The Reason Why Raj Couldn’t Speak to Women in TBBT Is Based on a Real-Life Story

Years after airing its finale, The Big Bang Theory is one of the most successful sitcoms modern TV has seen so far, and its characters’ initially annoying or even weird traits are actually a major part of that immense success.

Following a group of nerdy friends trying to navigate through their career and love life, the show was quick to prove that every single one of them had a specific issue to deal with throughout the entire plot line.

Though Sheldon surely had no problem himself with his quirkiness and sometimes unfairly rough attitude towards others, his friend Raj did have some trouble with a very peculiar trait inspired by a real-life story.

The Big Bang Theory’s long-standing fans were surely divided in their reaction to a major plot twist that brought Raj’s ability to talk to women back.

The character’s struggle to communicate with any woman suddenly entering the same room without at least a bit of alcohol taken as some kind of medicine in this case has been one of the whole show’s funniest moments, so it’s no wonder many got pretty disappointed by Raj’s ability to beat his truly unique fear pretty quickly.

Still, others were cheering for the character who has in fact been suffering from all that since this was what impeded him to date someone he liked just because he couldn’t utter a single word trying to talk to a woman.

Raj’s problem is obviously not the one many people may face in real life, but one person actually did. As Raj’s actor Kunal Nayyar once revealed, his character’s weirdest trait was in fact inspired by something a friend of The Big Bang Theory’s co-creator Bill Prady once experienced.

Nayyar added that Raj’s problem had always been a pretty much existing disease “called selective mutism. The character is based on a friend of Bill Prady’s who had this pathological shyness. He’s since gotten married and had kids, so he’s been cured of it”.

As The Big Bang Theory’s lovers are well aware of, Raj was too able to get miraculously cured when at a random moment Penny pointed out his ability to talk to her without turning to alcohol.

The creators’ decision to award the show’s character with such a rare disease not only raised common awareness of it among The Big Bang Theory’s viewers, but also transformed Raj into a unique character with a compelling storyline, guaranteeing him everyone’s love and sympathy throughout the show’s entire run.

Source: ONTD