# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/101 "2013-01-07T15:37:00Z")
A few people have mentioned incidents from the same episode, “The Grasshopper Experiment.” It makes me wonder if they payed attention. This is the episode (the first Raj-centric one, IIRC) where Raj’s parents set him up on a date, and where Sheldon sings the “Jewish song.” If you’re going to have a character from India, do you have to avoid any and all references to his culture, lest it be racist? Arranged marriage may be the most easily accessible and obvious aspect, but it is still a thing in real life. The arrangement itself isn’t being mocked (Sheldon defends the practice), it’s a plotline other jokes are built around, mainly how much of a douchebag Raj is when drunk. And speaking of arranged marriages, the subject in that episode brought the three American guys to talking about how much they all love _Fiddler on the Roof_, which is why Sheldon is singing “To Life” at the end of the show. He sings it because he loves it. Sheldon also is shown being enraptured by Raj’s date due to a resemblance to a princess in an illustrated Indian folktale book he loved as a child. All in all, “The Grasshopper Experiment” is an example of how non-racist the show is. The most offensive thing in the whole episode is Penny spiking Sheldon’s drinks. ---
**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, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/102 "2013-01-07T15:46:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > TIL meta-satire about pop culture = geekdom. > Seriously, BBT is an absolute flop of a show, but I think the two are pulling from completely different wells. TIL? Anyway, yeah, they’re pulling from different wells, absolutely. Superficially there are some similarities, though, and that’s what I was talking about. I think Community succeeds–at least for me–while BBT leaves me flat. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/103 "2013-01-07T15:50:52Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > Leonard is the only character that seems to written as human. He has emotions, and desires, and the capability for deep introspection (as much as a sitcom character can). You’re joking, right? Because Leonard is a total asshole, especially the way he relates with women. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/104 "2013-01-07T15:56:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Excuse me? BBT is the most watched network TV show. It is hardly a “flop.” Oh, you only use flop in the sense of monetary failure, I see. No, it makes a lot of money, you’re correct but it’s an absolute disaster of a show. TIL=Today I Learned ---
**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, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/105 "2013-01-07T15:59:36Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > A few people have mentioned incidents from the same episode, “The Grasshopper Experiment.” It makes me wonder if they payed attention. This is the episode (the first Raj-centric one, IIRC) where Raj’s parents set him up on a date, and where Sheldon sings the “Jewish song.” > > If you’re going to have a character from India, do you have to avoid any and all references to his culture, lest it be racist? Arranged marriage may be the most easily accessible and obvious aspect, but it is still a thing in real life. The arrangement itself isn’t being mocked (Sheldon defends the practice), it’s a plotline other jokes are built around, mainly how much of a douchebag Raj is when drunk. > > And speaking of arranged marriages, the subject in that episode brought the three American guys to talking about how much they all love _Fiddler on the Roof_, which is why Sheldon is singing “To Life” at the end of the show. He sings it because he loves it. > > Sheldon also is shown being enraptured by Raj’s date due to a resemblance to a princess in an illustrated Indian folktale book he loved as a child. All in all, “The Grasshopper Experiment” is an example of how non-racist the show is. > > The most offensive thing in the whole episode is Penny spiking Sheldon’s **drinks**. My impression was that their inability to drink was based on their race, not their nerdism. And for the record, nerds, depending on their body weight, can drink as much as anybody else at the same weight. I also know nerds that can smoke twice as much marijuana as a non-nerd. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/106 "2013-01-07T15:59:48Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Oh, you only use flop in the sense of monetary failure, I see. No, it makes a lot of money, you’re correct but it’s an absolute disaster of a show. TIL “absolute disaster of a show” = “show I don’t like.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/107 "2013-01-07T16:01:14Z")
I don’t know how anyone gets “girls are dumb” from the show. Besides all the brilliant women that came in as the show went on, Penny is far from dumb. Sure she is not a world class physicist but how many people are? Just about every woman character has been strong and smart. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/108 "2013-01-07T16:01:47Z")
HRHomer: Even though you are exaggerating the flaws, those flaws are necessary for any/every show. If you had pleasantly agreeable characters with zero shortcomings, what an insipidly boring show that would make for. YouWithTheFace: I don’t understand how intellectual arrogance, selective mutism, oedipal attachment, and fish-out-of-water “tropes” constitute racism/misogyny. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/109 "2013-01-07T16:04:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > She was clearly written as a bimbo and was on the show as eye candy. _Was_, perhaps. There was definitely a shift in tone in how the character was written and presented from the early episodes of the first season. Even Kaley Cuoco’s acting voice was different - higher and more breathy. An article [that discusses this](http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/01/how_degazing_saved_the_big_ban.html). ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/110 "2013-01-07T16:06:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > TIL “absolute disaster of a show” = “show I don’t like.” Yep. You can watch it if you like, but I’m not going to pretend that it’s a worthwhile artistic endeavor. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/111 "2013-01-07T16:13:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You’re joking, right? Because Leonard is a total asshole, especially the way he relates with women. Hey, you may be right - I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head, but it might be because Leonard is so milquetoast that he fades from the screen. ---
**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, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/112 "2013-01-07T16:17:57Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Aren’t all of them incredible losers at least on one level? Yes. Something they share with virtually all sitcom characters. (Actually, probably with virtually all real people.) > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Excuse me? BBT is the most watched network TV show. It is hardly a “flop.” > > You can have your own opinion that you hate it. But you cannot have your own facts. It is hardly a flop with the Doper community either. It clearly has a lot of fans on here, as can be seen in numerous threads analyzing the show’s minutiae. However, there are also a number of others who think that the fact that they dislike it somehow proves that they superior. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/113 "2013-01-07T16:22:43Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > However, there are also a number of others who think that the fact that they dislike it somehow proves that they superior. You say that like it’s a Bad Thing. 😛 Come on, that’s a failing most of us (here and IRL) are heir to. There is always _something_ you can find that you don’t like that gives a little feeling of superiority over those who do like it, be it mayo vs Miracle Whip, over vs under, football vs football, dogs vs cats, or whatever. It’s just in this case, the people who don’t like BBT are moral degenerates. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/114 "2013-01-07T16:23:54Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > My impression was that their inability to drink was based on their race, not their nerdism… What does “inability to drink” mean? ---
**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, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/115 "2013-01-07T16:26:26Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > What does “inability to drink” mean? They show signs of being drunk after less than a few sips. Iirc, Raj got “drunk” on placebo, non-alcoholic drinks too. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/116 "2013-01-07T16:27:41Z")
So basically what you all are saying is that American television has to be watered down crap that levels everyone to the same playing field because _insert Deity here_ forbid we let someone be beautiful, Jewish, another nationality, smart, neurotic, socially maladjusted for fear that someone else watching will be offended? Gah… I’m going back to my DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/117 "2013-01-07T16:29:06Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yep. You can watch it if you like, but I’m not going to pretend that it’s a worthwhile artistic endeavor. Don’t think I’ve seen more than five minutes at a stretch, and I wasn’t impressed with what I saw. Other than that, I’ve only seen the jokes they show in the previews. I was willing to entertain the possibility that the show was actually really hilarious and for unknown reasons, they selected the worst jokes for the previews - but **Superhal** ’s list is supposed to represent some of their best quotes, I’m going to go with my initial gut instinct that the show sucks. (And not because of racism.) ---
**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, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/118 "2013-01-07T16:37:32Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > My impression was that their inability to drink was based on their race, not their nerdism. Their? Sheldon is a Caucasian American from a Texas white-trash family, hardly a demographic noted for being unable to hold their liquor. Sheldon, as someone who is normally a teetotaler, is shown as behaving directly counter to the stereotype for his “race”. It is news to me, also, that it is part of the racial stereotype of Indians that they cannot hold their liquor. Anyway, Raj’s response to drink is very much about his nerdism rather than his race. It is the flipside of the fact that he is completely unable to speak in the presence of attractive women when sober, and that is certainly not part of the racial stereotype of Indians, or any other race. It _is_ a comic exaggeration of one aspect of the nerd stereotype. So far as I can recall, neither Leonard nor Howard have ever been portrayed as having any particular problem with drink. Penny does sometimes drink to much and get promiscuous. Is that a racial slur on blonde midwesterners? :rolleyes: Really, this is getting silly. You are just throwing random mud and hoping no-one will notice that it doesn’t stick. ---
**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, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/119 "2013-01-07T16:41:23Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > So basically what you all are saying is that American television has to be watered down crap that levels everyone to the same playing field because _insert Deity here_ forbid we let someone be beautiful, Jewish, another nationality, smart, neurotic, socially maladjusted for fear that someone else watching will be offended? > > Gah… I’m going back to my DVDs. I think what we’re saying that this particular very popular American television show is, in fact, an excellent example of watered down crap. So I guess you were pretty close? ---
**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, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243/120 "2013-01-07T16:49:01Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > They show signs of being drunk after less than a few sips. > > Iirc, Raj got “drunk” on placebo, non-alcoholic drinks too. Actually on the placebo Raj did not become obnoxious in the way he does after too many drinks. He was actually able to successfully charm a beautiful celebrity actress before Howard screwed things up for him, and sent him back mute again, by letting him know that the stuff he was drinking was non-alcoholic. Please at least try to get your facts about the show right, or are all your negative opinions about it based on falsehoods? Actually, my impression is that, even with real alcohol, Raj has a sweet spot where, after maybe one drink, or even just a few sips, he is able to speak to women and be normal or even charming. The trouble is that he has not yet learned to stop drinking at that point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-big-bang-theory-racist/646243.md?page=7)