Film Studies
The Big Bang Theory is the best sitcom based on nerd culture. Based on the plot of the story, the four characters in the sitcom named Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper, Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali. All of the main characters are certified geeks and work a Caltech as they engage in their science-related jobs. This is opposed to the other fifth character, Penny who is an aspiring actress and a waitress by profession and quite known for her common sense. The main theme of the show is physics and the dialogue of the four geek characters is mostly focused on news and scientific theories. At the same time, they exchanged jokes which revolve on the science subject. The usual banter of the main characters revolves on Star Trek, Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica (Kowalski 106).
Based on the plot, the character of Sheldon is a theoretical physicist who works in Caltech and shared an apartment with his best buddy, Leonard who also works in the same company. Sheldon lacks social skills and manifests a strict devotion to a routine. As a nerd, he shows humor and sarcasm at the same time. He feels he is of superior intelligence compared to others and he has been vocal about it for his indifference and lack of empathy. Sheldon can be compared to Aristotle, the Greek philosopher who is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. It will be interesting to look at the character of Sheldon from the point of view of Aristotle because his concept of living well is fulfilled by the very modern geek such as Sheldon (Kowalski 8). Sheldon himself considered his condescending intellect in comparison to the people around him. Although the personality of Sheldon based on his actions can be diagnosed to be suffering from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
On the other hand, Leonard is an equally considered as a geek just like Sheldon, who works in Caltech as an experimental physicist. In the story, Leonard is portrayed as a straight man and has an on-going romantic involvement with Penny. Leonard believes that the best life for a man is the life of an intellect. He believes that working as a physicist means working on knowledge of the entire universe and everything that is contained in the universe (Kowalski 10).
Based on the personalities of the two main characters, the way they both think like Aristotle who has written that “what is proper to each thing is by nature best and most pleasant for each thing” (Kowalski 10). This can be compared the way the 4 nerd characters in the sitcom think because they devote their intellectual activities to the weirdest things that only they can understand.
Since the 4 main characters are engaged in science-related jobs, they share scientific theories and joke about science, fictional characters and the same geeky obsessions (Kowalski 10). They also share the same passion for scientific fictional films such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter since Howard, one of the geeks in the sitcom can speak Sindarin, the language of the elves in the movie.
Works Cited:
Peele, Britton. “Why I like ‘The Big Bang Theory’: A nerd’s defense of the CBS sitcom”. Web.
Kowalski, Dean. The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2012.
Print.
