Sheldon Cooper. Aspie, or offensive parody?

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I've recently read (including in these forums)/heard that Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory is an aspie. The creators haven't diagnosed this fictional character officially, but he's truly a very good example of Aspergers syndrome, even though it's, of course, exaggerated. At least that's what I think. Do you agree? If so, do you feel offended? I don't. I believe Sheldon has become one of the most lovable characters in worldwide sitcoms. How about you guys? What do you think?

I think Sheldon is absolutely adorable. I love it when people compare me to him.

I mean, he's naturally a good person. His social skills make him weird (for instance, he can insult people at some points) but he does so 'cos he doesn't know he can hurt people's feelings, which something pretty much all of us aspies have been through. But he's always there for those he loves, in one way or another. He's so cute, just like a child.

He's my favorite character on that show.

I love Sheldon. I love all the characters on that show. The thing is, no matter what it is, or who it is, etc, there is always somebody, somewhere, who can manage to be offended by it. I'm actuall surprised that some group somewhere hasn't protested it yet, like that group of Italians did to the Sopranos.

Frances

Well, he seems to be based on a sitcom's literal interpretation of what an Aspie is. The irony!

Plus a few exaggerations.

I have never watched that show.

Sheldon Cooper, flaming lackwit.

Are you guys blind? His friends rip on him any chance they get. They're sarcastic and don't hold their anger back on him, even though he has no idea why they would feel that way. It's just a reminder of what life is really like between me and NT's. And what about Penny? She's always like 'how can Sheldon be like that?'

While I love Sheldon I hate the way some of the characters treat him.

My friend who thinks the shows is deliberately mean to nerds would understand how I feel about it. I couldn't see how they were just making fun of nerds but I did once she explained it to me and hopefully she did when I explained to her about how they made an Asperger's character they were purposely mean to. If Sheldon was diagnosed they wouldn't make fun of him any more and it wouldn't be funny, because once Gerry from Boston legal was diagnosed his quirks were turned into symptoms and were no longer funny.

The whole show is an offensive parody.

Mine too. The reason the show is funny is because of Sheldon and how he interacts with others. Without Sheldon I doubt the show would be as popular as it is. Sheldon is neither Aspie nor offensive.

Offensive parody.

Why can't it just be a good parody?

Ha, people say i'm like him all the time. I find him funny, it's kind of making aspergers more well known which is both good and bad. Bad because loads of socially awkward nerds have decided to announce they have asperger's. Good for obvious reasons.

I don't find it offensive though.

Because it's exaggerating a disability for comedy. And it does a terrible job of it.

It's offensive when people say I'm "just like Sheldon", even though they usually mean this as a compliment. No I'm not "just like Sheldon", yes I have some similarities, but overall I'm a lot different, I'm my own person, I hate the NT tendacy to generalize like that.

He's actually not that much of a parody. I saw the actor who plays him on a talk show, and he has the same mannerisms and speech patterns as the character, including smugly stressing certain syllables and looking around awkwardly every so often. The only real difference is that the character is a physicist, and socially clueless.