[ SECRET POST #3433 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3433 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.

__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.













Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 57 secrets from Secret Submission Post #491.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't seen the show in forever and dgaf about spoilers, can someone please tell me why people in this thread keep calling Bernadette an abusive sociopath? I'll flip a table if the show has actually stomped on her character, but I used to see people call Bernadette an abusive bitch for making Howard do his own laundry and insisting he move out of his mother's house so....

OP

[(Anonymous)]

She isn't an "abusive sociopath" but it's always been clear that she's meant to parallel his mother.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Howard's mother was never as aggressive or mean-spirited as Bernadette. She yelled a lot, but there was seldom any real malice behind it. More often, the comedy came from the fact that she was out of touch with everyday life and confused/oblivious about what was actually going on. She seemed to be frozen in time, thinking Howard was still a schoolboy and referring to the other characters as "your little friends", etc.

And yes, B. is an abusive sociopath.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

She was incredibly passive aggressive. And I get that some of that was the whole Jewish Mother thing (I had a grandmother who would do a lot of the same things) but she took it to an extreme.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think B. is really very similar to Howard's mother at all. She's much worse. And they really ramped-up the Oedipus Complex jokes after the arrival of Bernadette, because they didn't know what the fuck else to do with her character.

Rauch has a grand total of three or four facial expressions and is one of the least interesting, least convincing actresses I have ever seen on mainstream television. Watching her interact with Helberg is like watching a human being interact with a Muppet. She doesn't belong in the same zip code with him.

[(Anonymous)]

Early-seasons Howard was not a helpless, lazy manchild. He lived at his mother's house, but it was pretty clear that he took care of *her*, as much or more than vice-versa. He was never the stereotypical "lazy slob husband" like King of Queens or whatever.

Married Howard is a whole different character. The idea that he's lazy and just waiting for some woman to come along and do everything for him is OOC and it's a retcon. They've basically turned him into Al Bundy or Homer Simpson and that's NOT was his character was like in the pre-Bernadette days.

Bernadette is incredibly verbally abusive and likes telling H. that he's a worthless idiot whose career and accomplishments mean nothing. She wants to control and micro-manage every little tiny aspect of his life. She manipulates and bullies him.

(and it's really only in North America that multi-generational households are considered strange or that you're a loser if you don't move out on the very day you turn 18. In the rest of the world, adult children staying "home" to care for their aging parents is not only normal, it's nearly required. I know this from first-hand experience of living outside the US.)

Say what you will about Seasons 1&2 Howard, but he was never irresponsible or lazy. That's a total retcon, because BBT wants to be The Honeymooners, now.

Nobody becomes an aerospace engineer or graduates from MIT by being lazy and passive or expecting others to do their work. The writers have destroyed Howard's character because they want to do the typical "bickering spouses" routine with him and Bernadette.

"Lazy husband, bitchy wife" has been a staple of comedy since the days of radio . BBT's writers have abandoned the original personalities of these characters and turned them into stock sitcom characters.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, maybe some backsteps, but I wouldn't go so far as all that. He's shown to take his education more seriously insofar as seeking further degrees, and the death of his mother has hit him hard. Someone mentioned above that his mom seemed like she was frozen in time with him, well likely that was from the trauma of her husband leaving, and Howard is having a similar reaction now.

[(Anonymous)]

"He's shown to take his education more seriously insofar as seeking further degrees"

And here we go with the ridiculous notion that having a master's degree instead of a Phd means you're basically a peon and working at McDonalds.

The whole "Howard doesn't have Phd" thing is meant to be a JOKE. It's meant to be absurd and comical. There has never been any indication that Howard doesn't take his work seriously.

I gotta love all the Basket Weaving majors and Starbucks employees in this thread, acting like an aerospace engineer from MIT is a slacker because he doesn't have a Phd. That reference is meant to be a JOKE, spoken by an impossible-to-please elitist like Sheldon. It's not meant to be taken at face value.

Lazy Shiftless Howard is a retcon. They've turned him into the typical sitcom husband, like Kevin James or Al Bundy or Homer Simpson. That's the point I'm making, here.

If he weren't made to appear helpless, then he wouldn't need Bernadette and her character would have no function, which is why she sucks. They had to warp Howard's character in order to justify or accommodate her presence on the show.

I don't care about the "Mrs.W's death" storyline or anything else from recent seasons. As I stated upthread, Season 3 or 4 onward is like some type of reboot, as far as I'm concerned. They've been retconning like mad and making radical changes, none of them for the good.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to see all these Tumblrinas with their degrees in Cupcake Discourse or whatever, take their education even half as seriously as this fictional character.

Howard is a genius and he's awesome. Fuck all y'all.