The Middle & The Big Bang Theory

Sticking with our theme of TV shows that are considered comedies, let's look at two different popular shows with neurodiverse characters; The Middle and The Big Bang Theory. As I mentioned before, tv shows that are comedic but have neurodiverse individuals are tricky. On one hand you want to be careful to not be disrespectful and make sure the character's neurodiversity is not being made fun of. On the other hand, when done correctly it can be used to put a lighthearted spin on an otherwise hard topic. It can also allow all viewers to see neurodiverse characters acting alongside whatever the main plot is and not actually be the main plot. It reinforces that image that we are all human. All shapes, sizes, and colors.

Note: When I say we are all different that is true. As Dr. Suess says, “there is no one more youer than you”. But I do not want to downplay or disregard the differences that come with being neurodiverse. These are what I call “action differences” or just important differences. When your hair is blonde and my hair is brown, I do not have to do any action because of that difference. However, if I can handle loud noises but they make you upset or scared, I need to take action to help you. I believe as human beings we should be willing and anxious to take actions that allow other human beings basic rights and necessities.

First let's look at The Middle. The Middle is a TV comedy series that aired in 2009 and ran until 2018 with 9 total seasons. In the show we follow the Heck family through their chaotic daily lives, and we watch as the three kids grow into young adults. There are five members of the family; Frankie (the busy mom), Mike (the emotionally closed off dad), Axel (the rebellious older brother), Sue (the optimistic daughter), and Brick (the quirky younger brother). The problems this family faces, like paying the bills, keeping their kids on trak, and fights over the TV remote, are problems most families can identify with. My family has watched the show for years and often compares ourselves to the characters. For our discussion about neurodiversity, we are going to focus on the youngest member of the Heck family, Brick.

Brick, much like Forrest Gump, does not have a specific diagnosis, rather, he has traits that seem to align with those who are on the autism spectrum. He has a special interest in books, whispers to himself, whoops, and does a variety of things that have caused fans to label him as autstic, though that is never stated in the show. He is, however, diagnosed on the show with Osteogenesis imperfecta; a genetic disorder that affects the bones, causing them to break or fracture more easily. The actor who plays Brick has this disorder. I looked at another blogger's review of the show who has autism himself to get a neurodiverse perspective on it. He goes by the name “Oni” and his blog is Aut-Ish has lots of interesting posts related to the autism spectrum. If you have time, I definitely recommend you go check him out! Oni says it is pretty common in tv shows to not give characters a specific diagnosis, that way there are no labels. He is personally divided on this (as am I) because it is good to see people as people and not solely as their label, but the other side to that is that it can be good to have a label for those who want a role model, like we have discussed in my previous posts. I think it is important to have a balance, but from what we have seen so far, it seems there are much more non labeled neurodiverse characters with just “quirky traits” like Brick, than labeled.

Quotes from Oni’s review:

“Brick’s ‘whoop’ tick in later seasons shows that quirks can change as you age, which is definitely relatable for an autistic audience.”

“Not everyone has a diagnosis, so seeing a character who doesn’t have one can be relatable to that specific audience. It can also open up to a larger audience for the Neurodivergent.”

Now let’s put a pin in this show and jump over to our second series up for review, The Big Bang Theory. This series began in 2006 and just ended recently in 2019. It is considered both a comedy and a romance according to IMDB and has 12 seasons in total. The IMDB synopsis show says… “A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.” I am sure you can tell from this general and stolen explanation that, unlike The Middle, I have not seen The Big Bang Theory. My grandparents however LOVE this show, and it is popular enough that I have at least heard of some of the characters. From my understanding, all of the characters are unique, and it is likely that from a medical perspective, most of them would be given some kind of diagnosis. However, at no point during the 250 episodes have any of the characters been given a label or diagnosis for their various quirks and traits according to an article by Nick Venable. The title of this article is Mayim Bialik Reveals Why The Big Bang Theory Doesn’t Use Labels Like Autism Or OCD. Mayim Bialik is the actress who plays Amy Fowler in the show, and her neuroscience training has exposed her to all the psychiatric labels like “autism” or “OCD”. This is what she says about the matter...

“The lack of labels used on our show is important for several reasons. First, it's not always important what we call things. For medical and clinical purposes, of course it is. But in life, and especially once we reach adulthood, we kind of are who we are. We have to hold down jobs. We make friends, or we don't. We find lovers. We pursue hobbies. We do the things we do to pass the days. We find joy and we experience loss. All of those things happen whether we have a label or not.”

“Second, our show focuses on people who live their lives as they are. Our show is about relationships and people. It's not about the things we do to make ourselves 'okay' for others. Sure, Sheldon annoys people. Sure, there are things we all wish we could change about others. But when it comes down to it, our show is about people living with others in acceptance of who they are and in spite of their peculiarities. The characters joke around with each other, and yes: sometimes directly say 'I don't like this about you.' But the answer on the show is never, 'Go take a pill.'”

I think that is kind of beautiful. So often when someone exhibits a trait that does not fit the “norm” we try to label it, fix it, understand it. It becomes a serious and uncomfortable talk and people are made to feel that their neurodiversity is all there is to them. This show is meant to be a comedy. If the characters were all constantly investigating each other's specific diagnosis it would not be fun and it really wouldn’t make sense. Like Bialik said, friends accept and love each other with all the good and bad that comes with being a unique individual human.

“The Big Bang Theory star also points out that the sitcom depicts what life could be like if there weren't stigmas against getting help and talking about "weird" personality traits and behaviors. She wishes that real life's messy moments could resemble those faux situations more, but knows they cannot.” (Venable)

So, what have we learned? Are labels good or bad? Well...both! In some situations it can be extremely beneficial to have a neurodiverse character with a clear label that then real people with that same level can relate to and look up to. In medical or educational situations, a label can help others determine what changes can be made to better accommodate that individual or understand them. BUT...the media isn’t always meant to be serious. I don’t know about you but I spend waaaay more time watching The Vampire Diaries than I do the news. It can be nice for both neurodiverse and non neurodiverse viewers to see people just living as people, quirks and all without the weight of a diagnosis being present. I think both The Middle and The Big Bang Theory do a good job at having quirky characters that are not being made fun of for their quirks. They also do not always make them the main focus of each storyline which is also much more realistic and less pressure. In summary, if it is done with good intention, like Mayim Bialik explained, then having a show with quirky non labeled characters can give us a good laugh and a glimpse of what life could be like if we weren’t so caught up on differences needing to be fixed or changed.

Brick Heck/The Middle Character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTflLZcUea8

Sheldon Cooper/Big Bang Character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1KGRnWjllg