Cultivated Identity and the big bang theory
By Noam Hessler
On average, at least eighteen million, sixty-three thousand people watched each episode of The Big Bang Theory’s eleventh season. Average statistics are not available for the twelfth season, the most recent season, but the results are expected to be similar, if perhaps slightly worse. For reference, eighteen million sixty-three thousand is a bit over twice the population of New York City. If the show’s viewership was forced to fit into the city, many of them would likely find themselves living in manholes, thanks to a lack of housing. Incidentally, a manhole is exactly where the Big Bang Theory’s writers deserve to be put.
If one can’t tell, I’m not a fan of the show. But nevertheless, I am interested with the way the show uses branding, what makes it so successful, and what this says about capitalism and the way we form our identities around things we consume, and capital encourages this consumption-based identity system. To do this, I will be relying upon the works of essayist Peter Coffin and his theories surrounding cultivated identity, this Vulture article
from the September of 2014, many, many, many articles defending the show, and a copious amount of chocolate because thinking about how The Big Bang Theory is CBS’s highest-rated syndicated show for upwards of twenty seconds gives me debilitating headaches. So before we start talking cultivated identity, take a few minutes to watch a video of The Big Bang Theory without a laugh track so we can prepare for our serious discussion.
So what is cultivated identity, and why does it matter? This video by Peter Coffin is a good, thorough analysis of the idea, and is the main foundation for this article, but for those who’d rather not watch an over twenty-minute video before continuing this article, I will give a quick run-through of the idea. Cultivated identity is essentially consumer identity, an identity built or bent around the concept of purchasing and consuming. This, in turn, creates an unhealthy culture around this cultivated identity wherein everyone is defined by how much of a certain kind of consumer product they consume, and whether they have “the right taste” in consumer products.
An obvious example of this kind of identity is nerd culture, with its endless arrays of collectibles, and drama and discourse over who is “a real fan”. But this idea of competitive consumer is also seen in other cultivated identities: see people that claim moral superiority based on the fact that the products they consume are more “ethical” than those of others, or the way that people will champion companies for making advertisements that pay lip service to common social issues, ignoring the fact that companies do this almost entirely for product motive. Cultivated identity and community, as a result, are frequently toxic for both those within and outside it - for it is not a community of fellowship, but instead, one of both competition to assert one’s dominance over a cultivated product and simultaneous validation of those few that consume the cultivated identity “correctly”. All of this nets capital a large profit, as capital creates and encourages this artificial identity and conflict because it drives individuals to consume vast amounts of the product connected to their non-organically developed identity.
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If it wasn’t clear, The Big Bang Theory is a show that operates almost entirely on this kind of cultivated identity in every aspect of it. To be fair, most sitcoms do; in a capitalist landscape defined by an unquestioning acceptance of the cultivation of identity for profit, the majority of media, if not all of it, causes this kind of identity whether its creators like it or not. But I think The Big Bang Theory is a particularly good example of this cultivated identity culture, and since others more intelligent than me have so appropriately critiqued it and explored its politics, it is not necessary to do a very broad analysis, instead focusing specifically on cultivated identity, the way it manifests in the show, and the way it surrounds the show.
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Firstly, I’d like to mention the most obvious example of cultivated identity in the show: its use of nerd culture. Just to summarize, the show for its comedy uses a trough of hackneyed references to what could be described as “nerdy” science fiction and fantasy products: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, and others. Frequently, the show will make what could be charitably called a joke by simply referencing the existence of one of these products or franchises (haha, lightsaber! 10/10 would Bazinga again, ROFL). Clearly, these jokes encourage cultivated identity, in two ways. Since these bizarre jokes are frequently designed so that the audience is laughing at the characters for their niche interests, rather than with them, it rather than reinforcing the cultivated identity of being a nerd mocks it, which allows it to attract people who might consider themselves to be what could be called a “Normal American”, who finds this sort of thing funny, for some reason that it is between them and whatever high powers and/or brands they worship. Meanwhile, typically on the internet, one of the more common criticisms of The Big Bang Theory is precisely because it isn’t really directed towards nerds: because of course it's not. It’s a sitcom meant to appeal to as many people as possible. However, by serving as something for self-described nerds and “nerd culture” to rally against it becomes a way of reinforcing and gaining points in the hellish landscape of cultivated identity; to show you’re the real fan, the Real nerd, the one who consumes the best.
I think it’s also good to talk about the way The Big Bang Theory uses science for comedy, as the fact that the show uses accurate science is one of the most common defenses for the show that I have seen. The show’s champions claim that this proves that the jokes are smart because they rely on references that might be more familiar to intellectuals than those that didn’t find their way into the STEM fields. There’s not really much to say about this, but it is an example of a cultivated identity beyond the bounds of what might be considered a “fandom”. Instead, the identity being cultivated here is one of intellectualism: the jokes are smart because you get the reference, and as a result, you can consider yourself smart as well. This validation encourages consumption.
Finally, I’d like to mention The Cheesecake Factory. There is a Cheesecake Factory in The Big Bang Theory. People eat there. People drink there. A significant amount of time is spent within the warm walls of The Cheesecake Factory. It doesn’t matter that the Cheesecake Factory in the show doesn’t look anything like a real Cheesecake Factory, or the employees wear completely different uniforms that a real Cheesecake Factory, what matters is that it is the mythologized ideal of a Cheesecake Factory, and that, for all intents and purposes, The Cheesecake Factory is a pretty nice place. But why The Cheesecake Factory? Well, it's pretty well summed up by a few short lines from the Big Bang Theory’s fan Wikia:
That is all. In a previously mentioned Vulture article on the show, sitcom writer Sheldon Bull says that “I love that the Cheesecake Factory is part of the show, it’s a way to have people watch and go, ‘That’s part of my life, too.’ ” The bolding is mine, and I bring this up as a conclusion. This, once again, is an example of cultivated identity, and this time at its most blatant. This isn’t trying to appeal to a certain subculture, academic group, or even mainstream culture, really. This is meant to appeal everyone’s favorite subgroup of humanity, people that eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Which, when you put it that way, frankly feels absurd. Because it is. The Big Bang Theory isn’t good much, but before we dump its showrunners in the middle of the Mongolian desert with naught but a plastic lightsaber and a Funko Pop, the least we can do is thank them for laying the bizarre nature of capitalist, cultivated identity bare.
