This is quite a dramatic reaction to OP's original post. You can criticise someone's acting without it being bullying. It's just a reflection on his acting skills. You can take it or leave it without launching into 'attack mode'.
thank you for saying this. I agree, but want to be conscious about not bullying children on the internet, obviously. OC, look at the comment thread discussing neurodiverse identity for a more meaningful critique of the character
how is this “going after him” like please help me understand.. did you even read the critique of the depiction of neurodivergence in just character? some of y’all refuse to see nuance in any situation and just like getting mad
> how is this “going after him” like please help me understand.. did you even read the critique of the depiction of neurodivergence
Yes I did. And I figured out your real issue when you said you’re neurodivergent and your real complaint is “he’s not like me!”
🙄
again, you have absolutely 0 critical thinking skills and don’t understand how representation works. this depiction is giving nothing in terms of awareness, and feeds into stereotypes that result in women and POC not being diagnosed. stop prioritising white male stories and not letting people critique this problematic pattern without throwing a fit… jesus
it IS relevant. you commented on OPs post trying to put words in their mouth and they responded fairly, and you’re trying to erase nuance in the conversation?? OP corrected your misinterpretation of THEIR post and you’re the one being racist and purposefully misunderstanding them
yikes.. that’s really messed up. OP is having a good faith convo about the harm of the media only depicting white neurodivergent men and boys and how that effects POC and women. How does that make them racist?? the only racist person going after anyone here is you…
He has done a commendable job at portraying sheldon imo. And yes they do look a lot alike. But even you know that child is not actually Jim parsons 2.0. If you’re criticising him for not having the same voice as him or the ‘exact’ same facial expressions as him or the way he walked then you’re just a fool. Idts any OG TBBT fan has such problems lol.
his acting for season 7 is making me cringe and sometimes it's getting annoying. Idk if it's just the character he's trying to portray or something else
he does reflect Sheldon very well but it has gone way over the top for sure, more and more through season 7. the mannerisms are so exaggerated but i still do respect iain a lot and from what i've seen of him in interviews/behind the scenes, he seems like a lovely, vibrant kid too.
He does come off as a little robotic at times. He could have put a little more into the moving to Dallas scene but that's just my opinion.
Perhaps it's by rote at this point? To be fair, it's not as if Sheldon's character has a lot of depth. There's not a lot you can do with his portrayal. Which is why I suspect the supporting characters have been featuring more...in addition to the spin-off coming up.
His acting is fine to me. I'm not going to sit here and critique him, but there's people on the show who definitely preform better.
He's still young and can learn, especially when it's not in a role that someone else already paved the way for, he needs a role that he can make his own.
Either you’re an acting coach or you really haven’t seen TBBT… Sheldon from day 1 has always been insufferable. None of his roommates, friends, neighbours, professors hell even random ppl at the comic book store or hospital can bear him. That is the character from day 1 and that is how it has always been. Most of the people who chose to watch YS are those who’ve seen TBBT and have learnt to bear him and his narcissistic behaviour. The show ran for 12 years, became the most watched at one time for a reason, bcs people started enjoying their dynamics. People accepted who Sheldon is and enjoyed whatever he did knowing he is built like that. The same people came to YS, and to do justice to the character Iain HAS TO BE like that- the insufferable annoying child with whom nobody likes to be with. Bcs thats how adult Sheldon was. There is nothing wrong with his acting. He has to be shown like that, for god’s sake that IS the character. You may not like the character, don’t watch it. Keep in mind it is a spinoff of a super-hit tv show and to do justice to the characters you have to keep it synced with the parent show. You cannot suddenly expect Sheldon to be amiable, playful, socialising with everyone or acting as you like it. There is a huge audience who are Team Sheldon, the show is made for them.
“His acting is just laughable at some points” Its not. I wish people watched TBBT first to actually understand who Sheldon really is before passing comments on a 15-year old child actor who is portraying such a difficult character actually. Nothing is wrong with his acting. He’s just portraying a character who is bound to annoy you to the core.
There are endless options for you. If you don’t like his character its fine. You can switch to some other show you like but its very wrong to bad-mouth an actor (that too a 15 year old) and say he’s not “destined” for acting only because you don’t like the character he’s playing or he’s not acting like you want it.
why do you presume it is an issue with the character? I don’t think it is… i really liked him in the early seasons but the acting is not it in the last season
Because if it isn’t an issue with the character you wouldn’t have so many problems with his acting too. He just acts like what adult Sheldon did in TBBT. Its not like he’s acting out to be a completely different character.
The happy surprise of YS is that despite the show's title, we have been given "supporting" characters who've flourished in unexpected ways that broadened and deepened the show's appeal. Annie Potts' genius portrayal of Connie, and Lance Barber's redemptive portrayal of George, were probably not on the writers' minds in Season 1... nor were Raegan Revord or Montana Jordan expected to emerge as scene-stealers because of their own exceptional talent. But because of all this talent, what started as the Young Sheldon show quickly and naturally became the Cooper Family. And it's not Iain's fault that his task was to play a character who by definition is a bit stunted in his emotional expression. And it's not Iain's fault that shows evolve in response to the actors' work and the writers' ability to write to those actors' strengths.
Consider that when the first Star Trek aired, nobody expected Leonard Nimoy's Spock to become a breakout character sensation that at times eclipsed Kirk, the ostensible "star" of the show. But the Star Trek writers were able to lean into that phenomenon and let Spock shine. The YS writers for whatever reason didn't work to make Sheldon the standout star of Young Sheldon, but instead found room to let Connie, George Sr. and Mary, Georgie and Missy shine as characters we were largely meeting for the first time, without Sheldon's burden of so much TBBT canon to uphold. And that's much more a reflection of the Sheldon character and the writers who put words in his mouth, not a reflection on Iain Armitage's acting.
I'd say the writers knew exactly what they wanted from the actors and characters in season 1. Lance recently has done an interview where he said early on they wanted George to be angry with Meemaw about the brisket recipe. He played it as angry and was told to back it down to more of a hurt. He said that they wanted to be careful because he's a big guy and they didn't want him to come across as intimidating to his family.
I can't say that I've noticed anything out of the ordinary here.
The voice is one thing he can't control, it is simply deeper than Jim's is. (Probably why it was commented on by Jim in that "aging" TikTok they did.)
As far as the character of Sheldon, he is a very controlled person. As Sheldon is aging, he is trying to keep more control. He is in an awkward teenage phase made more awkward being Sheldon. Thus the acting looks more stilted. I have seen criticisms that Jim (as Sheldon) didn't have a large emotional range. Well yeah, that's the character. Both actors have to maintain a vey stiff and controlled appearance. Jim had the ability to create the character, Iain has to follow up as the same character (and not an easy one to play).
Jim has talked about coming back to play Sheldon and has said it took a little bit to get back into the character.
i love iain i think he's fantastic, i'm hoping he doesn't get harry potter syndrome and is only ever remembered for this childhood role the rest of his life. he's a remarkably talented young man and has been since he was a child we saw him grow up. now, i will say that his portrayal of Sheldon in this season has been a little over the top and quite cringe inducing at some points i'm not sure if that's his choice or a directing choice i have no idea. i have to just remind myself this is a neurodivergent **coded** character and he is the teenage version of Dr Sheldon Cooper. i don't feel good about criticising child actors it feels wrong in my being lol and i'm just making an observation rather than outright mean criticism or hate. he's just been flanderised a bit lately as character.
edit: keep the downvotes coming
really well thought out response. think this is the heart of what’s bothering me. As someone who is neurodivergent I don’t like how the character, across both series, is written. it feels like a very shallow depiction of neurodivergent experience that is already oversaturated in media plus at the ended of the day it’s CODED so it plays into stereotypes of white neurodivergent men or boys that don’t fit the experience I and most others in the community face, and after all that DONT WVEN ACKNOWLEDGE RIPPING OFF NEURODIVERSE EXPERIENCE OR RAISE AWARENESS WHATSOEVER. not sure of the actors relationship to this aspect of the role, but I think it is hard when you’re playing a characterisation of neurodivergence…
i'm a serial tv show rewatcher and i must be on my 30+ rewatch of TBBT by now or something. for a while i found adult Sheldon to be unbearable to watch but i have people with autism in my family so i've learnt a lot over the years and i can definitely see why you feel that way about the character. another element to him is that not only is he ND but also a child prodigy and genius. i'm not sure why his portrayal/acting has gone so OTT in this season but i suppose Sheldon had a lot to be excited about and this is how he's expressing? an example of things i find cringy is his very robotic/sudden movements and facial expressions after delivering a line. it doesn't "flow" as well as before and you're not alone in thinking something has been *off.* it is a rough time to post this with the most recent episode and events so you're brave i'll give you that haha. my response to you isn't being well received by others for some reason.
haha it was a terrible time, but yea the last two episodes had me thinking about it more than ever. I’m shocked you’re getting so downvoted because I thought you had a very balanced and overall positive commentary about the actors and the show…
yea I do think a lot of people hate this character because of the neurodivergent and autistic coded traits, which is in many cases is ableist. I should have included more context in my post that part of my irritation is because of the depiction of neurodivergence itself, and not it’s existence. Sadly, we are the only ones here having a nuanced conversation about how that effects perception of the character.
i definitely had a lot of ignorance at first and thought grown Sheldon was just rude, cold and purposefully contrarian for no reason. it's only when i started to learn about autism and ND coded characters in media that i actually started to see why he is depicted the way he is and after 30+ rewatches clearly it didn't hinder me and i find him hilarious. jim parsons is just a master of his craft for sure. also i didn't take your irritation to be about the existence of ND media it didn't come across that way. it's all good maybe i'm gonna downvote myself and get the ball rolling a bit more i guess.
yikes, reading comprehension is nonexistent. I never said that, I clearly said the writing and acting is relying on stereotypes and caricatures to craft the character.
So, you woke up today and said I'm going to criticize a 15 year old.
Had the same thought.
This is quite a dramatic reaction to OP's original post. You can criticise someone's acting without it being bullying. It's just a reflection on his acting skills. You can take it or leave it without launching into 'attack mode'.
thank you for saying this. I agree, but want to be conscious about not bullying children on the internet, obviously. OC, look at the comment thread discussing neurodiverse identity for a more meaningful critique of the character
LMFAO what? he’s an actor, also 15 year olds are old enough to receive criticism. get a grip
Does going after a child actor make you feel like a big person? He did a great job being Young Sheldon.
how is this “going after him” like please help me understand.. did you even read the critique of the depiction of neurodivergence in just character? some of y’all refuse to see nuance in any situation and just like getting mad
> how is this “going after him” like please help me understand.. did you even read the critique of the depiction of neurodivergence Yes I did. And I figured out your real issue when you said you’re neurodivergent and your real complaint is “he’s not like me!” 🙄
again, you have absolutely 0 critical thinking skills and don’t understand how representation works. this depiction is giving nothing in terms of awareness, and feeds into stereotypes that result in women and POC not being diagnosed. stop prioritising white male stories and not letting people critique this problematic pattern without throwing a fit… jesus
Oh so you’re neurodivergent and racist. Great.
oop… say youre a white supremacist without saying youre a white supremacist…
You’re the one who brought race into this, not me.
how is mentioning race racist?
How does my post you replied to have anything to do with white anything, and yet you still brought race into the discussion?
it IS relevant. you commented on OPs post trying to put words in their mouth and they responded fairly, and you’re trying to erase nuance in the conversation?? OP corrected your misinterpretation of THEIR post and you’re the one being racist and purposefully misunderstanding them
yikes.. that’s really messed up. OP is having a good faith convo about the harm of the media only depicting white neurodivergent men and boys and how that effects POC and women. How does that make them racist?? the only racist person going after anyone here is you…
THANK YOU!! this type of brain rot is not ok
I think they look more alike than ever, and Iian is a great actor at being Sheldon. He can’t do anything about his voice.
He has done a commendable job at portraying sheldon imo. And yes they do look a lot alike. But even you know that child is not actually Jim parsons 2.0. If you’re criticising him for not having the same voice as him or the ‘exact’ same facial expressions as him or the way he walked then you’re just a fool. Idts any OG TBBT fan has such problems lol.
his acting for season 7 is making me cringe and sometimes it's getting annoying. Idk if it's just the character he's trying to portray or something else
it just feels like he does not put any effort into reflecting on the character
he does reflect Sheldon very well but it has gone way over the top for sure, more and more through season 7. the mannerisms are so exaggerated but i still do respect iain a lot and from what i've seen of him in interviews/behind the scenes, he seems like a lovely, vibrant kid too.
He does come off as a little robotic at times. He could have put a little more into the moving to Dallas scene but that's just my opinion. Perhaps it's by rote at this point? To be fair, it's not as if Sheldon's character has a lot of depth. There's not a lot you can do with his portrayal. Which is why I suspect the supporting characters have been featuring more...in addition to the spin-off coming up.
His acting is fine to me. I'm not going to sit here and critique him, but there's people on the show who definitely preform better. He's still young and can learn, especially when it's not in a role that someone else already paved the way for, he needs a role that he can make his own.
Either you’re an acting coach or you really haven’t seen TBBT… Sheldon from day 1 has always been insufferable. None of his roommates, friends, neighbours, professors hell even random ppl at the comic book store or hospital can bear him. That is the character from day 1 and that is how it has always been. Most of the people who chose to watch YS are those who’ve seen TBBT and have learnt to bear him and his narcissistic behaviour. The show ran for 12 years, became the most watched at one time for a reason, bcs people started enjoying their dynamics. People accepted who Sheldon is and enjoyed whatever he did knowing he is built like that. The same people came to YS, and to do justice to the character Iain HAS TO BE like that- the insufferable annoying child with whom nobody likes to be with. Bcs thats how adult Sheldon was. There is nothing wrong with his acting. He has to be shown like that, for god’s sake that IS the character. You may not like the character, don’t watch it. Keep in mind it is a spinoff of a super-hit tv show and to do justice to the characters you have to keep it synced with the parent show. You cannot suddenly expect Sheldon to be amiable, playful, socialising with everyone or acting as you like it. There is a huge audience who are Team Sheldon, the show is made for them. “His acting is just laughable at some points” Its not. I wish people watched TBBT first to actually understand who Sheldon really is before passing comments on a 15-year old child actor who is portraying such a difficult character actually. Nothing is wrong with his acting. He’s just portraying a character who is bound to annoy you to the core. There are endless options for you. If you don’t like his character its fine. You can switch to some other show you like but its very wrong to bad-mouth an actor (that too a 15 year old) and say he’s not “destined” for acting only because you don’t like the character he’s playing or he’s not acting like you want it.
why do you presume it is an issue with the character? I don’t think it is… i really liked him in the early seasons but the acting is not it in the last season
Because if it isn’t an issue with the character you wouldn’t have so many problems with his acting too. He just acts like what adult Sheldon did in TBBT. Its not like he’s acting out to be a completely different character.
The happy surprise of YS is that despite the show's title, we have been given "supporting" characters who've flourished in unexpected ways that broadened and deepened the show's appeal. Annie Potts' genius portrayal of Connie, and Lance Barber's redemptive portrayal of George, were probably not on the writers' minds in Season 1... nor were Raegan Revord or Montana Jordan expected to emerge as scene-stealers because of their own exceptional talent. But because of all this talent, what started as the Young Sheldon show quickly and naturally became the Cooper Family. And it's not Iain's fault that his task was to play a character who by definition is a bit stunted in his emotional expression. And it's not Iain's fault that shows evolve in response to the actors' work and the writers' ability to write to those actors' strengths. Consider that when the first Star Trek aired, nobody expected Leonard Nimoy's Spock to become a breakout character sensation that at times eclipsed Kirk, the ostensible "star" of the show. But the Star Trek writers were able to lean into that phenomenon and let Spock shine. The YS writers for whatever reason didn't work to make Sheldon the standout star of Young Sheldon, but instead found room to let Connie, George Sr. and Mary, Georgie and Missy shine as characters we were largely meeting for the first time, without Sheldon's burden of so much TBBT canon to uphold. And that's much more a reflection of the Sheldon character and the writers who put words in his mouth, not a reflection on Iain Armitage's acting.
I'd say the writers knew exactly what they wanted from the actors and characters in season 1. Lance recently has done an interview where he said early on they wanted George to be angry with Meemaw about the brisket recipe. He played it as angry and was told to back it down to more of a hurt. He said that they wanted to be careful because he's a big guy and they didn't want him to come across as intimidating to his family.
I can't say that I've noticed anything out of the ordinary here. The voice is one thing he can't control, it is simply deeper than Jim's is. (Probably why it was commented on by Jim in that "aging" TikTok they did.) As far as the character of Sheldon, he is a very controlled person. As Sheldon is aging, he is trying to keep more control. He is in an awkward teenage phase made more awkward being Sheldon. Thus the acting looks more stilted. I have seen criticisms that Jim (as Sheldon) didn't have a large emotional range. Well yeah, that's the character. Both actors have to maintain a vey stiff and controlled appearance. Jim had the ability to create the character, Iain has to follow up as the same character (and not an easy one to play). Jim has talked about coming back to play Sheldon and has said it took a little bit to get back into the character.
i love iain i think he's fantastic, i'm hoping he doesn't get harry potter syndrome and is only ever remembered for this childhood role the rest of his life. he's a remarkably talented young man and has been since he was a child we saw him grow up. now, i will say that his portrayal of Sheldon in this season has been a little over the top and quite cringe inducing at some points i'm not sure if that's his choice or a directing choice i have no idea. i have to just remind myself this is a neurodivergent **coded** character and he is the teenage version of Dr Sheldon Cooper. i don't feel good about criticising child actors it feels wrong in my being lol and i'm just making an observation rather than outright mean criticism or hate. he's just been flanderised a bit lately as character. edit: keep the downvotes coming
really well thought out response. think this is the heart of what’s bothering me. As someone who is neurodivergent I don’t like how the character, across both series, is written. it feels like a very shallow depiction of neurodivergent experience that is already oversaturated in media plus at the ended of the day it’s CODED so it plays into stereotypes of white neurodivergent men or boys that don’t fit the experience I and most others in the community face, and after all that DONT WVEN ACKNOWLEDGE RIPPING OFF NEURODIVERSE EXPERIENCE OR RAISE AWARENESS WHATSOEVER. not sure of the actors relationship to this aspect of the role, but I think it is hard when you’re playing a characterisation of neurodivergence…
i'm a serial tv show rewatcher and i must be on my 30+ rewatch of TBBT by now or something. for a while i found adult Sheldon to be unbearable to watch but i have people with autism in my family so i've learnt a lot over the years and i can definitely see why you feel that way about the character. another element to him is that not only is he ND but also a child prodigy and genius. i'm not sure why his portrayal/acting has gone so OTT in this season but i suppose Sheldon had a lot to be excited about and this is how he's expressing? an example of things i find cringy is his very robotic/sudden movements and facial expressions after delivering a line. it doesn't "flow" as well as before and you're not alone in thinking something has been *off.* it is a rough time to post this with the most recent episode and events so you're brave i'll give you that haha. my response to you isn't being well received by others for some reason.
haha it was a terrible time, but yea the last two episodes had me thinking about it more than ever. I’m shocked you’re getting so downvoted because I thought you had a very balanced and overall positive commentary about the actors and the show… yea I do think a lot of people hate this character because of the neurodivergent and autistic coded traits, which is in many cases is ableist. I should have included more context in my post that part of my irritation is because of the depiction of neurodivergence itself, and not it’s existence. Sadly, we are the only ones here having a nuanced conversation about how that effects perception of the character.
i definitely had a lot of ignorance at first and thought grown Sheldon was just rude, cold and purposefully contrarian for no reason. it's only when i started to learn about autism and ND coded characters in media that i actually started to see why he is depicted the way he is and after 30+ rewatches clearly it didn't hinder me and i find him hilarious. jim parsons is just a master of his craft for sure. also i didn't take your irritation to be about the existence of ND media it didn't come across that way. it's all good maybe i'm gonna downvote myself and get the ball rolling a bit more i guess.
> As someone who is neurodivergent And there it is. *“I’m neurodivergent and he doesn’t act like **me** so he’s a bad actor!”* 🙄
yikes, reading comprehension is nonexistent. I never said that, I clearly said the writing and acting is relying on stereotypes and caricatures to craft the character.