Oedipus Complex in The Big Bang Theory

After last week’s lecture on Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, I began to think back to all the television shows, songs, and movies I had seen and heard and realized how prevalent Freud’s ideas still are today. Freud’s idea of the Oedipus complex is portrayed in pop culture in a variety of ways, one of which is through the character of Howard in the television show The Big Bang Theory. In season 4, episode 16, titled The Cohabitation Formulation, Howard and his girlfriend Bernadette discuss moving in together, (Here’s the link to the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fwOHLnxZIU) but Howard won’t even stay overnight at Bernadette’s apartment because his mother needs him. He has lived with his mother since he was a child and is extremely dependent on her and likes to be mothered, even though he repeatedly says she makes his life miserable and she treats him like a child.

Howard’s Oedipus complex causes him to look for his mother’s qualities in Bernadette, and expects her to adopt the responsibilities of doing his laundry, taking him to the dentist, and buying groceries for him. Howard himself does not realize that he is projecting his mother’s qualities onto his girlfriend, even when she blatantly points it out. Howard’s relationship with his mother causes him to seek his mother’s approval of Bernadette after they become engaged, and when his mother faints, Howard blames Bernadette for causing his mother’s condition. It is clear that Howard’s relationship to his mother expresses characteristics of Freud’s Oedipus complex.