4 ms·

A friend of mine calls BBT "nerd blackface", and I think it's a pretty snappy description.

by gamache 7y ago

MarkSweep 7y ago
Along similar lines, I've heard it called a nerd minstrel show.
neutronicus 7y ago
You should be careful about repeating this - a lot of people find the comparison very, very offensive.
- stormbrew 7y ago
  Because it very much is. Blackface isn't bad because it's just stereotype driven mocking. It's bad because people in a position of power (white people) profited from pretending to be people who had none (black people) while simultaneously reinforcing stereotypes that help keep them powerless. Nerds and comedy writers do not in any way form or shape share this dynamic.
  - mcguire 7y ago
    To an extent, yes. And no. I mean, sure, I'm all for lawyer jokes. (What's the difference between a lawyer and a catfish? One is a bottom-dwelling mud-sucker and the other is a fish.) And when they complain, I can point out that the alternative is that we erect the guillotines in the parking lot. On the other hand, there are a lot of people to whom the nerd stereotype more-or-less applies, but who are not tech billionaires, prominent scientists, or otherwise powerful. And they're the ones who get to pay the consequences of the stereotypes. If you are a Silicon Valley millionaire, that you spend time arguing that the Hulk can beat Superman is a quaint eccentricity. But if you aren't BBT is just another source of ammunition against you.
    - stormbrew 7y ago
      Where this is a legitimate complaint, it would be better served to look at it as ablism, in that the show is absolutely screwing with people who are autistic through Sheldon. Generally speaking, though, nerds who can fit in socially with other people are not losing jobs for being nerdy. They're not being killed for being nerdy. They're not even being beaten up for being nerdy on any kind of major scale, and certainly not as adults. There's simply no comparison to be had here. We, as nerds, are not oppressed for being nerdy. Our feelings being hurt is not comparable to slavery or jim crow.
      - pussybitch 7y ago
        No one cares about your sensitivities but you. You act like you're some martyr ever time your virgin ears detect an off color remark, and yet, for all your fragility, you're the burden that needs to be thrown overboard for the benefit of society. Your whine is pathetic. Your boundaries make you weak. You pine for billy club and hand cuffs, so you can police the world according to your rules, and yet no one wants them but you. The rest of the world hears a naughty word and moves on. You stew in your juices and find all the wrong reasons to imagine a world of oppression. The knee jerk belief that it's about superficial qualities is a telling reality about your own inability to look past things like race, sex, age and culture.
  - 0815test 7y ago
    > ...people in a position of power... profited from pretending to be people who had none, while simultaneously reinforcing stereotypes that help keep them powerless. Anti-intellectualism is a very real force in American politics, with a sizeable power base of its own. To some extent, I think we can indeed blame shows like BBT for things like, y'know, having Mr. Orange Man (who used to be on frickin' reality TV, as we all know) as POTUS.[0] [0] (Not that Hillary Clinton was that much better, either. We were quite lucky to have Barack Obama as president for eight years, he was a lot more sympathetic to the sane, "intellectual" outlook on policy than the average politician in the US!)
bluejellybean 7y ago
I frequently get asked why I don't like the show from non-nerd friends and this is _exactly_ why, your friends description is perfect. The entire thing is just offensive and reinforces both negative nerd and sexual stereotypes for the profit of others. It is very much nerd blackface.

A friend of mine calls BBT "nerd blackface", and I think it's a pretty snappy description.

MarkSweep 7y ago

Along similar lines, I've heard it called a nerd minstrel show.

neutronicus 7y ago

You should be careful about repeating this - a lot of people find the comparison very, very offensive.

stormbrew 7y ago
Because it very much is. Blackface isn't bad because it's just stereotype driven mocking. It's bad because people in a position of power (white people) profited from pretending to be people who had none (black people) while simultaneously reinforcing stereotypes that help keep them powerless. Nerds and comedy writers do not in any way form or shape share this dynamic.
- mcguire 7y ago
  To an extent, yes. And no. I mean, sure, I'm all for lawyer jokes. (What's the difference between a lawyer and a catfish? One is a bottom-dwelling mud-sucker and the other is a fish.) And when they complain, I can point out that the alternative is that we erect the guillotines in the parking lot. On the other hand, there are a lot of people to whom the nerd stereotype more-or-less applies, but who are not tech billionaires, prominent scientists, or otherwise powerful. And they're the ones who get to pay the consequences of the stereotypes. If you are a Silicon Valley millionaire, that you spend time arguing that the Hulk can beat Superman is a quaint eccentricity. But if you aren't BBT is just another source of ammunition against you.
  - stormbrew 7y ago
    Where this is a legitimate complaint, it would be better served to look at it as ablism, in that the show is absolutely screwing with people who are autistic through Sheldon. Generally speaking, though, nerds who can fit in socially with other people are not losing jobs for being nerdy. They're not being killed for being nerdy. They're not even being beaten up for being nerdy on any kind of major scale, and certainly not as adults. There's simply no comparison to be had here. We, as nerds, are not oppressed for being nerdy. Our feelings being hurt is not comparable to slavery or jim crow.
    - pussybitch 7y ago
      No one cares about your sensitivities but you. You act like you're some martyr ever time your virgin ears detect an off color remark, and yet, for all your fragility, you're the burden that needs to be thrown overboard for the benefit of society. Your whine is pathetic. Your boundaries make you weak. You pine for billy club and hand cuffs, so you can police the world according to your rules, and yet no one wants them but you. The rest of the world hears a naughty word and moves on. You stew in your juices and find all the wrong reasons to imagine a world of oppression. The knee jerk belief that it's about superficial qualities is a telling reality about your own inability to look past things like race, sex, age and culture.
- 0815test 7y ago
  > ...people in a position of power... profited from pretending to be people who had none, while simultaneously reinforcing stereotypes that help keep them powerless. Anti-intellectualism is a very real force in American politics, with a sizeable power base of its own. To some extent, I think we can indeed blame shows like BBT for things like, y'know, having Mr. Orange Man (who used to be on frickin' reality TV, as we all know) as POTUS.[0] [0] (Not that Hillary Clinton was that much better, either. We were quite lucky to have Barack Obama as president for eight years, he was a lot more sympathetic to the sane, "intellectual" outlook on policy than the average politician in the US!)

bluejellybean 7y ago

I frequently get asked why I don't like the show from non-nerd friends and this is _exactly_ why, your friends description is perfect. The entire thing is just offensive and reinforces both negative nerd and sexual stereotypes for the profit of others. It is very much nerd blackface.