The Analysis of the Big Bang Theory

For my content and media analysis workshop on deviance, I chose the show “Big Bang Theory”. The show as a whole is about scientists who are very academically talented, that also lack the social skills that many people have. The episode I chose was episode 15 of season 7 titled “The Locomotive Manipulation”. In this episode, there are two plots going on. One is of Sheldon, and Amy going on a Trip to wine county with Howard and Bernadette for Valentine’s day while Penny and Lenard babysit Raj’s dog on valentine’s day and eventually have to rush Raj’s dog to the vet. The duration of the show was 30 minutes with advertisements and is a comedy show and the episode was produced in 2014. 

I believe the intended audience for this show is teenagers and adults. I believe this is their target audience based on the style of humor and the kind of content that is presented in the show. An example in the episode I watched was when Sheldon invited a stranger to his table while he was on a double date with his girlfriend and friends. Another example would be when Leonard and Kaley were discussing whether to having sex on the couch or the bed. In both of these examples, the target audience must be a group of people who are mature enough and have enough background knowledge to understand what is going on and what is and what is not acceptable in social situations. Another reason why I believe this is the target audience is that the Tv series is rated 14 and up. I chose this show because my parents sometimes watch it before bed and enjoy watching it and thought it would have good examples of deviance.

For my analysis, I will analyze two situations that feature deviance. The first situation is When Sheldon, Amy, Howard, and Bernadette went on a double date on a special locomotive. This situation featured deviance when Sheldon invites a stranger to their table because the stranger knew a lot about trains. This action featured deviance because everyone else at Sheldon’s table including his date was verbally and physically uncomfortable with what Sheldon did and gave him negative sanctions. Some direct negative sanctions Sheldon received were when Howard continually joked about not wanting to be there and when Bernadette tells Sheldon how rude he has been to his date, Amy because he has barely talked to her since they got on the train. Another example of deviance in this episode would be when Leonard and Penny did not watch over the dog and the dog ate the chocolate that Penny got Leonard for valentine’s day. Once Leonard and Penny found out the dog had eaten the chocolate, they rushed Raj’s dog to a veterinarian. Once at the vet, Leonard and Penny received negative sanctions from both the veterinarian as well as Raj. An example of negative sanctions they received was when the veterinarian asked them “Is this a joke to you?” in a serious tone with a disgusted look on her face after Leonard and penny explained what had happened. Another example was when Raj arrived and was yelling at them angrily for breaking their promise of taking care of his dog and being careless.

In both of these examples, deviance is condemned in both subtle and very direct negative sanctions. Although both of these were examples of deviance, they were not so deviant to the point where the person who did the socially unacceptable behavior to be stigmatized. Another reason for the person to not be stigmatized may have been because all of them are relatively close friends. One of the differences between the two situations was with the situation with Sheldon, Sheldon tried to make his deviance into tertiary deviance because he did not understand what was so socially unacceptable about inviting a stranger to the table. Whereas the situation with Leonard and Penny, they knew what they did was socially unacceptable and accepted their negative sanctions. Based on these examples I believe that the program supports prevailing social norms instead of challenging them as they show clear examples of people who experience deviant behavior and are negatively sanctioned for it.

I believe media plays a major role in teaching us about deviance in our culture as media is one of the social influences that affect how people are socialized into their society. For children or people who have not yet been in a certain social situation, they can learn what is socially acceptable and what is considered deviant to help them make decisions in the future about what kind of things they want to do in front of a group. In terms of how COVID-19 might affect the media’s lesson on deviance in our culture, I think more media lessons will include more examples of supporting prevailing social norms and doing things for the good of the group such as wearing a mask and social distancing. But I would also not be surprised if some media content will include more programs that challenge prevailing social norms as the target audience for that kind of content has appeared to rise within the past few years.