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The Positive Evolution of The Big Bang Theory
Last week, the news broke that the upcoming 12th season of The Big Bang Theory would be its last. Unsurprisingly, the news was met with great joy and jubilation.
The seemingly universal hate for TBBT has always been kind of baffling to me. Since I first started watching the show around season five, it has always been one of my very favorites. I’ve now seen every episode – most more than once. I see why people don’t like it, but I think that there has been a shift away from its original problems as it has progressed.
This is a show that has evolved. The four main male characters have moved away from being sexist, misogynistic, and constantly going after girls, to learning to value women as people. It seems as if the creators of the show noticed these problems in the first four or so seasons and decided to take action to combat it.
In the early seasons the worst offender of this misogyny was Howard. But when he eventually married Bernadette, this detrimental aspect of his personality was almost completely taken away. The change actually started as early as season three, when he first met her. But it was really solidified when they got married. He became a family man and now has two kids. This isn’t to say that he is perfect, by any means. He still doesn’t take responsibility in some areas and tends to coast off his wife’s success. But overall, that is just a character trait of immaturity, instead of misogyny.
Leonard was fairly similar to Howard, just not as bad. But when he entered into a serious and committed relationship with Penny, that aspect was downplayed again. They started officially dating in season six and were married in season eight. He and Penny were shown to be in love and to have genuine respect for each other. Leonard was able to have a good and nurturing relationship with a female that he never really had, due to his poor relationship with his mother and sister.
Around this time also served to add more character development to Penny, who became more than just the dumb blonde. She was given more agency as she got a good job and was able to take care of herself more than she ever was in the past. Instead of being a struggling actress who was constantly considered for roles based on her “hotness,” she developed into a skilled salesperson who earned her job based on merit and not looks. Now, she makes close to, or more money than, her husband Leonard.
In the early seasons of the show, Raj was unable to talk to women without the assistance of alcohol. This wasn’t explicitly misogynistic, but it inherently separated the genders, since Raj was able to talk to men, but not women. It was saying that women were more prizes to be won than people. This was done away with in season six, when Raj finally talked to Penny without being drunk, and thus the show took another step away from their unfortunate roots.
Sheldon even eventually recognized the importance of a woman in his life, when he married Amy at the end of season 11. He never completely took his mother seriously due to their differences in thinking, so the emergence of Amy was important to the development of his character.
Finally, the introductions of Amy and Bernadette in season three added a much stronger female presence that the show was lacking. Prior, it was only the four guys and Penny, who was still very much the dumb blonde trope. But adding the other two was probably the first and most important step in moving away from the misogynistic themes of the show. They were two strong, independent women who were near the top of respectable fields, who were even higher up than their male counterparts in some cases. This was a great and positive step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, it seems many of TBBT haters gave up on the show early on. So many responses I saw to the news of its end were along the lines of, “That show’s still going? Well, I’m happy it’s ending, because it’s terrible.” These people never got to see the positive changes the show went through.
But it is still one of the highest rated shows on TV and has a huge following. Largely because of early-identified problems being addressed, the show will be missed once it is officially off the air.
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