Among all of the stars of "The Big Bang Theory," it is only Mayim Bialik, who plays the genius Amy Farrah Fowler in the series who holds an actual PhD in neuroscience, so she was the best person to ask when it comes to addressing character stereotypes.
Her on-screen love interest Dr. Sheldon Cooper, who is played by Jim Parsons has received criticism for stereotyping someone who has Asperger's Syndrome, but Bialik does not think that the criticisms are warranted, according to Radio Times.
"All of our characters are in theory on the neuropsychiatric spectrum, I would say," she explained. "Sheldon often gets talked about in terms of Asperger's or OCD. He has a thing with germs, he has a thing with numbers, he's got a lot of that precision that we see in OCD. There's a lot of interesting features to all of our characters that make them technically unconventional socially."
However, Bialik wants people to remember that they do not pathologize their characters, nor do they talk about medicating or changing them. She believes that it's interesting and even "kind of sweet" that many people have grown to love and accept the characters from the show just as they are.
"And I think that's what's interesting for those of us who are unconventional people or who know and love people who are on any sort of spectrum, we often find ways to work around that. It doesn't always need to be solved and medicated and labelled," she said.
"The Big Bang Theory" is actually a show that supports the underdogs - those who never really fit in with society, but have forged deep and lasting friendships with each other, and at the same time find enjoyment doing the things they love best, whether it be playing board games, binge watching certain movies and television series, or creating new and crazy inventions.
Bialik believes that people should not think any less of their characters for being socially awkward because they are quite happy and contented just as they are.
"And what we're trying to show with our show is that this is a group of people who likely were teased, mocked, told that they will never be appreciated or loved, and we have a group of people who have successful careers, active social lives (that involve things like Dungeons and Dragons and video games), but they also have relationships, and that's a fulfilling and satisfying life," she concluded.
