Penny has talked about how mean she is, and last night Raj told her she was mean before she was pregnant. Why do they put up with her? I can see Howard as he is a man child incapable of living on his own, but why do the others put up with her when they already have Sheldon who insists he always get his way?
"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau
The stories that Bernie has told about her own nastiness - like screwing her co-worker out of a study by inventing a pregnancy rumour - are utterly at odds with how she actually treats her friends. So much so that if a real-life person behaved in such a fashion I'd be strongly in favour of having her evaluated by a psychiatrist: I find it hard to believe anyone can display such polar opposites of behaviour without having a serious mental affliction. But since this is a comedy show, we just roll with whatever's funny. Seeing the cute, adorable, sweet little girl occasionally go into Psycho Axe-Wielding Monster mode, is funny.
shareIn the past, Penny and her boss discussed how they are afraid of her. On last night's episode, Raj told Bernie she was mean before she was pregnant.
"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau
otter68 wrote:
On last night's episode, Raj told Bernie she was mean before she was pregnant.Isn't that sort of like the pot calling the kettle black?Except for Penny, they're all mean to each other. Sheldon is meaner to his best friend than Bernie is to anyone. Bernie is not particularly mean to her friends.The rest of the characters understand what Bernie is like — which you refuse to do — and they put up with the less desirable aspects of her personality because they like her. Bernie is not even-tempered, but she gets over being angry very quickly. That is what is really important.Don't you have any friends who do things at least as bad as anything that Bernie does, but they are still friends because of other things?George Burns was once asked how he had managed to keep so many friendships over so many years. He replied that to keep friendships you have to accept that your friends have not just one, but several, major character flaws.I have learned to hate on contrarians. share
paul-heyes wrote:
I find it hard to believe anyone can display such polar opposites of behaviour without having a serious mental affliction.I don't at all. You can find people who are great bosses, but complete bastards with their families. And vice versa.It is not unusual to have someone treat their relatives in completely different ways. They can be quite vicious to some relatives and very warm and loving to others.Really horrible mothers can be very loving grandmothers. "If she can be so great with my children, why was she so awful with me?"It all depends on the circumstances, and that sort of difference in behavior is quite common. share
In my family "parent" was just a synonym for "boss" so "grandparent" was just "big boss".
shareLike most friends Bernie is basically good and sometimes a pain in the neck.
I liked her being open about what she felt.
Seanpdineen wrote:
Like most friends Bernie is basically good and sometimes a pain in the neck.Yes, that is true of most friends, and is especially true of this group of friends.
I liked her being open about what she felt.I do too. You know where you stand with her, and she does not stay angry. She also does not bitch endlessly which some people who are "open" can do. share
Indeed. I am physically disabled so sometimes I fear conflict too much and don't always say things directly. She is a good roll model
shareSeanpdineen wrote:
She is a good roll modelAt least among friends, Bernie is only scary until you get to know her. Once you realize that the situation is not going to escalate and escalate, and that Bernie is going calm down quickly, she is really not a problem. Work may be different. She went on about how has to be assertive to get people to pay attention to her, and she may at times have been more assertive than she realized.She thinks that the guy who hired Penny loves her. That is not the case as we know. share
for the lulz.
Libera te tu temet ex inferis.
pro ego sum diabolus, pro ego sum nex.
Lots of reasons.
1.They like her.
2.They are light-hearted people who don't take everything she says seriously.
3.Proximity (She's often around when Howard's around.)
4.For Penny and Amy: Their significant others are friends.
5.Howard doesn't act sleazy with Bernie in his life. They recognize this and want to keep her around.
etc. etc. etc.
I don't think I've ever looked for frogs under my butt while I was wearing my Snow White gown.
fourlemons wrote:
2.They are light-hearted people who don't take everything she says seriously.Unlike a semi-aquatic weasel who posts here. She is very funny if you don't insist on taking her too seriously. share
"Two gin and Frescas"
"Shaken, not ridiculed"
They don't take her seriously? So Amy didn't quickly leave last week to get Bernadette some fries and a chocolate shake when Bernie barked orders at her?
Raj didn't jump up and follow Bernie in the last episode when she barked at him to follow her because she was upset?
If they don't take her seriously, why is Penny afraid of her? Why do they jump up and obey when she barks at them?
"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau
otter68 wrote:
If they don't take her seriously,You are really just determined to not understand what people are saying.And there is nothing that anyone can do about that. Explaining again is not going to work because you really just don't want to understand. share
I do believe you somehow missed the "everything".
Not to worry, they have you to pick up any serious bidness slack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrQl9XMUhcs
I big FART
Dude, those are the jokes. Penny is not really afraid of Bernadette. If she or any of the others truly feared her, then your original question would be valid. They may be apprehensive about getting yelled at, but that is the extent of it. Bernie's bark is far worse than her bite. Her talking about things that run through her head that she may or may not do is NOT the same thing as actually doing them.
If you go back to the first episode and watch the entire series, you will find several episodes where every single character, including the sainted Amy, have behaved in completely despicable ways to each other, or have talked about things that they did in the past that were despicable. No one is above reproach. Currently, Bernadette is the mouthiest, but her actual behavior is not any worse than the others, and it is canon that Penny and Howard were much more unlikable, if not downright appalling human beings at one point or another.
"Two gin and Frescas"
"Shaken, not ridiculed"
She keyed Amy's car. Is that a joke?
Why did Amy run off back to McDonald's last week. She wasn't laughing.
Penny was not joking about being scared of Bernadette and neither was Bernadette's boss. They are afraid of her temper and obviously have a good reason to be. No one is afraid of Leonard, Sheldon, Amy, etc.
I don't understand why you guys keep making excuses for Bernadette being a mean, vindictive person.
"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau
otter68 wrote:
I don't understand why you guys keep making excuses for Bernadette being a mean, vindictive person.She isn't, but she can be hot tempered. Her friends except that. Why don't you?
She keyed Amy's car. Is that a joke?Yes. It was hilarious. share
Yeah, they were all jokes. Edgy move for a sitcom.
I don't understand you take sitcom jokes so literally? You're like a puppy with a tennis ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFSaG9ncw84
I big FART
I'm not arguing whether or not Bernadette's mean streak is funny; I'm arguing she is a mean person. Yes, her mean, vicious behavior is played for jokes, but that doesn't make her actions less mean.
She is a mean, vindictive person. There's no two ways around it.
"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau
I know. It's quite the focus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHoJK7F-KSM
I big FART
otter68 wrote:
She is a mean, vindictive person. There's no two ways around it.She is hot tempered, but she is not mean or vindictive.
Good Afternoon Otter,
To respond to your query we need to take this down to a cellular level. If your cerebral neurons and mine were examined by Amy simultaneously when exposed to the same Bernie stimuli she would detect differences. This is because you and I react to the exact same Bernie situation differently. We perceive differently. And by extension, we would perceive Raj and Amy differently.
My perception, because of my nonotteronian neurons is that Amy and Raj (in your cited examples) were just “putting on a serious face” in order to seem sympathetic to Bernie’s meltdown/act like they were taking it seriously, but they were not REALLY taking it that seriously.
Plus Raj and Amy called me earlier and told me I'm right.
Sincerely,
Lemons
I don't think I've ever looked for frogs under my butt while I was wearing my Snow White gown.
fourlemons wrote:
but they were not REALLY taking it that seriously.Angry Bernie does get a person's attention, but they know that she will calm down quickly, and they know that is not what she is really like. share
The writers think it is funny that is why.
share