The Big Bang Theory: Nerds and Kidults

Abstract

'The Big Bang Theory' (CBS, 2007-present) is a television series that exploits the current movement to adopt an adolescent lifestyle of its target audience of millennial adults in their twenties and thirties. This essay explores how the series engages with such a trend by depicting a group of friends who conform to the popularized concept of "kidults"; or young adults who are still living like teenagers, and in the process promotes a reconsideration of the defining aspects of adulthood as they apply in a millennial context. The main characters of 'The Big Bang Theory' are nerds, who are extensions of both the technological expertise and the consumerist lifestyle of Generation Y. The nerd is associated in popular culture with computer literacy, intelligence (especially in the areas of science and mathematics) and adherence to a subculture based on consumerism, as well as being resistant to routine employment, uncommitted in terms of relationships and lacking in responsibility. These qualities are equally associated with the millennial young adults who form a large part of the viewing audience of the series. The popularity of this program with the 18 to 34 year old demographic is indicative of the way it reflects the preoccupations of a generation characterized by a fascination with technological games and consumerism, a fascination that is also the basis of the popular conception of the nerd. 'The Big Bang Theory' depicts nerds as the edge of a spectrum of behavior that is characteristic of millennials, and in doing so challenges previously held defining elements of adulthood.