's weirdly frequent
people can’t even use the whole “it’s just a joke bro” argument cause the jokes… aren’t funny. i’ve seen plenty of trans based jokes that are funny and aren’t transphobic so yes it’s possible. it just takes actual effort and humour
I love that my distaste in this series is being validated over and over again.
Im very nerdy and would realistically be in the same circles as the main group on big bang. So watching the series i was excited to see nerdy rep - and i wont pretend that the mainstream nerdy rep hasnt been beneficial to some people because it has - but as the show went on and as i watched, i found myself isolated further and further by the tired tropes, the sexism, and the fact that they were and are an outdated nerd. What i mean is, i assumed these guys were around my age when the series started, so dudes in their early to mid 20s. Dudes who would have had anime as they grew up and would have experienced the anime boom of the 90s... Except that the show treats anime like this hard to get, niche thing when the show first started, anime and manga was pretty common place and easier to find. But in all the show i can only recall them talking about anime once and it was essentally a super nerdy bit about how anime is so different and new and shiney... But Cartoon Network had their Toonami block in 1997, Sailor Moon, DBZ, Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, were all dubbed or being dubbed and broadcast by then. Past that, there was never any mention of anime or manga fans or cons or... Anything.
So not only does this show feature comedy stright out of the 1980s complete with its sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia, but it failed - in my opinion - to land with the people the show was attempting to showcase. Big Bang Theory failed to deliver actual comedy, as well as failed to showcase nerds in their many variations.
Well said!
so ur main gripe isn't that they aren't all weebs?
if I didn't think the show was so boring I'd view that as a positive
FINALLY a positive message for nerd culture, not all nerds are weebs
Nothing in this show was meant to be taken seriously or literally everyone and everything was made fun of in this show not just lgbt and women everyone and everything was made the but of a joke in this show Learn to laugh at yourself your more interesting and accepted when you can do that with other people
Unfortunately the bigotry of this show is a *very* accurate depiction of “nerd culture”
“You’ll never be a woman, Bazinga”
good one 😆
It astounds me how Friends has better rep despite being an older show.
I can't believe I _liked_ big bang theory as a kid growing up. As soon as I realized all their dnd, cosplay, and convention jokes were "women don't enjoy this lol" it lost all favor with me.
That and even as a teen I was disappointed when Sheldon ended up in a relationship- I thought he was like me, before I knew what asexuality was.
People around me are constantly recommending this show to me because I watched Friends and am most likely neurodivergent, so thank you for helping me stay strong and make sure I’ll never even consider looking at it again
u should totally watch the show
in a MST3000 way where u rag on it the whole time
@@teddybaker4759 I’ll definitely have to put it on a “awful shows to make fun of with friends” list
i know the show has a bajillion episodes, so i wouldnt expect you to cover it entirely. But I'd love to see you cover the Hayley Cropper character + storylines from Coronation Street. Has to be one of the best mainstream trans representation I remember.
I don't know why your video ended up in my recommendations but I love it. Also love your hair. Subscribed
Growing up people liked to compare me to sheldon a lot so I'm glad im vindicated in wanting to punch anyone who did that
My family still compare me to Sheldon 😮💨
As a younger kid i never understood just how many awful jokes there were. Watching reruns I've slowly gained a hate for the show.
the most transphobic thing this show has ever done was make me watch it. i dont think i have laughed at a single joke this show has ever made
Not to even mention the way Sheldon was like a mocking caricature of autistic people
That moment with the black actor at the door was pretty funny though
I stopped enjoying the big bang theory when my own famiky was comparing me to Sheldon. I found it insulting, while they thought it was funny "and [I] should learn to take a joke"
The joke about Howard and Raj being in a gay relationship also isn't homophobic. It's funny because they're not in a gay relationship, and to imply they are makes them uncomfortable. You can be uncomfortable with the idea of someone suggesting you're in a sexual relationship with someone of the sex you're not attracted to, without being prejudiced against gay or straight people.
as a trans person that's hyperfixated on the big bang theory I am very conflicted about this 😭
don't be
have ur own opinions on the show. It's good to hear other peeps views on it but don't treat them as correct
You can still enjoy the show while also having criticisms.
I'm under the queer umbrella and I still like it.
Oh no, I've got Attack on Titan as an autistic hyperfixation and now *I* have someone to feel bad for.
At least parts of AoT are good and it's not queerphobic.
well the bing bong therom does have a 41% rating on imdb
Bazinga!
how... relevant ;)
wow so clever and funny. you really snuck that one past em. do you want a fucking cookie
my parents loved this show and my little sibling is watching it, i cant wait to ruin their views on it lmaoooo. PS, as a person who falls under the trans umbrella (non-binary trans masc- demi-boy) i absolutely adore your videos and love these sorts of things!
4:00 obviously that scene is much worse with context, but without context, that is iconic. Of course as it gets brought up immediately, that show uses them acting terribly as a way to make the audience enjoy them being uncomfortable (which is why I can't watch it, but my physics teacher in high school used to put it on. Concerning)