Big Bang Theory: Rajesh Koothrappali

The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom that centers around four young male scientists in their late 20s. All of them are also die-hard superhero and sci-fi fans. In the show, Rajesh Koothrappali is a young astrophysicist with successful and promising career. At the same time, he is portrayed as a young man who is socially dysfunctional that he can’t even speak in the presence of women, let alone attractive ones. Similar to many other Indian portrayals within the U.S. pop culture, Similarly to the Han Lee, Rajesh is also coded as a perpetual foreigner due to his thick accent, and his parents are constantly trying to force him into an arranged marriage. His character is also entailed with the most feminine characteristics out of the four characters. Although there is nothing wrong with men expressing femininity on levels that they are comfortable with, the emasculation of Asian men is continued being prevailed within the mass media. Out of the four male characters on the sitcom, Rajesh is perhaps the least developed given how little of a personality he presents to his viewers. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is the fate of any side character in a sitcom.

In this scene, Rajesh purchases an iPhone and develops a peculiar relationship with Siri, the feminine computerized voice command on iPhone. Howard mocks fun Raj for finally having a girl in his life that he can speak. Though Siri is a mere computerized voice, Raj questions whether or not she is single and he then interprets her answer as the need to become acquainted before revealing such personal information. Since the voice command accepts compliments and responds to inquiries about her well being, Raj treats her as if she is an actual human being. Also, by praising Siri as "sexy", this is a clear indicator that Raj has ultimately developed an emotional attachment to a soulless machine. As the episode progresses, Raj dream that he meets Siri in the form of a real woman, but he still remains unable to speak to women, or in this case Siri in the form as a woman. Ultimately Raj loses his opportunity to ask to make love with her due to his inability to talk. This scene further reinforces the stereotypical depiction of Asian men being inexperience with females simply because they cannot get any due to their foreignness and the attributes that are entailed along with it.

This is a short scene of his inability to talk to females, unless he consumes alcohol. 

In this scene, Rajesh introduces his friends to his parents through video chat. His parents quickly jumps in and questions the friends' careers and whether or not they are successful like their sons. Rajesh also epitomizes the prevailing media conception of Asian men, including having a father who is a doctor. Rajesh’s parents wants to video chat with him simply because they have setup an arranged blind date for his son. The girl that the parents set him up with is an Indian girl who is currently enrolled in a top-notch dental school in America. His character ultimate cultivates the stereotype of the Asian American males being compliant to the high expectations of his traditional parents. Although meddling with the child’s love life is a common practice among Indian parents, but this scene also further prevails the stereotypical images of noisy Asian parents.