Young Sheldon Made Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Irredeemable

Following its premiere in 2017, Young Sheldon quickly became a great show in its own right. Starting with the story of The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper growing up in an East Texas town, the prequel gradually morphed into a family sitcom where every member of the Cooper clan is equally important and fascinating. The title character has also evolved, making the adult Sheldon look really bad in comparison.

After airing its sixth season this year, Young Sheldon is already half the length of its parent show, and fans of the TBBT universe have grown accustomed to Sheldon's newly acquired dual nature.

Sheldon number one is a socially awkward child prodigy played by Iain Armitage, and Sheldon number two is a theoretical physicist portrayed by Jim Parsons who leads an extremely ritualised existence and seems to have friends more by circumstance than design.

Since Parsons' Sheldon was the first to appear on screen, he will forever remain in the hearts of fans as the original protagonist. But when you look at him through the lens of Armitage's Sheldon, he doesn't look good at all.

You see, during TBBT's run, Sheldon's arrogance, self-righteousness, selfishness, condescension, and rudeness were often used for comic relief and excused by his difficult childhood and social isolation. Let's face it, we all gave Sheldon a pass when we met his less-than-ideal mother on TBBT.

But the prequel proves otherwise. Young Sheldon is full of adults who love and support the boy genius and try to provide him with guidance, from Meemaw and his parents (who are not at all as awful as they were portrayed in TBBT) to Dr. Sturgis. In addition, Sheldon has a few peers willing to put up with his eccentricities. Overall, he has plenty of opportunities to learn social cues and how to function normally in society.

Yet he apparently chooses not to. Both young and adult, Sheldon clearly thinks he is better than everyone else and never heeds the social lessons adults or children try to teach him. And that is not something to be overlooked. For a genius with an extremely high IQ, an eidetic memory, and a fairly decent childhood, being mean to people is nothing but a conscious choice.