One Big Bang Theory Character Had Too Many Mommy Issues, and It’s Not Howard

Summary:

• Though The Big Bang Theory was a sitcom, it tackled quite a few of very serious topics that young adults face.
• One of them was charcters’ relationships with their families and the way they were brought up.
• Though almost every one of them had some sort of traumatic past, fans believe Leonard was the one affected by his childhood the most.

One of the greatest things about The Big Bang Theory is how real the show became at times. The characters that many considered relatable made hilarious mistakes, and while it was fun to watch them navigate their professional and personal lives afterward, these arcs often provided some great lessons for everyone on the other side of the screen.

Pretty much everyone, Penny and Raj aside, didn't have a great childhood. While some lost their parents early on, others wished they had. Sheldon's childhood and all the ways the Coopers couldn't function properly were explored in the prequel, Young Sheldon, while everyone else's parents appeared enough to pass judgment.

Overall, the fandom agrees that while Leonard, Amy, and Howard had mothers who were a lot to deal with, it was Leonard whose trauma stayed with him the longest. Ironically, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter managed to completely ruin her own son's mental state.

Why Did Leonard Forgive His Mother?

Although Mrs. Wolowitz required a lot of Howard's attention pretty much all the time, and did not have the most pleasant of voices, she was a good woman and will be sorely missed at her unfortunate passing. Whether we could have said the same about Leonard's or Amy's mother is debatable.

They both pressured their children to follow their orders, which rarely made sense. While Amy was forcibly isolated from society by her mother, Leonard was constantly bullied in his own home, making it impossible for him to adapt socially in the way a normal person does. Naturally, they both struggled as they grew up and entered new social circles.

Throughout the show, however, Amy made great efforts to stick with one gang and become a part of the group she enjoyed. And she succeeded. Leonard, on the other hand, continued to live with the same insecurities that Beverly had instilled in him, and even at the very end, he couldn't find his backbone.

The pattern that his relationship with women took over the years stemmed from his deep resentment of his mother. Each time the woman belittled him, he would allow it, but then lash out at her intelligence and do what he could never do to his own mother. The lack of trust and respect, as in one instance where he reads Penny's diary, also comes from there.

Even when the writers had the opportunity to break Leonard out of this cycle, they didn't. Following the idea of a generalized happy ending, they made him forgive his mother, when in fact it only deepened his dependency on her.

If you are interested in re-watching The Big Bang Theory and following Leonard's behavioral patterns, you can stream the show from the beginning on Max.