I'm a vegetarian, except for fish, and the occasional steak. I LOVE STEAK!!: The analysis of sexuality of Penny

 

More often then some would like to say, women are marginalized in the media.  Whether it is in the news or as just a love interest in TV shows or movies. For instance, like in When Harry Met Sally. Yet, there is a shift in society and some TV shows and movies, to show women as more than a love interest. Women are becoming CEO's and there are more women getting college degrees. More women are becoming empowered to what they want.  

   On The Big Bang Theory, as a regular character, Penny is known as the air head girl.  She is the typical superficial girl.  She is free loading, uses her looks to get places, and she loves to speak her mind.  Penny is very outgoing and not educated, which looks bad compared to the other characters in the show.  Yet, she gets by on her common sense.  Penny contributes to what is normal about girls on TV, but also challenges it. 

    Penny is a character that is susceptible to marginalization.  The Big Bang Theory passes two out of three questions in the Bechdel test.  According to Feminist Frequency. com the Bechdel test works like this,

"Here’s how it works, a movie just has to pass these three simple questions: the first, are there two or more women in it who have names, the second, do they talk to each other, and the third, do they talk to each other about something other then a man (feministfrequency.com)."

The Big Bang Theory answers two of these questions.  It has two or more girls on the show.  They are Penny, Bernadette, and Amy.  Also it answers, the second question, these girls do talk to each other.  Unfortunately, I can't really say that the trio has talked about much more than men, relationships and sex.  They might sometimes, but not the balk of their conversations.  This means that The Big Bang Theory fails this test.

     Penny challenges the norms for patriarchal by being strong willed.  The patriarchal norms for women would be submissive and are often portrayed in submissive poses.  For instance, lying down and bending their knees.  When heterosexual couples are shown the man is often taller an implied power difference.  Also, media often portrays women with the common trait of “licensed withdrawal”.  This is where women appear to be distracted-avoiding eye contact, withdrawing their attention, and day dreaming (Hodkinson 222).

     Penny challenges this in her relationship with Leonard.  Penny often proves Leonard wrong with her common sense and doesn’t really take a lot of his crap.  When Penny and Leonard are together they are on the same playing field.  Penny never is really in a submissive position.  She is seen as an equal, which would challenge this ideal.   Penny is often portrayed with the rest of the cast as in the center.  She is often surrounded by the other male cast members and is in a sense of power in the middle of everyone. Penny and Leonard are about the same size.  So there is no implied power difference.  In the Penny and Leonard relationship Leonard would be the one with the common trait of “licensed withdrawal”.  This is because Penny is very outgoing and will speak her mind.  When Leonard is a little shy and will be the first to avoid eye contact with someone or with drawl attention because he is scared or embarrassed.  Penny is often treated as an object, yet her outgoing personality helps her.

    The male gaze is how men portray women in the media as objects.  In The Big Bang Theory, Penny is portrayed as an object by the way her boyfriend’s treat her.  To the boys that Penny hooks up with, she is just an object.  In one of the episodes Penny says that her now ex-boyfriend posted their sex life on a blog site.  The man that she was dating treated Penny as an object.  Now, Penny is not a girl that would take this.   Her character stands up for herself by throwing the man’s IPod out the window and calling him a "Self-centered BASTARD".  Penny sands up for herself yet in this episode she was portrayed as an object. 

        Penny is a great example of a character that is portrayed as being very famine and a typical girl.  Yet, Penny’s strong willed personality and almost bully persona stops her from being objectified and when she does get objectified she stands up for herself.  Whitch usually means she uses her outgoing personality to speak her mind.  

"I'm Batman": The Public View of Dr. Sheldon Copper

      

 In today's society, if you are looked as "different" two things can happen.  The first is that, people accept you for your difference and in brace it.  The second is, that you are exiled and no one accepts you.  That is everyone's fear: this idea that you do not belong in any social group or that you will not have friends.  In The Big Bang Theory the character Sheldon Copper does not fit in with the norm of society. Dr. Sheldon Copper is extremely smart, smarter than most of his colleagues and the general population.  Also, Sheldon has OCD (obsession compulsive disorder) and has some forms of autism.  In some people’s eyes he would not be able to get over this and would not be able to function in society.  Yet, Sheldon over comes this and with the help of his friends is able to function properly in society.

  Sheldon often shows his disabilities.  A lot of the time his OCD comes out. This evident in the show when Sheldon has to sit somewhere specific or how everything needs to be organized.  Sheldon is not just prone to being OCD with organization but also with germs and he sometimes has to say or do things three times.  We can see this with his knocking ritual.  Penny is often the receiver of this and she almost makes light of it.  Adding comedic relieve to Sheldon’s OCD.  Also, Sheldon does not pick up on certain social cues like sarcasm.  Often throughout the shows Sheldon asks his roommate Leonard, or people in his group of friends if someone is being sarcastic or not.  He does not understand sarcasm and he takes everything people say seriously.  Like when Penny asks, "What kind of doctor removes shoes from people's ass?" (TBBT)  Sheldon replies by spitting off a list of doctors that could do that.  It takes Leonard holding up a sarcasm sign for Sheldon to get it.  Lastly, Sheldon often struggles because he has no filter.  I don’t believe that this has anything to do with his disabilities.  I think that it’s just because he is too smart.  Sheldon often makes people mad because he takes them too literally and often corrects them. 

   Now, you would think that all of this would make someone like Sheldon Copper have no friends, but that is the complete opposite.  Those that surround Dr. Copper treat him as any member of society.  They create a sense of community that almost protects Sheldon.  They accept him for his down falls and yes, they make fun of it.  This is what I think the writers of the Big Bang Theory were going for.  Bring the idea of autism and OCD into society and show it for what it really is.  Changing the public opinion of how people view those with these disabilities.  That yes, people with disabilities like Sheldon Copper's have problems being in society, but they can function.  Heck, Sheldon Copper is a Physicist.  This goes to show that those with disabilities are able to function in society with help from those in their community. 

Please enjoy this montage of great Sheldon Copper moments.

“A neutron walks into a bar and asks how much for a drink. The bartender replies, ‘For you, no charge: The Ideology of NERDS

     In today's society  Ideologies are all around us. The Dominant Ideologies of today's society are basically stereotypes.  That the mother of the house has to stay in the house, or the man is the main bread winner, are a few.  In our time of pop culture we have had our fair share of "nerds" in sitcoms. Starting with  Steve Urkel's high pants, wide glasses and clumsy ways  on Family Matters, or Screech's  awkward ways on Saved By the Bell. Sitcoms have made it hard for us not to have a permanent ideology of what a "nerd" should be.  The Big Bang Theory emphasis and challenges the ideology of "nerds".
     The Big Bang Theory encompasses  what in today's society is know as a "nerd".  Characters like Raj show the ideology that "nerds" can't talk to girls. Raj is a smart guy from India that has a complex that he can't even talk when girls are around. Howard is the comic book "nerd".  He is the "nerd" that we think of that has no friends.  Howard lives with his mother and doesn't have an "actual" degree, well in his friends minds he doesn't.  Also, you can say Howard is the ladies man.  Yet, you kind of have to get ladies in order to be a ladies man.  All Howard does is hit on girls in a creepy way that freaks them out. This is the "nerd" like Screech or Urkel that can talk to girls, but they just aren't any good at it.  Sheldon is the "nerd" stereotype that is to smart for his own good.  I know we all have that one friend that is so smart that they have no common sense, that is Sheldon.  Often he makes people mad because in the middle of the conversation he will correct them for something a normal person wouldn't catch.  Finally, Leonard is the exception to the rule.  He challenges the Ideologies of what a  "nerd" is.  Leonard is semi good looking, he is smart, and has the most common sense in the whole group.  Not only that, but he gets the hot girl.  That would be Penny of course, the girl who lives across the hall. Leonard's friends represent the common ideology for a "nerd".  Telling him that there is no way in the world that he can get Penny.  Yet, in the end it still happens. Leonard changes the way we see how a "nerd " should be. Like displayed in the Go Daddy Super Bowl ad, "nerds" can get hot girls it just doesn't always happen.  Leonard is still very awkward and weird.  He still gets nervous around girls and sometimes he is to smart for his own good.  Yet, he challenges the ideology of what we believe a "nerd" should be.
    Even though The Big Bang Theory builds on the ideology of what a "nerd" is.  It also challenges it in a way that makes us reconsider what a "nerd" really is.

Article 1, Section 3, The Right to Call an emergency meeting: The Narrative analysis of TBBG

 When it comes to sitcoms, a lot of them have the same story line. In some way there is a villain and a hero, who most of the time butt heads and are there for comical relief or the villain is actually there to make the hero’s life worse.  The Big Bang Theory has its own problems that are solved throughout the show or each episode. The cast though, seems to take on each role of the Narrative Analysis.  The Cast of The Big Bang Theory covers all the bases of an Narrative analysis,  their roles change.  There is not just one central false hero or donor it changes based on the situation.

   The Big Bang Theory is a TV Comedy that follows the lives of a group of friends that all happen to be nerds.  The narrative analysis of this show is a little  different from other Comedy sitcoms.  The show has a villain or an antagonist (Sheldon).  Sheldon likes to make his roommates' (Leonard), the hero, life a living hell.  Sheldon with his crazy roommate rules makes Leonard want to kill him.  Leonard looks for advice in his two best friends (Raj and Howard).  Raj and Howard act as the donor, the helper, the dispatcher and false hero.  The reason I say this is because in different situations Raj and Howard play different roles.  If Raj, Howard, and Leonard are all trying to get the same girl, the trio plays the role of a false hero.  Raj, Howard and Leonard work to undermine each other in order to get the upper hand.  Now, in the idea of the princess there could be a few.  Sometimes the next door neighbor (Penny) could use saving. In other situations and in newer episdoes you could have Bernadette and Amy could pose as damsel in distress.  For the sake of time we'll just say Penny is the princess   Penny's situations revolve around boys or everyday life.  Leonard, try's to save her every time. Most of the time Leonard fails or Penny safes herself.  This is because Leonard is always looking for an opportunity to ask her out. When this happens Penny seeks advice from Sheldon who then confuses her when trying to help her. Sheldon is still the villain because sometimes he doesn't help Penny at all he just insults her intelligence.  

 In the show the narrative analysis changes based on the situation. The Big Bang Theory is just this, each character changes based on the situation. They are like a normal group of friends.  This is what happens in real life.  Which is what TV is becoming, reality.    

I'm Not Insane My Mother Had Me Tested: The Influence of Digital Media

   In an age where technology is the center of everything, TV programs haven't been shy to take advantage of a great personal way to connect with their fans.  Before the interactivity of digital media, there was just a one-way form of communication between the producers and the audience.  Now in we have moved into an age of cool media where you can tweet at your favorite TV show like The Big Bang Theory.
   The fans of The Big Bang Theory a CBS comedy show, that follows the lives of a group of friends, that happen to be "nerds".  The convergence of mass media has give the fans of The Big Bang Theory the opportunity to take their fandom to a new level.  Not only can the fans by shirts with Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite saying, Bazinga,  but they can interact with the characters of the  show.  Fans do this in two ways.  One would be using Twitter.  Twitter is the new top dog in social media.  Almost every  major corporation, celebrity, or show has a Twitter and the Big Bang Theory is no exception.  The Big Bang Theory has their own twitter page that offers many opportunities for fans to show their excitement for the show.  Not even that, but viewers can interact with  the actors  by Tweeting at them through Twitter.  Fans would want to interact with their favorite actor because it makes the fans feel as if they are part of the show.  The more the fans feel like their part of the show the more they will watch.  Fans want to be in the drama and feel like they actually are friends with the actors.   That's the reason that people tweet at the actors, it gives them a sense that they know them personally.  Not only do social media sites give TV shows the opportunity to connect with their fans, but with the development of the internet gives fans the chance to show their fandom on fan pages.  Fan pages were not possible until the development of the internet.  The Big Bang Theories fan page  gives the fans the chance to answer trivia questions, take polls, look at photos of the cast and talk with other fans about the shows.
  The creation of  multi-media and the internet  helps viewers and fans of shows to watch and interact with he characters of the Big Bang Theory.  Now because of the convergence of  digital media  fans now can relive and talk about every quirky saying of Dr. Sheldon Copper and parts of the show like this one.
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