One of last week's most entertaining web reads was an article in Slate about The Big Bang Theory. In it, writer Paul Collins expends about 1500 words wondering if Sheldon, the genius / social misfit played so ably by Jim Parsons, has Asperger's syndrome.I can just sense thousands of readers right now smacking their heads with their palms and going, "I knew it!" right now. And I bet right now you're also scrambling to Google the condition and see what the characteristics are. No need; they're right here. Just in that website's brief description, you can see a lot that goes into the character of Sheldon: affected speech patterns, a small and unexpandable circle of interest, and -- most of all -- difficult two-way social interaction. Seems like Sheldon to a T.
Show runners Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady deny that they specifically wrote Sheldon with Asperger's, just that he's a representation of all the socially-oblivious types Prady encountered during his years as a computer programmer. I can concur with that; in my years as an IT guy, I met tons of people who would make Sheldon look like a social butterfly. But there was something peculiar about Sheldon's social misfit nature that seemed to go beyond mere nerdiness. This article definitely crystallized it for me; heck, even self-described "Aspies" and their loved ones think Sheldon has the disorder.
Of course, any fan of Boston Legal knows that this isn't the first time a recurring character on a show had Asperger's. But Jerry Espenson's version of Asperger's was not only more extreme in his actions (popping, hands on legs as he walked, etc.), but it was pretty much what his character was all about. In the case of Sheldon, the fact that he acts the way he does is just the way he acts; Prady and Lorre leave it up to viewers to judge for themselves.
So, BBT fans... is this diagnosis of Sheldon accurate or full of crap? Let me know in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-09-2009 @ 11:18AM
Claire said...
actually this topic of conversation comes up with discussions of Bones, the FOX show, alot too. The main character (Dr. Brennan) and a supporting character (Zach) both exhibit characteristics of asperger's syndrome. Neither has been officially "diagnosed" on the show but I wouldn't be surprised if one day it was. From what I've seen of BBT Sheldon is similar if not more limited in his interests and interactions.
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2-09-2009 @ 11:36AM
Dan said...
It's also been speculated that Chloe from 24 has Asperger's Syndrome. However, I think it's a cop out to assume that every socially awkward character on TV has this disorder.
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2-09-2009 @ 11:59AM
StillBash said...
And?
To me that's just an excuse not to change. It's as if people have to accept you are socially inept because you have an illness.
I mean "promiscuous" is a description too, doesn't make me want to date a person who "has it".
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2-09-2009 @ 12:05PM
Katie said...
Many are diagnosed in some way long before they've reached full adulthood, so I too agree that attempting to "diagnose" a fictional TV character with Asperger's (or any other condition on the Autism Spectrum) is going a bit far. Even if he does meet many of the descriptions of it, there's some difference between the real social condition and being a humorously nerdy caricature that Sheldon is.
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2-09-2009 @ 12:16PM
litehousebeacon said...
One of my friends thinks I might have it. But at my age it's actually harder to diagnose, according to the doctor I talked to.
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2-12-2009 @ 2:16PM
wardude said...
there have been several actors playing aspergers sufferers in the series regenesis including one of the main science characters. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReGenesis
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4-21-2009 @ 6:27PM
Ivriniel said...
Bob on Regenesis was a great character.
2-09-2009 @ 1:11PM
paradoxigal7 said...
Actually, Jim Parsons himself addresses this question in his video interview at the Variety website. He says that when he read about Asperger's (after people brought this up to him), it seemed to him that Sheldon "couldn't display more traits of it." He asked the writers, and they explicitly told him Sheldon doesn't have Asperger's. (I still think he could be undiagnosed.) Also, it probably makes things easier for the writers to not limit what they can write for Sheldon's character by tying him down to Asperger's.
Variety Interview: Link to interview: http://weblogs.variety.com/season_pass/2008/11/big-bang-theory.html
(It's the 6th video form the bottom.)
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2-09-2009 @ 1:14PM
mj said...
I am so sick of hearing this! That is a huge discussion on the White Board, CBS's BBT board. Why can't we just enjoy the show, and stop nit picking? I can see a show like Lost or Heroes, but BBT? It is just a funny show.
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2-09-2009 @ 8:00PM
GL said...
You don't think the writer misdiagnosed his character?
2-10-2009 @ 5:04PM
jim said...
Exactly. Why does everyone have to be labeled? Ever since the internet, it's like the entire world now has 1st-year-Psychology-major syndrome.
2-09-2009 @ 1:16PM
paradoxigal7 said...
Just realized the Variety interview was linked to in the Slate article, so you probably already saw it. :)
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2-09-2009 @ 1:51PM
RichK said...
Actually, I believe Parsons' mentioned it during his appearnce at San Diego Comic Con last year as well.
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2-09-2009 @ 5:17PM
Brian said...
Dr. Virginia Dixon from Grey's Anatomy has Asperger's.
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2-09-2009 @ 5:49PM
Nathanael B said...
Sheldon's character struck me this way two minutes into the pilot episode... his behavior seemed a lot like an exaggerated parody of Asperger's, but not in a "mean" way (which is good).
On the other hand, it's also just a stereotypical way of writing uber-geek characters. I mean, how else do you approach writing an super-nerdy character? It seems kind of natural to give him these traits, which are funny and seem authentic, and happen to also be (some) traits of AS.
I figured that the writers didn't specifically sit down and say, "Okay, let's write Sheldon with Asperger's syndrome" but that his character developed more naturally out of good-natured parody and sitcom stereotypes. (And the fact that you can meet plenty of people who are very intelligent and act like this - AS or no AS)
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2-09-2009 @ 6:33PM
David said...
Frequently, the most realistic depictions of Asperger's in TV/Film are unintentional. That's because writers base the character on a real person who has Asperger's or considerable social difficulties e.g. "Real Nerd" Toby Radloff in American Splendor, discovered he has Asperger's after the film was released. Seymour in Ghost World is based on Robert Crumb, who once said, "To Be Interested in Old Music Is To Be a Social Outcast!"
When writers try to depict "Asperger's" they create a stereotyped constellation of symptoms rather than a real person. Sheldon is an true because the writers based him on real people they met, some of whom had Asperger's.
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2-10-2009 @ 12:24AM
paradoxigal7 said...
Well said, David. I agree. :)
2-10-2009 @ 8:09AM
SunshineMom said...
The first time I saw this show, the main thought-train I had was ... That could be MY kid if I hadn't gotten him some help when he was little. My kid is autistic and a super genius and could still be Sheldon in a few more years.
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2-10-2009 @ 1:42PM
Becky said...
No, I don't think he has Asperger's -- he's just kind of a caricature of an IT/Science/Geek taken to the extreme level of anal retentiveness for the sake of getting laugh. From what I knew of Asperger's from someone that dated a guy with it, there are also severe mood swings and tantrums which Sheldon hasn't displayed. There's a character on Grey's Anatomy right now with Asperger's, being played by Mary McDonnell, who does have those traits and she doesn't seem like Sheldon at all.
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2-11-2009 @ 10:54PM
David said...
Becky, that Dr. Dixon abomination on Grey's Anatomy is the annoying "stereotyped constellation of symptoms" caricature I was talking about. Dr. Dixon demonstrates why doing AS from the book fails miserably. That's why she is not Sheldon, or anyone else for that matter.
People with AS are not symptoms, we are real people who are all different. Sheldon is the type of AS geek that frequents computer, math or physics departments. I have AS myself and a PhD, I run a social group for people with AS - watching Big Bang theory is like watching an Asperger's meeting.