...this season's turn toward comparing Charlie and Larry has a lot to do with TPTB's insecurity about setting up the protagonist as a professor of mathematics and, more than that, a genius.
That's an interesting idea, though I have to admit I don't agree. My interpretation leans more toward Charlie simply fumbling through adulthood--not out of any intelligence-related incompetence, but because the world is more open for him now that it was before. Working with Don and his team has both brought Charlie closer to Don (which fosters a more detailed, if not necessarily better understanding of Don) and also brought Charlie into contact with non-academicians. That's a completely different culture than Charlie's own and I think some of the fumbling has been Charlie's attempt to understand and perhaps integrate the two.
Ah, the beauty of personal interpretation. :)
To get back to the original post, I did a bit of Larry meta after the episode. Here's the salient bit on collectivistic ideas of responsibility.
Second is Larry's (and Charlie's, by extension) responsibility: if you are that talented, don't you have a responsibility to use that talent to its fullest potential, no matter the sacrifices you may need to make? There is such a small number of people in the world who can do what Larry or Charlie can do that they have a unique responsibility to do it. Anyone can have a family, but not anyone can find what truly makes up the fabric of our universe and not anyone can explain what consciousness is and how it's formed. And if you can do that, then you are held to a different set of standards. Often family gets neglected, but for Einstein's sacrifices we have relativity. It's a hell of a trade to have to make, but can anyone really argue that it wasn't worth it?
Of course, that's a more collectivistic view of responsibility, sacrificing yourself for the many. It's the culture I grew up in, but it may not have been a culture Alan grew up in. And it must be difficult for him to see that his boys (Don as well, though to a lesser degree) to have, essentially, outsourced their caring and caretaking.
And a final idea is that of Charlie as Larry's surrogate child. I'm always fuzzy on canon, but it seems as though Larry's been Charlie's mentor for some time, and since Charlie was relatively young. In a way, he's been Charlie's intellectual father just as much as Alan's been his familial father.
Interesting thoughts, all the way around. Thanks for broaching the subject. :)
Larry
That's an interesting idea, though I have to admit I don't agree. My interpretation leans more toward Charlie simply fumbling through adulthood--not out of any intelligence-related incompetence, but because the world is more open for him now that it was before. Working with Don and his team has both brought Charlie closer to Don (which fosters a more detailed, if not necessarily better understanding of Don) and also brought Charlie into contact with non-academicians. That's a completely different culture than Charlie's own and I think some of the fumbling has been Charlie's attempt to understand and perhaps integrate the two.
Ah, the beauty of personal interpretation. :)
To get back to the original post, I did a bit of Larry meta after the episode. Here's the salient bit on collectivistic ideas of responsibility.
Second is Larry's (and Charlie's, by extension) responsibility: if you are that talented, don't you have a responsibility to use that talent to its fullest potential, no matter the sacrifices you may need to make? There is such a small number of people in the world who can do what Larry or Charlie can do that they have a unique responsibility to do it. Anyone can have a family, but not anyone can find what truly makes up the fabric of our universe and not anyone can explain what consciousness is and how it's formed. And if you can do that, then you are held to a different set of standards. Often family gets neglected, but for Einstein's sacrifices we have relativity. It's a hell of a trade to have to make, but can anyone really argue that it wasn't worth it?
Of course, that's a more collectivistic view of responsibility, sacrificing yourself for the many. It's the culture I grew up in, but it may not have been a culture Alan grew up in. And it must be difficult for him to see that his boys (Don as well, though to a lesser degree) to have, essentially, outsourced their caring and caretaking.
And a final idea is that of Charlie as Larry's surrogate child. I'm always fuzzy on canon, but it seems as though Larry's been Charlie's mentor for some time, and since Charlie was relatively young. In a way, he's been Charlie's intellectual father just as much as Alan's been his familial father.
Interesting thoughts, all the way around. Thanks for broaching the subject. :)