Gamer 'Girls' and Girlfriends in TV series (and some SWTOR publicity fail)
Episode 19 of Season 5 of The Big Bang Theory was for me the straw that broke the camel's back. In case you haven't seen any episode, the series is about a group of scientists who are also nerds, and who hold difficult relationships with various female characters, the main one being a more down-to-earth cheerleader-type woman, Penny, with whom the protagonist, Leonard, falls in love. If that could be considered love, but all right. The only thing you need to know is that this series is profoundly gendered, depicting the prestigious but socially-awkward scientists/nerds in contrast with the unsuccessful-in-her-career but savant-in-the-ways-of-life woman (later on two female characters are added to the mix: Amy, the unfeminine biologist who is as ignorant in life as she is brilliant in the lab; and Bernadette, the silly, twee, caring girlfriend, who is also employed in a lab).
In this episode, the guys are planning a marathon of 48 hours of SWTOR (the game's name is not mentioned, but we are shown a good amount of game clips and screenshots from the shoulders of the characters). I'll come back to the game later. The plot of this episode has something to do with concessions, and how different relationships handle the fine art of yielding and giving permission, being the activity under the girlfriend's scrutiny the only-guys sleepover to play videogames.
I'll be focusing on the gaming part and how it concerns women, not the dynamics of each relationship and the problems they are facing. Likewise, I won't delve into the disappointing advice that Penny gives Amy regarding feminine tools to force their way in a dispute (sex, silence or making a scene - what happened with 'communication'?). My point has to do with Bernadette and how she is portrayed when engaging in the male activity of gaming.
Bernadette had forced Howard to invite her to the boys' party by the terrifying act of suggesting an argument: "What? You don't want me to come?" Then, a succession of facepalming scenes ensue: Bernadette being loud and silly (screaming "Pew Pew Pew") about her DPSing while the guys handle the job silent and professionally; she suggesting that her boyfriend should wear a matching robe so that people in-game knew that they were a couple; and one of the most enraging ones: she being disapproved because of her healing only her boyfriend. She had been automatically placed into a support role by her friends (because, she being a newbie, her decision ought to have been influenced by her peers). In any event, her playing is constantly diminished and mocked by the others, her presence only tolerated because of her boyfriend. By the end of the episode, the girls are convinced into leaving and withdrawing their complaints. And then Raj says "that's the way it is supposed to be: men together, fighting the forces of evil." Alright, I get it, it's a men's club. Women are a hindrance, either harming their game enjoyment with silliness and lack of professionalism, or by asking them to commit to non-enjoyable activities such as visiting their grandmother.
On SWTOR, I found it particularly hilarious that the playing session which the boys are having emphasizes the combat and grouping parts of the game, and makes no comment on the much-praised 'fourth pillar' of storytelling. There's no mention of the story, just hype and excitement about combat and loot: Raj: "When Gandhi advocated his philosophy of non-violence, I bet he didn't know how much fun it was killing stuff", Leonard: "Ok, let's divide up the loot" (wasn't loot auto-assigned, anyways?). A few views on the player's laptops show lightsabers and a female avatar doing some emote. If the gender assumptions weren't reason enough, this tasteless promotion based on precisely the weakest points of a game reassured me I had been watching The Big Bang Theory for too long now.
I'll be absent for a week, and won't be able to check the site during my trip. See you guys and girls soon.
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They did similar stupidities with WoW before.
They once, in a group of four people, aquired the Sword of Azeroth? which was promptly stolen by Sheldon because he is a rogue and immediatly sold on ebay, where it was bought by Howard, as if BoP would not even exist.
Even more disturbing was the episode, where Howard and Bernadette have realtionship problems because.. “You know, how in WoW characters can have sex with each other…”
Very dissapointing for a geek show to not get their facts straight.
And I fully agree with you, the gender stigmas are sadly getting stronger and stronger. Did you know there was an alternate pilot for the show? It had a brown-ponytail-haired female geek/physicist. But apparently it did not go well with the test audience. Could have been interesting how the show turned out.
“It had a brown-ponytail-haired female geek/physicist. But apparently it did not go well with the test audience.”
If it had, I might have been inclined to watch more than the first two episodes… As it is, I only watched S1E2 for confirmation that the outdated and cliché stereotyping was intentional.
I agree overall with your post, but wanted to add a few bits!
1. I recall reading somewhere that amongst TV writers it has become something of an inside joke to get video games as WRONG as they possibly can (such as characters using different controllers or flailing about as they play). BBT has at times been surprisingly close to being accurate…in one episode where Sheldon’s WoW account is hacked he states that he was level 80 and the gladiator’s set of the arena season at the time…even noted that the harness to summon his mount was missing (though had some inaccuracies from there).
2. On one hand, I totally see your view that Raj’s comment at the end put a rather sexist note on it. However I also felt like he had something of a point; looking past the genders, he was looking for some time with his friends (IIRC he suggested the activity and arranged it) and that was taken when the SI’s of those friends insisted on participating or taking a member away. Stripping gender from the issue, it could just as easily play out with a group of women, or a mixed gender group who’s SI’s become involved…I mean, so some degree I felt bad for Raj, who just wanted a weekend with friends, and was feeling lonely as the only one without an significant other.
3. I found myself annoyed by the episode…it raised some poignant issues but dealt with them in a completely archaic way…which is something BBT has done in the past
I think you’re too focused on the Penny character and that one episode. Yes they began with really cliched and stereotypical characters. But then they introduced Leslie, Bernadette, and Amy. The female characters, with the exception of Leslie, are pretty well-rounded.
In particular, you neglect to mention the fact that Bernadette makes more money than Howard reversing a gender role.
In terms of the gaming, the show has put Penny into an MMO where she became hyperfocused, goal-oriented DPS character; she driven to play for hours on end neglecting real life. That is usually a male stereotype.
And you also neglect to mention that Raj played an a stereotyped female role. He has a scene at the end that Penny comments on as an example for a female relationship strategy. Raj also picks low-calories snacks and is concerned about his weight.
The show plays on gender and nerd stereotypes but they often subvert them.
“In particular, you neglect to mention the fact that Bernadette makes more money than Howard reversing a gender role.” It was not relevant to this chapter, I only wanted to analyse the plot of this particular episode. I’ll answer what I think of this anyway. To subvert a stereotypical situation you cannot merely upset the roles, you have to come up with reactions and solutions that adapt to this new situation in a satisfying way. That was not what the writers of TBBT did. They had Howard acquiesce to his “inferiority”, they had Bernadette act reassuringly in the end (which is fine). But in the end it is not only about how the characters managed the situation, but also about who they are and how they relate to the spectator. Howard is directly associated to his mother whenever you think of him; his dependence of her is continuously mocked, and his masculinity questioned. He is no hero to emulate. Whenever a character performs an action, his action is valued against your appreciation of him, and therefore not observed in a void. When it is the emasculated man who performs a deed of any kind, the spectator is more likely to dismiss it, even to view it negatively, based on how she feels about the character. If Howard, being not a paragon of virtues and heroism, reacts to the issue by condescending, the spectator will not regard his reaction as model, but as laughingstock.
In TBBT, I would say that the closest thing to a hero-figure is Leonard, particularly because his character is the least eccentric and more relatable. He even has some instances of “heroism” in which he defies the tyrannical self-centered female who had friendzoned or mistreated him. Usually he is the one who submits to her, because this is comedy, and he has to be the subservient geek, but he is definitely the one the spectator would identify with, specially when amorous heroics are involved.
“In terms of the gaming, the show has put Penny into an MMO where she became hyperfocused, goal-oriented DPS character; she driven to play for hours on end neglecting real life. That is usually a male stereotype.” Yes, but this was not a gender issue, it could account for any MMO-addict, and no reference to her sex is made. I was mostly fine with that episode.
“And you also neglect to mention that Raj played an a stereotyped female role.” I found that part offensive too, specially when he makes a scene and is pointed out by Penny as female-like. The whole feminization-for-mocking of the characters does no favour to anybody. Stereotypes played by the opposite gender are not a move towards egalitarian treatment, but often subverted into a ridicule of the particular genre, as in this case. On top of that, the adherence of Penny to the strategies she lists, subscribing them to the entire feminine genre, was particularly disagreeable.
Well it says a lot about the writers if anything. The comment about Penny and “communication”? Men don’t necessarily like to “communicate”. I’ve tried with my own husband and found that if he doesn’t want to talk about an issue, sex usually makes him more willing to express himself and not just say “I don’t want to talk about it”. I know that isn’t exactly what was implied in this example though. The show implies that just having sex will get the guy to agree to anything in his orgasmic afterglow.
As a female chemist, I can honestly say that I only know one or two female coworkers that are somewhat similar to Amy, but only in look and dress. They are still very capable of figuring out issues related to their relationships and are typically happily married.
But yes, the stigma that we females are somehow the poor players is amusing. Especially when my time in SWTOR consists of my husband AOE’ing on his Jedi Consular and then wondering why the mobs are all beating the crap out of him instead of me (the “tank”).
I don’t really watch Big Bang Theory, though I probably classify as a nerd and people tell me I should. Yet when they tell me about what happens on the show all I can think is ‘well that sounds stupid’. The scene described here is yet another reason to not watch.
Wouldn’t a better, funnier and more accurate story have had Bernadette taking the boys to the cleaner?
Mike.
PS Incidentally my old WoW guild had a boyfriend/girlfriend as a tank/healer combo. She frequently let him die during instances when he did something dumb (either in-game or out) simply because she could.
Well I’ve run into this myself when a friend of mine brought his girlfriend to a gamers night…
We were all like “ah geez… why? well okay if it has to be…” but not because she was a girl (we do have a girl in our gamers circle that just owns us in sniper battles to be honest and is happily welcome in any session we do) but because she was not familiar with the game..
we planned on a night full of “good’ol’days” battlefield 1942 and halo CE 5 on 5 battles, and she just kind of ruined it because we wanted to seriously and competitively battle this night..
well, we couldn’t because we had to address that she wouldn’t have fun this way, so we just casually showed her the exploits of the maps, or guided her through helicopter flying and stuff.
It WAS fun that night, but different.. and I can definately understand why somebody could get upset about a newbie in their gaming circle..
not because she’s a girl.. just because she’s new and you can’t just play the way you would be playing if she wasn’t there…
and it’s likely that such a person is a girl I think…
That is absolutely normal. Who doesn’t like to have an all-veterans session? Whenever a new member comes into an exclusive club of people who know each other for long, there is going to be some condescending with the newest member, and the plans will have to adapt to it for the sake of everybody’s enjoyment; but as you said, the experience can be enjoyable too. My criticism was of the way TBBT handled the addition of a newbie, mocking and infantilizing Bernadette.
The Big Bang theory always has been a mystery to me. It’s liked by quite a few of my nerd friends, but I think of myself as a nerd to, and I never got into it. In fact, I watched two random episodes a long time ago (from season 1 probably, maybe 2), and was totally put off.
Maybe the series and me started off on the wrong foot, but I had the feeling that the portrayal of the characters was so over-the-top-stereotyped that instead of laughing with me, the show was designed to laugh at me. And the non-nerds in the show were just cringe-worthy in their own right.
I like to make fun of myself, and I don’t mind people making fun of me, if I know them. But TBBT always left me with a sour aftertaste, and your description of that episode is a perfect example why.
I just found out about your blog, read some stuff and I must say I enjoy it. To this post however I would like to point out a few things.
Firstly, on the accuracy regarding game info – being a passionate gamer myself, I’ve never really been offended by misinformed statements about games(even those I really love)in TV shows or media. The South Park episode about WOW comes in mind, where they gave a character a unique, one copy only sword via a flash memory stick. Or the “alien side boob” Mass Effect controversy(which I can only facepalm myself about). The reason I don’t get upset is because I always bare in mind, that it is all about ratings and money. TBBT isn’t an exception. It may be about geeks, it may be appealing to geeks, but at the end of the day it’s about satisfying the broader audience and not getting stuck in too much of a niche. Which leads to your second point – the sexism or gender stereotyping or whatever.
This is not an educational program, it is not part of a campaign, it doesn’t have any commitment to any social or political problem. It is a TV show and it will make money until it stops being fun, which means that those stereotypes and gender rolls, characters and situations are still entertaining for many people, since the show is still running. These rolls may look like they came from some cavemen society and if yours is better, good for you, but the popularity of the show is just a small example for the fact, that most of us are still cavemen or at least we like watching people behave that way.(I put myself in there because I talk about people in general, although I don’t consider myself sexist)
Now none of these things is something new, but I find your critique about the episode rather emotional and idealistic and I had the urge to point out the obvious cynical truth.
It is a personal habit of mine to overthink my entertainment, which is why you might have found my critique emotional and idealistic. It is merely my procedure with anything that I pay a minimum attention to, which is why I do not watch many series and I did stop watching The Big Bang Theory.
“This is not an educational program, it is not part of a campaign, it doesn’t have any commitment to any social or political problem.” I hold the belief that anything that we consume carries a message, notwithstanding the fact that it may be primarily entertaining. Advertisement conveys a set of ideas, on top of trying to sell you a product. We are being fed those ideas up to the point that we no longer question them. And precisely questioning them serves me not only as a intellective exercise, but also as some sort of entertainment, which is why I initiated this discussion.
Yes, Sheldon Cooper of the sitcom Big Bang Theory. Lots of us know about this character played by Jim Parsons. You could say that Sheldon is a classic example of a weird friend. Initially, I thought Sheldon was an alien from outer space. The way he behaves, his figurative mode of speech was unusual and seriously discrete. If you take a character analysis of Sheldon ways of living, mannerism, it could sometimes flabbergast you. Why? Because you have a person like his friends Leonard, Howard, and Rajesh have an extensive collection of superhero toys in which Flash is his favorite. Man! You will split into laughter, when you see in an episode where he dresses up as the Flash after drinking five cups of coffee. He gets so energized and intoxicated that he just speeds out of the apartment into the street in the Flash costume. ‘
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