# Is the Big Bang Theory racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243 "2013-01-06T07:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/61 "2013-01-07T06:00:57Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > When I heard the premise, I thought the jokes would be about nerds. I was a nerd, and we had great jokes. I read a list of BBT quotes online, and I thought they were great and those were what I was hoping for. > > In the episode I watched, the skinny one got drunk at the end and sang some kind of Jewish song while playing the piano. Why didn’t he sing the theme song to the TV show Spiderman? Or Shatner’s spoken word Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? These would be funny, nerdy, and non-offensive. > > My point is that the humor is based on racial stereotypes. Real nerd humor is about making you look stupid. It’s highly personalized for the target and the best ones are when you guess the perfect reference that is within the target’s range of knowledge. If you have to explain it, you’ve failed. > > I wanted smart and funny, what I got was lame and offensive. > > [These quotes are great.](http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,259331,00.html) > > But, from what I’ve seen, there’s not many of them in the entire run of the show, and maybe 1 in the two episodes I watched (I believe I saw the “one lab accident away from being a supervillain” line.) …you should watch harder. There are geek references all through every episode. And virtually nothing you could call “offensive.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/62 "2013-01-07T06:01:16Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Why is it offensive to sing a Jewish song? Exactly. Superhal, I think the problem here is that you regard mentioning anything to do with any culture other than your own as being offensive. Og knows why. The problems doesn’t lie with the show, it lies with the relationship between your knee and your chin. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/63 "2013-01-07T06:05:22Z")
> [@Grapefruit](#): > > The jokes are pretty much run-of-the-mill current sitcom type humour. I don’t think the show itself is racist because they tell a few racial/cultural jokes. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re not. I certainly don’t see any integrated racism… like the way they portray the Asian guy on Two Broke Girls (I only saw a clip, but that left a “WTF” taste in my mouth). > > BBT is a show for people to harp about how clever it is just because the writers throw in science/comic book/someone being socially inept references from time to time. People watch so they can say “Oh hey, I’m socially awkward, but I like what these guys like, so this is proof that we’re funny and likeable!” It makes them feel good about themselves. I mean, that’s what sitcoms are supposed to do, but sometimes it gets irritating that people don’t realize it’s not a show for smart people, it’s a show for people who _think_ they are smart. …incorrect: and pretty offensive to boot. Why can’t you simply say “I don’t like the programme”? Why do you have to insult the people who do? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/64 "2013-01-07T07:01:02Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I’d disagree, having seen more episodes. As I said in post #2, it’s easy humor, which is to say, hacky. I’ve never laughed at a single thing on the show, unless groaning now counts as laughter. I’d recommend _Community_ for people who like geeky humor, but it’s been my experience _BBT_ fans don’t tend to go for it, for whatever reason. _Community_ is certainly the far more _clever_ show. Heck, even _Frasier_ could satisfy nerd-humour more than _BBT_ does. Or perhaps I’m just put off by my random sampling of episodes that contained far too many instances of “let’s introduce yet another neurosis for Sheldon as this episode’s source of conflict.” ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/65 "2013-01-07T08:58:31Z")
Well, I liked it a lot. It was real funny when the man got hit in his balls. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/66 "2013-01-07T09:58:16Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Why is it offensive to sing a Jewish song? Because they’re supposed to be making fun of nerd culture. If I wanted to see Jew bashing, I’d watch John Stewart. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …you should watch harder. There are geek references all through every episode. And virtually nothing you could call “offensive.” Maybe I just got really unlucky in the two episodes I did watch. It’s in syndication now on TBS, so I might give it another chance. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/67 "2013-01-07T09:59:57Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _Community_ is certainly the far more _clever_ show. Heck, even _Frasier_ could satisfy nerd-humour more than _BBT_ does. Or perhaps I’m just put off by my random sampling of episodes that contained far too many instances of “let’s introduce yet another neurosis for Sheldon as this episode’s source of conflict.” I’ve never seen it, but I can tell already that I would love it if only for Senor Chang. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/68 "2013-01-07T10:53:22Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Because they’re supposed to be making fun of nerd culture. If I wanted to see Jew bashing, I’d watch John Stewart. So you are still unable to articulate why singing a Jewish song is “Jew bashing”, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/69 "2013-01-07T11:01:41Z")
Maybe I’m being overly sensitive. I don’t know. But to me, the Howard character is like something out of _Der Stürmer_. Josef Goebbels couldn’t have written him better. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/70 "2013-01-07T11:13:13Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > So you are still unable to articulate why singing a Jewish song is “Jew bashing”, I take it? Arrgh. Ok. A show is advertised as being about nerd culture. If they poke fun at hannakua, samoan tribal tatoos, hindu religious beliefs, etc. I am not into that. Throw me your favorite joke, and I will racial stereotype such that it is no longer funny to you. Please include your ethnicity just so it will hurt that much more. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/71 "2013-01-07T11:16:26Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 1. Worse than that, the main woman on the show was a bimbo. “Geeks,” the show suggested, “are dudes. Dudes are smart. Chicks are dumb but pretty.” (I understand they introduced a smart girl in a later season; by then they’d lost me as a viewer). > [@Sevencl](#): > > I don’t think it’s fair to accuse a show of saying “girls are dumb” because the only female main character at the time happened to be dumb. But she wasn’t. She looks like a bimbo but it is pretty clear very early on that she is not dumb at all. She’s not a scientist (neither is most of the world, duh), but… ah. Maybe the problem is that I did live with a few real bimbos. Their memories make Penny look like the smartest person in the world. She knows when she’s being insulted with big words (my former housemates wouldn’t have) and doesn’t accept it, and while she does dumb things sometimes (who doesn’t?) she’s conscious of it. The joke is on you guys. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/72 "2013-01-07T11:17:03Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I like it, though I havent seen all that many episodes. My wife watches it though, and I’ve caught a few and found them humorous. I think what people in this thread are viewing as ‘racist’ is really what a lot of technical people and nerds\geeks actually act like. To me the funniest thing is how the scientist guy looks down his nose at the engineer…which has been my experience though much of my working life. If they had some EE’s disparaging IT engineers and assuming they knew more about networks because they have a ‘real’ degree it would be pretty much spot on. 😛 It may lack engineers looking down on other types of engineer, but it has the theoretical physicist looking down not only on the engineer, but also on the experimental physicist (not to mention all branches of science apart from physics). And I think you probably do have to be quite a nerd to really get the joke in that. The general audience probably only understand it as an aspect of Sheldon’s pervasive narcissism, but it really does reflect (and humorously exaggerate) something real in nerd culture. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/73 "2013-01-07T11:17:35Z")
It’s basically that Howard is both an \*incredible \*loser, and \*incredibly \*Jewish (in the sense of how Jewish culture is perceived by non-Jews). Correlation may not prove causality, but it can strongly imply it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/74 "2013-01-07T11:22:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s basically that Howard is both an \*incredible \*loser, and \*incredibly \*Jewish (in the sense of how Jewish culture is perceived by non-Jews). Correlation may not prove causality, but it can strongly imply it. Arrgh. No. What I am trying to say is that the BBT makes jokes out of offensive racial stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/75 "2013-01-07T11:29:17Z")
No, it thinks offensive racial stereotypes are funny. Not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/76 "2013-01-07T11:29:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Maybe I’m being overly sensitive. I don’t know. But to me, the Howard character is like something out of _Der Stürmer_. Josef Goebbels couldn’t have written him better. Howard’s awfulness has much more to do with him being a nerd than with him being a Jew. Anyway, he is not a villain. He is one of the good guys in the show: the characters you are supposed to end up liking and sympathizing and even identifying with. That is hardly what Dr Goebbels was after. (Admittedly it took me a good deal longer to learn to like Howard than Leonard, Raj or Penny.) ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/77 "2013-01-07T11:42:11Z")
edit: Sorry, Alessan is supporting my view, not arguing with me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/78 "2013-01-07T12:00:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Show is hysterical. 4 of the previous 5 posters have zero sense of humor and would be total wet blankets at any social affair whatsoever, and nobody ever wants to sit at their table at lunch, for good reason. You think the show is hysterical? Given that, your assessment of my own sense of humor is…pleasing. Thank you. > [@Nava](#): > > But she wasn’t. She looks like a bimbo but it is pretty clear very early on that she is not dumb at all. She’s not a scientist (neither is most of the world, duh), but… ah. Maybe the problem is that I did live with a few real bimbos. Their memories make Penny look like the smartest person in the world. She knows when she’s being insulted with big words (my former housemates wouldn’t have) and doesn’t accept it, and while she does dumb things sometimes (who doesn’t?) she’s conscious of it. > > The joke is on you guys. Oh. Well, then, ha! ha! ha! She was clearly written as a bimbo and was on the show as eye candy. Not being willing to accept being insulted with big words is pretty weak sauce. Edit: Agreed with folks mentioning Community. Now there’s some REAL geek humor. No more realistic than Big Bang Theory, and also touches on plenty of racial stereotypes, but it’s done in a funny manner. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/79 "2013-01-07T12:01:03Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s basically that Howard is both an \*incredible \*loser, He’s a PhD, married to a gorgeous woman, and a friggin’ astronaut. How do you get “incredible loser” out of that? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/80 "2013-01-07T12:36:47Z")
He’s not a PhD. He’s an engineer, I think he only has a Masters. Anyway, saying “But it is not an accurate representation of either Geek or academic culture” is a very Sheldon-esque response to the show. (And laughing at someone who is clueless enough to express racially or sexually insensitive statements is not the same as laughing at the statements themselves. In the most recent eposode, no one in the audience agrees with Sheldon’s belief that women are hormonally driven bags of emotions. The joke is on _him_, not on the target of his statements.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243.md?page=5)