Sheldon Cooper. Aspie, or offensive parody?

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http://eztv.it/shows/325/community/

It inspires much, e.g. http://juststimming.wordpress.com/2012/ ... -like-you/

I haven't even seen the show and that post is giving me chills.

I've seen one "person who moves like me" on TV. Parker on Leverage. She's not diagnosed on-screen either, but when she's in the background of any scene, she's kind of zoning out or wandering a bit just like I do. And she relates everything to her obsession/chosen career of cat burglar. And when she's in the foreground, she'll occasionally move the wrong way or even bump into someone. And...

You know what... I think she needs her own thread.

I love Sheldon; he was what originally pulled me into the show above all else.

And guys...the show parodies the entire geek community.

They even did a stereotype on the "keeping a toy mint in the box" thing with a Star Trek transporter toy.

As a die-hard toy fanatic, I can tell you that not all toy fanatics/geeks are obsessed with keeping toys mint in box. That's a popular stereotype in many cases actually started by rumors and the non-geek community long before it got completely attached to us.

My point is....the whole show is making fun of stereotypes of the geek community, and it's funny as hell!

I raised this whole Sheldon is Aspie thing last year and got no response? I guess it's not what you know but who you know on this forum....

There's plenty of traits that Sheldon expresses that are decidedly Aspie but could also be OCD. I suspect the creators of this character wanted an uber-geek and used Aspie (little professor) traits to characterize Sheldon but avoided labeling him to avoid causing offense. Rather clever character development.

Well, I think part of the reason is because they know they're gonna offend someone either because a lot of folks can get very easily offended....or because the traits won't be written properly.


After all, look what happened with that episode of Parenthood; it was easily one of the most insulting experiences I've ever had the displeasure of seeing. And it wasn't even the Autistic kid that was the problem. All the characters were insanely shallow, and the whole situation was played as though he had a terrible terminal disease that he'd always be stuck with....and then they all got high, and while the kid being Autistic was looked down on, getting stoned off their asses was considered a cute passing fancy.

The reality is....Hollywood doesn't really know how to write differences very well, and they never have. I remember when the Nostalgia Critic was talking about the '90s not writing gays very well, and then I also have to remember how misrepresenting Dustin Hoffman did as Rain Man--and he won an Academy Award for that fer chrissake.

I even remember an episode of Step By Step where they found out JT had dyslexia; even that got played so idiotically at the end of the episode.

I think the only time it was written well was in an episode of Arthur.

It's best not to label Sheldon, and leave it for us to decide.

Hell, Dr. Egon Spengler seems to have a very strong Autistic vibe to him, but they just say he's a really smart guy.

There was one other character I remember associating with very well from either a TV show or a movie, but I can't remember at the moment.

He talks too well all the time to have an ASD (the reciprocal interaction is too good). Wouldn't make for an interesting show if all he did was lecture and avoid everything else though. He also likes far too many things at once, i.e., not narrow enough in his interests.

I can see how they try to interject symptoms of such into the character though, especially as it progresses through the seasons.

I can't relate all that much.

I think it's also to make him a very appealing character for viewers of the show in general

O yeah, of course.

I find Sheldon adorable, primarily because of his severe aspie traits. Yes, he is extremely egocentric and has abominable theory of mind to the point that he inadvertently insults everyone he encounters, but he does it with such charming oblivion that I can't help but love him. Of course, if I actually had to live with a person like him, it would probably be a different story... I don't find the portrayal of his character offensive at all, in fact I rather like the fact that NT's are starting to mainstream our existence into the media, as it means that they recognise who we are and that we are different but still worthy of attention.

Sheldon was okay at first, but as the show got more popular people were constatly camparing me to him and my parents even started expected me to act the same way as him. Now I'm constatly be made fun of and being insulted because of him. I really wish they would cancel the show.

I don't really think the show is the problem in this case, good sir. You're going after the wrong thing; don't be Don Quixote here

Everyone's got it wrong! Kinda

Asperger, as a neuroligical condition, exsisted long before the medical diagnosis AND it's only been LESS than 20 years that schools have been finding kids with aspergers.

I believe the author didn't know that the REAL life person that Sheldon is based on had aspergers.

There's nothing in the water that's causing an increase in anything. Before people knew what ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety bipolar, asperger's or any other condition, schools had high drop out rates and CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Yeah... That how schools dealt with, "wierd" kids.




I'm studying special education and secondary education. Like it or not, one of the best tools for me to understand aspergers has been sheldon cooper, my professor showed youtube scenes of sheldon in class. He's really been a blessing for me, and he's funny.

Sheldon Cooper would be OK if he didn't become an equivalent of an Aspie for some people.

Sheldon is fine! Long before I knew what AS was, someone compared me to him. Once I watched the show and learned of AS, I sort of put two and two together and Googled "Sheldon Aspergers" and found out that indeed there was a correlation. The character is actually part of the reason I came to think it may be true of me. Sorry, but I am not easily offended and if I knew Sheldon in real life I would probably act in a way similar to how the other characters do towards him. I don't see it as hateful but rather as a way of swatting a fly that has become annoying (let's face it- aspies in extremis can get on your nerves-even if you happen to be one!). In the end, they all still choose to associate with him and all of the characters grow from the social experiences with each other-including Sheldon. Plus, no one bullies him and he always seems to get the last laugh.

As a huge BBT fan, Sheldon being my favorite, I can at least say from some research that the head writer of teh show has a son with Aspergers and that, though Sheldon has many AS traits, they will neither confirm nor deny that Sheldon has AS. In fact Jim Parson has read his fair share on AS as a result of his role. It wouldn't be so far off to imagine that Sheldon is an undiagnosed AS adult. Still this is all silly speculation. Sheldon is a great character and I love the show!

Saying Sheldon's a good representation of an aspie is like saying that Penny's a good representation of blonds. Or women. Can aspies be like Sheldon? Yes. Can women/blondes be like Penny? Yes. Are all aspies like Sheldon? No. Are all women/blondes like Penny? No. Ultimately, they're both sitcom characters. Their personalities are both based on stereotypes blown way out of proportion to reality with a few funny/unique quirks thrown in. Sure, Sheldon may "be" and aspie, but he's about as much of an aspie as he is a real person. ;D