The Unfortunate Problem With Big Bang Theory's Raj Koothrappali 

Thanks to everyone for requesting we cover "The Problem with Raj". What other TV characters had problems that were too big to miss?

I love how the writers wanted Raj to find that special someone, as if they don't have 100% control over that fact.

Stuart felt more like a main character than Raj by the end of the show. Stuart found happiness while drowning in misery throughout the show. Raj just remained the same " funny Indian guy"

Speaking as an Indian, it's virtually impossible to not know Hindi if you grew up in New Delhi.

The Raj-Howard dynamic was funny early in the show, but I always felt like they had no idea what to do with Raj once Wolowitz got a girlfriend. They gave Raj the ability to speak, only to discover that they had nothing for him to say.

We later find out Raj is wealthy. We also find out that he is very savvy about fashion. Yet he never stopped wearing his ridiculous clothes that were specifically supposed to look mismatched. Raj would never wear that crap, but they always forced him to.

Raj’s relationship with Emily is one of my favorite parts of TBBT. Both truly care for each yet are also honest and sympathize with each other. It’s a shame they didn’t became a thing in the end.

As an Hindu who speaks Hindi as a second language (Marathi is my first language), whatever Sheldon said was practically undecipherable. I'd have the same reaction.

everyone got a happy ending, even freaking Stuart, but not Raj. i wanted to see Raj get his big, beautiful Bollywood wedding. that's the thing that bugs me most. Raj deserved so much better

Early in the show Raj not being able to speak to women worked for his character for two reasons, 1 it shows potential character growth and 2, it made comedy out of his social insecurity which is far more dynamic and relatable than making jokes about his ethnicity. As the show went on the writers failed to capitalize on any of this since his potential growth boiled down to him just "getting over it" and once he did "get over it" the writers couldn't think to do anything else except make jokes about his ethnicity at his character's expense.

The most impressive thing about the show was how four actors dressed in three tops never appeared to sweat under bright hot studio lights.

Poor Raj the writers did him dirty. It’s almost like they wanted him to be like “Fez” from that 70s show. But unlike that show Fez won a lot, Raj just ultimately kept loosing all the time. Just sad. 😢

Honestly as an Indian American I always found this portrayal much more offensive and harmful than Apu, probably because these were negative stereotypes I actually had to deal with instead of "you own 7/11 lmao"

I wish that they'd let Raj have his own happy ending, since he's the only one of the main seven who isn't in a committed relationship by the end, unless you count Sarah Michelle Gellar. He deserved better than to be used as a walking punchline.

It's not only about Raj. They hated Leonard and Penny in the later seasons as well. Bernadette was turned into an irredeemable sociopath. Howard and Sheldon had to carry the show hard. Also you asked a good question. The show was always about laughing AT the geeks, not with them

It is SO bizarre that Sheldon of all people evolves enough to get married and yet Raj is just a jerk and never learns lessons from the people he loses through his mistakes.. Frustrating.

They had great potential with Emily. She was quirky, educated, and a little scary. She also mixed will with the other characters.

Love hearing the part about how side characters can become what we remember, because I solely started rewatching Zack and Cody so that I could see everyone *besides* the twins again. Moseby is truly the main character.

I do wish Raj did have more of a better ending. Everyone else, especially Sheldon, evolved and evolved well. I felt Raj didn’t as much

I think they should have given Raj and Missy a romantic storyline. She was interested of him when they first met, but he couldn't speak to women then. They could have explored that in later episodes more.

I actually liked his relationship with Anu. The fact that it was a well-working relationship (and not some overly romantic fairy-tale thing) seemed healthy and just what he needed. There was balance between her matter-of-fact approach to life and his naive and unrealistic romantic way of thinking. I really hate how Howard ruins his friend's chance to happiness for such a stupid reason. The romance with Lucy also had a very interesting premise. Two broken people, finding comfort in each others flaws, sharing that burden of struggling in social situations. There was lots of room for character grow, relatable stories and interesting experiences there. Instead they choose to make him an insufferable ass towards Lucy. :(

Raj was always just used for the most insensitive jokes. They made fun of his social anxiety, his race, his "femininity", constant gay jokes with him and Howard. The other guys all had quirks that were made fun of, but they were also given redeeming qualities to balance them. Sheldon is legitimately the most brilliant. Leonard is the least socially inept one, who actually manages to land the "hot chick". Howard is the first to have a family, and becomes an astronaut. What was Raj's thing? Maybe one could argue that he was the most emotionally intelligent?

This is actually a deeper problem with many of Chuck Lorre's shows. I feel like he is very cynical about humans in general. If you think about it, many of the characters in TBBT aren't that good. Bernadette actively enjoys working for a big evil pharma company. Penny is somewhat shallow when she's considering breaking up with Leonard because he's not the kind of guy she imaged herself to be with. Their relationship is anything but healthy. Leonard is a "too nice" neurotic guy who keeps penny around by making her feel guilty. His mother is horrible. And Anu was definitely a pretty horrible person. It's surprising that Howard, who was initially shown as a creep, in the end was probably the best person among them.

Raj’s arc throughout the TBBT was pretty underdeveloped. It seemed the writers didn’t even care to give him a happy ending or the hint of a better life; unlike even Stuart, who was also a punching bag in the show, but ended up with a romantic partner by the show’s conclusion. I personally feel the writers in season 12 should have replaced (at the very least) Anu, with a love interest that Raj could’ve “rode off into the sunset” with. For Raj, most of his relationships felt like they were meant solely for comedic antics, rather than sincere storylines. It’s too bad as well that Raj didn’t become more independent as a character sooner in the show (e.g., when he stopped taking his parents money and changed his hairstyle) as he could’ve received better character development in later seasons if the show had made these changes earlier on.

Raj's best episodes were, in my opinion, when he was working with Sheldon, who was forced to apologize to him after admitting that Raj was right and he was wrong. Also, the whole desk-off was hilarious. I also loved the tiny cameo he had as a child in Young Sheldon, where he looks quite happy studying in his room with no overbearing parent in sight or sound.

The way Raj was written reminded me of Joey from Friends, and the way they were both handled was incredibly disappointing... Neither of them had grown or really changed at all by the final episode, I ended up really liking Stuart's growth and wondered why they didn't do the same for Raj 🤔

I don't think it was just Raj, the writers seemed to have contempt and hatred for the characters. There are scenes where people describe horrible physical abuse each suffered constantly in the past and the laugh track plays. The joke is the abuse, the writers think it is so funny that no actual joke is needed. The writers come off really badly from the show.

They could have delved into why he couldn't talk to women more and based the romance arch on that. He at least could have gone to London to have him end with some autonomy and confidence.

I liked Raj character. He was the one with the most realistic plot line for a nerd when it came to romance

As an Indian person, I feel like Raj embodies everything that's wrong with how Indian people are portrayed in American TV. I hate how this show portrays nerds as asshole losers, so keep that in mind with what I say next. Why is it among all of the "loser" characters, why does Raj have to be seen as the biggest one?

I never felt like Raj was merely shoehorned in during the early years of the show. It certainly failed him in the final seasons, but it failed everyone toward the end.

As sad as it sounds. I think is a cool detail to make Raj unsatisfied at the end. The show works on relatability, and Raj not getting what he dreamed for is the most common thing in our society, it felt relatable to me. Life long friendships over “love” is also a win.

I don’t know what show you watched but Raj was consistently one of the most amusing, whimsical & entertaining characters, so it did work

He was one of my favorite characters and got some of the best one liners

By the end there they had practically written him out.

Raj definitely deserved better in many ways (and it feels like the writers felt it too, hence the rushed arc of rapidly changing his clothing style, hair, job, brief break up with howard to make up for the lost time) but it is somewhat satisfying to see a character not forced into relationship just bc the show ends. To both reiterate that platonic partnership can and does often provide more stability and happiness than a romantic one and/or that sometimes no matter how hard you crave love and intimacy - you still might not find the right person. Super sad but yeah, that’s life and a lot of us are also single and not too happy about it. On the side note it would be really interesting to have him marry Anu just for the sake of positive arranged marriage rep and general cultural background diversity, but at the same time yeah I can live with them not going through with it. If only Raj’s character hasn’t been butchered for years in every other aspect…

Raj and Howard always felt like secondary characters, but there was obvious care put into Howard when Bernadette came into the picture. I never really thought about Raj not getting enough due because that's just who he was. When the series was coming to an end, I didn't want him to be with Anu, but I was also disappointed that he was the only one who didn't have a significant other, even though Leonard and Penny seemed to be less prominent in the last few seasons. Leonard and Penny's dynamic changed so much (probably because of their relationship outside the show) that they didn't seem like they were working in the show, anymore. I also didn't like how that concluded.

Not only did Big Bang Theory mistreat Raj, but I'd go so far as to say the show is racist. CONSTANTLY belittling him and his culture for the sake of cheap laughs. BBT is often accused of being "nerd blackface," and while that's debatable, given its reception among internet nerds, I think it's undeniably racist and sexist.

BBT just did go on for far too long and became way too serious. the first seasons were much lighter, the quirky characters worked well and they were just sketches basically, then they decided to go on and on and suddnely there are people in their 40s that actually look 40 going around in comic books t shirts speaking like teenagers and inbroiled in difficult decisions and serious relationships. The show basically became a series equivalent to the meme with mr burns with beanie and black t shirt

The reason I personally love Raj is because I feel connected to him. I too am a social anxious person who struggles to talk to women I find attractive, but unlike Raj, alcohol doesn't help me. I do tend to be a comedic fella for my group of friends in an awkward kind of way, but it's enjoyable. To me Raj feels more grounded and although a different character would've been good in a sense, I wouldn't change him

They did him wrong. The one person who always dreamed of finding love ending up with nobody😢

They never wanted to give my guy a love interest and made sure to pair everyone up but him at the end. They had him as an after thought. 😭

If you look at most of the writing staff of tbbt, it's really not too hard to see why Raj got the treatment he did.

Raj never knew how to talk to girls because he never had any context for what to say or do, but after he finally genuinely connected to a girl emotionally, he did

The worst aspect of Raj's writing is when the writers randomly decided to have him break up with Emily on their anniversary to pursue a new girl, then had that new girl also dump him. Then had Emily go crazy and manipulate him into sleeping with her again, and then some seasons later they brought her back to have her say he was inadequate in bed and a terrible boyfriend. It really felt like Chuck Lorre forgot which show he was writing for a moment and thought Raj was Alan Harper.

One of my guilty pleasures is to watch clips of Sheldon's "witty banter" with the laugh track removed. It's...uncomfortable to watch, but I love it.

I agree, Raj is sweet and deserved better treatment. Especially compared to Howard who had no character growth at all. Anu was great and I was also super disappointed that not only she wasn't endgame, but dismissed in favor of Howard, who had always been a bad influence.

it's all true... but Raj's situation is realistic too: sometimes, in real life, some people don't get a fairy tale romance nor a series finale miracle, they just stay single or alone or jumping through realtionships for most of their lives.....

They did lack diversity of jokes about India because they kept going back to the population. Duhhh

Chuck Lore was clearly jealous that the actor who played Raj was more muscular than him.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on Mom, the show nobody seems to talk about, yet got eight seasons and reinvented itself to such an extent that the cast changes almost completely by the third season, and main cast members of season one just disappear.

Raj had my favourite line in the entire show, "So you say you can't pay your rent."

I felt like the show meandered around way too long to actually figure out when and how they wanted to end but that's a whole different subject. Raj was definitely one of my favorite characters but I can agree they didn't give him Justice.

All went south for him after the Emily storyline. It waas weird to not give Raj a proper romantic storyline since Kunal is arguably the most attractive out of them 4 and the character had a lot of traits that would theoretically work for him (rich, romantic, fashion oriented, a great cooking, etc…). That’s why I am inclined to believe the rumors that floated around back then, that the actress who played Emily was meant to become main cast as Amy and Bernardette had before, but someone of the main cast got angry/jealous and threatened to leave, so creators had to scrap their storyline and were left unsure with what to do with Raj so they ended up treating him like a secondary character. Also it really rubbed me the wrong way that the only non white person of the main cast was mocked up as effeminate and his culture constantly made fun of

It's always infuriated me that raj was the only recurring character to never end in a relationship, arguably one of the few one Stewart & Zach where in relationships Raj Exs all got into relationships Very few characters ended without every being married and or single

Anu was perfect for Raj. She was the exact type of woman who make a great wife and she'd give birth to the kids. I wouldn't be surprised if Raj gave up his work and decided to be a house husband. Raj wasn't just looking for love he was looking for family. Howard convinced him that they'd be family enough for his. This is so unfair because Howard asked him to give up his potential for a family of his own to be a fun uncle to his children.

im indian and can speak hindi but the moment where sheldon speaks hindi was complete gibberish

And they canceled Apu. Apu was a successful Indian guy while Raj became the comic relief guy..

It was very sad that Raj ended up alone

honestly the immediate removal of his mute status was what killed the character, did it get repetitive? absolutely, but it made him stand out and allowed for situations you just couldn't with other characters. honestly i'm surprised they didn't play on his anxiety more, like he's the laid back one in the group. sheldon has more anxious meltdowns than the guy whos literally scared into silence by women. but even if they had to remove his main character trait they should have done it more tactfully, he can talk to his sister cause he's lived with her for a long time, makes sense he'd start being able to talk to penny in an emotional moment, but him immediately doing girl talk with amy and bernadette? especially with how everyones terrified of bernadette, could have opened up comedy with bernadette getting annoyed at raj still not talking to her after the other girls or amy trying to study his progress but doing that absolutely kills it. hell the deaf girlfriend idea would actually be great while still mute by simply making him be the one to know sign language, could actually be the catalyste for breaking his muteness from him communicating with a brand new woman and even hooking up via a different form of communication. like i'm actually so confused why they took away his defining character trait so fucking stupid lol

I think a comparison between silicon valley and big bang theory would be interesting in comparing the comedic 5 human band archetype.

I loved Raj up to maybe the last two seasons. To me, that was fine that he was not central in the group and I liked his lighthearted view of life where being with his friends felt enough. I'm probably in the minority but I don't like that most sitcoms are centered around romance anyway so it felt good to have someone who, while wanting to find someone, was still happy in life and not mopping about being alone (except a few times). I liked his feminine side without him being gay and similarly, I like the relationship he had with Howard. It's refreshing to see the message that you don't have to be gay to get along with girls and like "girly" stuff. So yes, Raj may not be as central as Leonard or Sheldon but to me, it was more Howard+Raj being a character together. That may explain why I didn't like Bernadette as she broke the dynamic (and was mean without reason, but that's a separate topic) and the last two seasons where a rift between Howard and Raj appeared out of the blue. While most people wanted to see a happy ending for him, I did not feel that way. I love the fact that the show ended but we can imagine Raj's life continued as usual, that we're just not watching anymore. I already didn't like how it ended for Penny and Leonard ... I think just finishing with Sheldon and Amy's win would have been enough and then we can imagine everyone is back to their daily life.

Just to say that I recently watched a video comparing tragic scenes in 'HIMYM' and 'TBBT' and if you're cool with it, it would be awesome to see a video comparing serious and emotional scenes in B99 and TBBT (about discussing whether or not to have kids and trying to have kids etc) and/or why B99 is so much better than TBBT, in general. No worries or pressure either way, though. Thanks. :)

In my head canon Raj started dating and possibly married to Missy once the events of the shows ended.

I never had that big of a problem with Raj, I liked that he never ended up with someone it felt more realistic, not everyone finds someone.

When they introduced Issabella in S10 I was excited. Someone that was just a regular person that challeneged Raj. He put real effort into trying to start a relationship. It felt like a call back to early Raj that spoke about his live in "help" growing up, but now it showed that he wasn't above them. Kind of lame the show just mentioned they broke up with zero explanation.

In fairness, Raj's lack of a romantic partner does nicely tie into his arc, where he leaves his parent's money behind to become more independent. He doesn't need the approval of someone else and is okay just being himself.

Raj was my favorite character on the show and I liked the show because it reminded me a bit of my circle of friends. I'm glad you made this video because I completely agree that the show often did feel like it wasn't treating Raj the same way as the other characters. When they introduced Anu in the last season I thought that finally the writers were going to take Raj seriously as a character and develop the character up to where the others were. Instead, they have Raj and Anu break up. I was fine with the slow pace of the relationship between Sheldon and Amy and even of their slow pace at character growth. It felt like it made sense for the characters. I didn't mind the breakup of Leonard and Penny and the direction those characters ultimately went (although I was a bit annoyed that the show ends with Penny being pregnant, but mostly because there had been multiple times in the series after the two married where that could have happened and the writers seemed to bring it up just to drop it and then here it was on the final episode so now it's like "Hey audience who has been waiting for this, here you go now bye leave us alone"). Even Stuart grew as a character and started to feel like one of the main cast members. Heck, I remember watching the show with a friend once who had never seen an episode and because Howard and Bernadette have two kids and that episode seemed so focused on them they thought Howard and Bernadette were the stars of the show not Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny. Like the most character growth came to Howard and Bernadette. I kept watching the show because I watched as the characters grew and changed, and yet Raj always seemed left behind or playing catchup. When the series ended and Raj still wasn't even dating anyone, let alone married, I was upset that the writers just didn't seem to want to invest in the character they created. I mean, they certainly each season kept talking at Comic Con or in interviews about doing more for Raj's character, but they never really did. I mean, I'm gay so I'm used to tv shows not really following through on things with characters. I mean how many LGBTQ+ characters ever really got to develop beyond mere stereotypes in tv shows back in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s?! Of course Raj isn't even a gay character (though they did make jokes about him and Howard....which honestly annoyed me and is one of the reasons I enjoyed Troy & Abed's friendship better on Community as it finally represented two straight dudes who have a close friendship without making gay jokes, which to me felt more real since I have straight male friends who have similar friendships and I often disliked when people new to my larger circle of friends would make gay jokes about them...not just because I'm gay and found the jokes unfunny, but because it was like they were mocking straight guys for forming real friendships), so it was frustrating that they literally have a character that shouldn't be that difficult to write relationships for without upsetting anyone. Like Anu was an arranged relationship and most of my Indian and Nepalese friends said they felt it was done respectfully with what they had experienced as living in America as a Hindu Indian/Nepalese person with parents back in India/Nepal. Thanks for the video! Great video! Maybe someday we'll get a special made-for-tv movie or something and the writers can correct their errors with Raj in how they show him then. Though, I'm not holding my breath on that.

Raj was the Joey of Big Bang Theory

I actually felt the opposite, I thought he was one of the better characters up until he could talk to women. Went off a cliff after that though

It’s more realistic that not ALL of them end up with a healthy relationship. Remember, this is a show about socially awkward people who understand a lot more about their interests than they do about actual humans. Anyone who knows real life “geek culture” knows how unrealistic it is for THAT MANY of them to end up in healthy relationships, especially Sheldon who is clearly autistic. Raj still being alone because of his social awkwardness and fanciful idea of love is actually the most believable part of the show.

Raj was a great character. Always enjoyed him.

Raj was the Tina Yothers/Jennifer Keaton of TBBT. If either of that week's shows plotlines had focused on them, I tuned out. The "poor me. Ill never find love" gets old really fast. The show started to fall apart when Sheldon stopped being wacky. About the same time has he started a "real" relationship with Amy. mid to late season 9

The talk about a cultural shift of the perception of nerds/geeks makes me happy 🥲 I was most definitely an out and proud nerd before it was cool to be labeled as such.

Thank you for making this video. Raj is my favorite character on the show because he likes fancy things. I'm still sour that they didn't give him a happy ending. I couldn't care less about Sheldon's Noble prize.

Tbh, I don’t know why kunal put up with such lousy character for so long.. his character was the least attractive in terms of personality they gave him. While this character has the huge potential for character development. When your character is mute by choice for more than 1 season, you know it’s not main character, and it is gonna grow at all.

Raj's sudden ability to talk to women while sober feels as out of left field as Fex on That 70s Show randomly becoming a ladies' man in the final couple of seasons...

I think Raj’s personality goes perfectly with his ending. He was so obsessed with all the wrong things about love - dates, movies, superficial stuff. Emily was great, but he couldn’t get over the fact that she was “different”. He failed to love himself and be comfortable with himself enough to invite someone else over. He was so into an alternate reality where perfect romance exists, & the show highlights selective mutism, something associated with people who are not in touch in reality. I was happy he didn’t end up with Anu - he wasn’t in it for the right reasons. He was playing catch up. He deserved to find love naturally - when he’s comfortable with himself.

Lovely video! Gives me answers to why I always felt Raj's character felt so unsatisfying. Sinc you included a clip in the video, I'd love your thoughts on Broad City. You could argue they never really let Ilana evolve

THe thing that I came to dislike about the show was how it wasn't laughing with geek culture, it was laughing at it, whilst also making the protagonists enablers of really toxic behaviours

I long thought that there should have been a reveal showing that Raj also had a secondary friend group where he could be himself a lot more. It never rang true that Raj had no Indian friends from India or California. It made no sense he didn’t have any friends of other ethnic groups too. It’s Los Angeles, a quite diverse city.

My favorite part of big bang was the credits.

I did not understand a thing, it's sounds all like random what you're saying, but it was a pleasure to listen to, watching great selection of clips and enjoying subtitles in the language I am learning :D

Maybe the story of Raj is a life lesson : not everyone will find a perfect match but he will still live a joyful and rewarding life

it's funny how the show tried to make it seem like no woman would ever go for these men, especially raj, when jim parson thought kunal nayyar was the most handsome man ever when he met the cast

I think the character arc for Raj was more how, from the very get go and repeatedly throughout, he was completely desperate to find a relationship with a woman that he lost all agency over himself. For a while personified in his selective mutism, which he was eventually able to overcome when he started to relax and find confidence (granted, it was false confidence given to him by alcohol, but the effect remains). As he was able to form relationships with women, again and again he was shown to just be so desperate that he'd put any desires he had for himself out of his mind purely for the sake of being in a relationship. At the end of the story, he's once again put in a position where he's asked to put his own desires aside just to be in a relationship, but he finally comes to realize that's not the be-all and end-all, that his desires do matter and he does have agency in his choices. If Season 1 Raj had been asked by a woman to marry him and move out of the country, he would have followed along silently without a second thought. But instead, he's grown to the point where he can make the choice for what he really wants without falling to pieces over being single.

I’ve never heard of anyone complain about Raj. Everyone loves him. Interesting vid.

4:56 if not for the subtitles it would be pretty hard to understand what Sheldon said!! Lol “Jab main aath (8) saal ka tha, maine seekha tha!”

Rewatched the show a few months ago in December and almost caught up to the finale And damn… love hate relationship on full display 😂 anyway everything you said is right also the comment above that said that even Stuart felt more like a main character than Raj isn’t wrong 💀☠️

I mean, thanks so much for expressing this. BBT is my favourite sitcom out 4 I watched at all. And even though I liked the finale I got that feeling of incompleteness with Raj. And everybody in the comments is expressing that he is the only one who didn't find a commited relationship out of all gang, but even though I'd like for him to find someone I also thought that the writers could at least give him peace. He could have accepted himself, accepted that he is alone for the time being and find calmness in it, be secure about it. But up until the last episode he kept whining about not having found anyone. And was frustrating. You didn't have to give him a partner, you just had to give him a finale. A finished arc, something. But it's left as my only real complaint with this show after all.

I'd probably say Howard is the Ringo because...well...look at him. Raj is more like George as he was the quiet one.

I love Raj. He definitely grew throughout the series.

The epidemy of a Token Character.

I really liked Rajs muteism. It feels a bit like that nerd that doesnt dare to talk to a girl that is "out of his league". Really would like to see them work more with that

There were opportunities to show Raj’s growth in the TBBT and I am releasing this video shortly. But it’s nice to see someone talk about this. Awesome 👏🏻

yeah, Raj gave me the feeling like he was something that stick to the core group forcefully instead of part of core group. I also noticed that the actor was sometime look uncomfortable whenever they made a joke about Hinduism or India. It is almost like he was forced to do it. I know the west has freedom of expression and can make joke about anything including religion. But that doesn't mean it is the same in the east. Just because you can make fun of your mother for example, doesn't give you the right to make fun of other people's mother. You can't tell them not to feel offended because you also did it to yourself, it is what they feel. But overall I still enjoy Raj's character. Talking about changing of character, Amy is one that changed the most since her first appearance. She looked like a robot who lack empathy at first, but later she changed into probably the most emphatic person in the group. It is almost as if the writer backtracked in order to fit and add her permanently into the story.

Big bang was fun for 4-5 years, after which, nothing works. Raj was the outsider ar first, and should have stayed so.

I got pretty far into Big Bang Theory and at a certain point it just feels like all the characters hate each other

Well savage moment of Raj with desk scene. One scene enough to remember him

Well done, nice video.