Young Sheldon's Mary Cooper Isn't a Bad Mother, But a Poorly Written Sitcom Trope

Summary:

• Young Sheldon is a prequel to another CBS hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which tells the story of Sheldon Cooper’s family and childhood.
• Some of Young Sheldon’s characters made their appearances on the original show, so the writers had to keep their future in mind.
• The others allowed more creative liberties, which caused a loss of balance between the characters’ personalities.

Just like any other genre, sitcoms build their characters around a few tropes that have proven to work for a certain type of humor. Although this makes the content somewhat repetitive, when used wisely, tropes can actually make the story more structured and the characters more relatable.

On the other hand, when tropes are used poorly, the fans are quick to pick up on the idea and let the writers know. The sad thing is that it's not like you can change a character after the plot has already started to unravel. Sometimes the possibility of ruining the whole storyline is far worse than continuing with the character that has already been decided.

For the family sitcoms, the tropes are usually the same. A slightly overprotective and controlling mother who tries to keep the family together, but gets buried in the daily grind. A father who would rather spend time doing something else than talking to his own kids. A responsible child, a child who doesn't feel he belongs, and a wild child.

This mix allows us to show just enough chaos in each family dynamic, as well as keep the balance between humorous and serious moments to move the plot along. For the most part, Young Sheldon's execution of these tropes isn't too bad. However, one character has fallen flat with viewers.

Why Mary Cooper Isn’t Any Worse Than George

While viewers have every right to hate Mary Cooper as a character, it is important to remember why she was written the way she was. She was always meant to end up like the Mary we've seen on The Big Bang Theory, because she was very important to Sheldon, and changing her would change his personal dynamic too much.

His father George, on the other hand, wasn't as important a character. He was mentioned throughout the show, and there were a few scenes that hinted at Sheldon's attachment to his father, no matter how bad he was portrayed. However, the writers had the opportunity to take creative liberties with him and humanize him.

And that is exactly what they did, at Mary's expense.

Her colder, more distant, and more controlling behavior with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders would be more convincing and much less out of place if George had remained the character he was described as. If he was still a neglectful alcoholic with whom she was stuck in a marriage, her trope would drive her to become the person she ended up being.

However, by breaking his trope and making him much more likable, but keeping Mary the way she was always supposed to be, the writers changed the balance and completely villainized her.

To see how Mary Cooper's character arc will be finalized in season 7 of Young Sheldon, be sure to tune in to CBS on February 15, 2024 for the premiere episode. Until then, you can binge-watch the previous seasons of Young Sheldon on Netflix.