Big Bang Theory

[Geekyfanboy]

Wow you geek girls are hard to please..  Team Unicorn releases their video and there is an uproar  from the female fandom about how those are not your typical geeky girls (too pretty).. now the fandom is complaining that the "real" geeky girls on BBT are not pretty enough.  I think the geeky girls on BBT are just as beautiful as the girls on Team Unicorn just in a different way.. but they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. :)

[billybob476]

I have some opinions about Team Unicorn, but I think this discussion will probably completely derail this thread.

At the end of the day BBT is a fictional comedy about fictional people in fictional situations. No one can be 'too pretty' or 'not geeky enough', they are as pretty or as geeky as is needed to tell a funny story and potentially entertain the majority (yes not just geeks but the majority) of viewers.

The problem, I think, is that we as geeks feel like Big Bang is made uniquely and solely for us, it isn't. It's made for the entirety of the CBS viewing audience.

[X]

I don't get the issues either. I mean they can't win for losing. If you put some super hot girl on the show and made her a geek, people would complain about that. I'm sure that there are people that are wondering where the Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, ect. I'm sure that people can always find something to complain about even if some of these complains come off as pretty silly and/or nitpicky.

[Rico]

Good points by all.  Of course, some may say that the show doesn't represent "reality."  Well, like Joe mentions - it's fiction!  It's not real.  Do we really think anyone out there is really like Sheldon?  Ok, maybe someone is close.  But I watch to be entertained.  And the show always does that for me, so I keep watching.  :)

[spaltor]

Wow you geek girls are hard to please..  Team Unicorn releases their video and there is an uproar  from the female fandom about how those are not your typical geeky girls (too pretty).. now the fandom is complaining that the "real" geeky girls on BBT are not pretty enough.  I think the geeky girls on BBT are just as beautiful as the girls on Team Unicorn just in a different way.. but they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. :)

I can definitely see where you're coming from.  We girls have issues.  ;)  But Team Unicorn and Amy on BBT are the extremes, which is most of what we see in media.  Women are either wearing close to nothing, or portrayed as the "frumpy librarian" type.  I would just hope for a happy medium.  (I will clarify though - I don't dislike Amy because she's a stereotype, I just don't like the character.  And the "Geek and Gamer Girls" parody didn't bother me as much as it did some.)  Of course, none of the guys on the show are "normal" and it is fiction.  But even Penny's hot boyfriend turned out to like comic books.  Bernadette and Priya are both attractive and intelligent, but are they geeky? (They don't seem to get the standard "geek" references made by the guys...)

I'm not saying that I hate the show or I'm going to stop watching.  I'm just saying that it feels different this season than it did previous.  It could be that the cast has more women, it could be a change in the writing - I don't know.  I was just trying to say that I'm unsure of the new feel, and it grew into this....   :-[  oops

I guess what really gets to me is not which characters are attractive or not, but how the sexes behave.  When the guys are together, while they may be talking about girls, they can also be playing video games or debating comic books.  When the girls are together, all they do is discuss their boy problems.  Maybe it's because my friends aren't like that, but I can much more easily see myself sitting in Leonard & Sheldon's living room, than in Penny's.

[X]

See, I don't get the stereotype at all. I've dated some damned hot and smart girls into gaming and geeky things. My wife and ex-wife are both into sci-fi and gaming. I mean we could be playing VTM table top one day and clubbing the next. I think that there are too many people out there that try to claim a title and get a little bitchy when someone exceeds expectations.

None of my former gaming group would even get close to the geek stereotypes that are out there and actually found them a bit annoying. It's like being able to diversify your preferences and the things that you like to do is some how out of the norm when I don't really see that as having ever been the case for most of the people in my social network. None of them are living in their folks basements collecting comics or not ever getting dates.

I do believe that there are people out there that fit this mold, but I think that they are the exception to the rule.

I recall a podcast a long while ago and someone who is a geek and doesn't like BBT. They went on to say that for them the show was insulting because it makes people like him seem socially awkward or broken. I don't remember the exact words, but I think the counter was that it was just a show and I really agreed with that. I still do, but I think I'm beginning to understand some of the problems people have. If you're too close to the mold, you could take offense at some of the things as a joke directed towards people like you.

If you're too far from the mold, you can take offense at them or other media prettying up or dumbing down what you identify with as your peer group.

I think it all comes down to the picture you have of yourself and your labels in your head.

I personally don't think that there are extremes in geekdom. At least I've never received a welcoming kit that said one must behave or look a certain way to be a centralist geek. It all comes down to what an individual prefers and if they choose to carry that label.

[Rico]

Chris, how many Trek cons or other SF type cons have you been too?  I hate to say it, but some the stereotypes are not too far off at times.  Not to get more off topic but look at "The Guild" web series (which I love).  But just about everyone on that series is probably even more extreme geeky than just about anyone on BBT.  Again, for me it's about the entertainment.  It doesn't bother me how accurate these programs portray reality.  But I have seen people in real life that are darn close to some of the characters on these shows.

[X]

Chris, how many Trek cons or other SF type cons have you been too?  I hate to say it, but some the stereotypes are not too far off at times.  Not to get more off topic but look at "The Guild" web series (which I love).  But just about everyone on that series is probably even more extreme geeky than just about anyone on BBT.  Again, for me it's about the entertainment.  It doesn't bother me how accurate these programs portray reality.  But I have seen people in real life that are darn close to some of the characters on these shows.

I totally agree that some people "fit the profile", but does that "profile" make up the majority or even the median of the group? I mean look at the people here. Most if not all self identify as geeks, but then there is a huge diversity going on. I've been to a lot of cons and I see many of the stereotype live, but is that because they are the majority of the group or is it because a lot of people don't hit the con circuit because they don't want to be around the people that fit the stereotype?

I don't have an answer for that, but I think that if personal experience and the demographics of this board have any validity, we are far more than what the stereotype is. It's also has me wondering what the true "average geek" is. Are they single? Most of the geeks here aren't. Do they have problems attracting the opposite sex? Well, you get the point.

Again, I really enjoy the show, but I think I can see now where some of it might hit closer to home for some more than others and they will have a larger emotional response because of it.

[Rico]

Agreed Chris.  There certainly is a very wide diversity out there of "geeks" these days.  More so than ever.  I think one of the issues is if you created a TV show about socially functional geeks with jobs, wives (or husbands), who have "gotten a life" it might not be as entertaining for some.  TV likes to portray "the extremes" a lot of the time.  From Jack Bauer to Sheldon Cooper.  I guess "normal" doesn't get the ratings.  Anyway, interesting discussion.

[Bryancd]

I would think the con's are the worst place to get an accurate gauge as to the overall "geek" community profile. Folks who take the time and money to attend conventions are going to be a pretty committed lot. I would think the percentage of people who like this kind of content like us don't often attend conventions or big gatherings and so you see a more extreme side of the demographic at them.

[Rico]

My point in bringing up the cons was for two reasons.  First, to point out this type of "stereotypical geek" certainly does exist out there - and in a fair percentage.  The second maybe bigger point, is this tends to be where the general public sees us "geeks out playing."  So this drives their perceptions.  Which makes it even harder to reverse some of the stereotypes that have persisted.

[Bryancd]

My point in bringing up the cons was for two reasons.  First, to point out this type of "stereotypical geek" certainly does exist out there - and in a fair percentage.  The second maybe bigger point, is this tends to be where the general public sees us "geeks out playing."  So this drives their perceptions.  Which makes it even harder to reverse some of the stereotypes that have persisted.

Yeah, that certainly is where the media will go to document geek culture and pass the more extreme cases off as the norm.

[sheldor]

Haha - this week Sheldons WoW account is hacked.   Ohhh...I can relate.

[Rico]

Awesome!

The Big Bang Theory 4x19 Promo "The Zarnecki Incursion"

[Rico]

Don't forget - new episode tonight (3/31/11).  See clip above.