The Big Bang Theory is insulting to aspies

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That is my favorite show. MAny shows are not based with sheldon as the main character. They dont proove he has aspergers even though he might look like one in the shows.

Sheldon was based on a guy he used to know.

I bet you hate "The Social Network" too

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You all make some good points. While I still don't like the character, everything does deserve to be made fun of. I saw the character as 1-dimensional cause both of the episodes I've seen pretty much all the jokes revolved around his social failures (one was a date, one was him trying to give a presentation I think) but if the character is actually developed beyond that then that's good.

And yes, gay people definitely have it way worse as far as media misrepresentation is concerned.

I love Sheldon.

It's not just Sheldon's social awkwardness that people laugh at. It's also everyone else, like Leonard being a hopeless romantic, Raj being Indian, selectively mute, and feminine, and Howard being a pervert, and Jewish. Even Penny being a bimbo is made fun of. It's a comedy show. People just happen to notice Sheldon a lot more because his character is very lovable. He seems so innocent and naive of the outside world that it's impossible to hate him. I think The Big Bang theory being a popular show is a good thing. A lot more people actually get a picture of how it is to be socially-maladjusted, even if they didn't put a label to Sheldon's character. I've personally had a lot more people tolerate me and sympathize with my "quirks" after watching the show. It was actually my family who told me to watch it, saying that there was a certain character in the show that reminded them so much of me. A lot of people grow up without really seeing social awkwardness as an adult, as most people find a way to hide most of it. They see it when they are kids and usually just label the kid "slow" or "dumb" or "loser" or "a*shole" and they just hold on to that label to adulthood. I think seeing full-on social awkwardness in action as an adult gives them a fresh, different perception of what some awkward people may feel like. Exaggerating these traits on camera puts it under a new light for people to see, and they realize that one of their friends isn't a ret*d after all, he's just a Sheldon Cooper. It's really not his fault. I mean my co-workers never realized how I could usually not understand sarcasm until they saw Sheldon do it. Let's face it: people are raised on pop culture. If it were up to me I'd make everyone I know watch "Adam", "Mozart & The Whale", and "Mary & Max".

I disagree with your assessment of the big bang theory. I enjoy the show and think that Sheldon is accepted by his group of friends. Sheldon does have his own personal quirks, but his character is just one person who might have ASD. No one is rude to him on purpose and the other characters put up with occasional inappropriate behavior from him.

Big Bang Theory is a terrible show in the first place, just like most of the drek that comes out now.

A general point about comedy: Things are funny when taken to the extreme. Many writers take something to the edge and see how far they can push it. Plus, single episodes can't give an accurate image of a character - think Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal: Only by observing something over time can we know where it is going, examining something precisely only tells us where it is now. Likewise, Characters grow and evolve over time, usually by public demand.

On TBBT: Is the show racist because it portrays Raj, the prominent Indan character, in a certain light? Is the show saying "all Indains are like this, let's laugh at them because of it"? No. Similarly, they are not saying "hey, aren't Aspies/Auties funny? Look at them not being normal!". The only Jewish mother is controlling, sarcastic, and obese. I find that offensive! Why should you? It's one character who has had the amusing character traits over-emphasised to a point of absurdity.

The writers wrote a character, not a diagnosis. Leonard is not a narcissistic, socially inept delusional with low self esteem, he is Leonard. I have Asperger's, I am not Asperger's.

1. i think that most people who simply "think" they "have" AS with no formal diagnosis (made imperative due to difficult childhood conditions) do not have AS.
i think there are many self absorbed people who are just enamored of themselves, and many of those may like to point to a genetic "superiority" that they believe they are blessed with, and they have used the mythical assertion that they have AS (which they have simplistically associated with giftedness) in order to "join in" with an intent to bugle their ideas and postulate themselves as unique.

2. the speculation that einstein and newton and and mozart (or any historically memorable contenders for immortality) must have been "autistic" is just a vain notion that people who love themselves too much, and who labor under the misapprehension that "autism is the bastion of geniuses" entertain. (that is a difficult sentence to read correctly sorry)

3. people who are haughtily strident in their promotion of their own personalities will, if they are deluded that they have AS, become very possessive of the rules and regulations that they imagine define AS, and they may strictly reserve their speculation of external sources of information because they have an inflated opinion of their self sufficiency in the task of "finding reality", and then reporting only through a mouthpiece (no earpiece for 2 way communication) what they have "found".

4. i would consider that people such as i have been describing may have "ideas of reference" which is a narcissistic characteristic where people believe that the arrangement of the external world is generated with particular reference to themselves as it's causal inspiration.

5. the characters in "the big bang theory" are simply very eccentric, and the delusion of reference to asperger syndrome is just that. i do not feel as if they are talking on my behalf, and so i do not feel like the audience is laughing at me. i do not think that AS is to be seen in every nook and cranny of eccentricity.

I see where you are coming from. I sometimes think that the show will make people develop "delusioned" thoughts about certain types of people. A few things said in the show do sort of offend me, except because of a few certain things other characters say.
I suppose I can somewhat relate to Sheldon. He is by far my favorite character and nearly nothing he says I think is stupid. Something I'm really envious of about him is that he's able to talk around everyone.

I'm glad The Big Bang Theory exists. It's one of the only shows on TV nowadays that I actually really like! Now there's a new reason for me to watch TV again, even if I watch the episode about Sheldon's made up cousin for the 5th time.