He double checked to make sure everything was perfect. He had wine, strawberry tarts, and fresh whipped cream. He had his comfy pajamas with the constellation pattern on. His beloved Cinnamon was curled up at his side, and he had The Big Bang Theory ready for viewing.
He was so excited! He still couldn't believe there was a movie about his life! (And his friends, of course.) He dimmed the lights and turned on the movie. This was so exciting!
.
..
…
Raj set down the remote and tried to steady his breathing. This was… the movie… It was horrible! His life wasn't like that! It was all wrong! Those horrible movie people had completely distorted and fictionalized everything! Howard was portrayed as some sort of skeezy perv. Bernadette was shrewish and mean. Leonard was whiny and controlling, eager to sleep with anyone who would have him. They turned Penny from a fun and vivacious friend into a faded, tired woman one drink away from complete alcoholism. Amy was cruel and borderline sexually abusive. Sheldon started out as he really was, but as the movie progressed they made it seem as if Amy had beaten him down into a shadow of his former strong self.
That wasn't the way it really was! Okay, so maybe Howard had been a tiny bit perverted before Bernadette came along, but he wasn't now! And Bernadette was the sweetest woman he ever met. Okay, so she could be a little bit scary when her temper was roused, but it's not like she was intimidating. Much.
And Leonard and Penny had a storybook romance! Love at first sight! Okay, so it took three years, but they eventually got together. And their breakup was just temporary! And yes, Leonard had slept with Leslie and Priya. And Stephanie. And the old donor. And Sheldon's professor friend. And he tried to sleep with Alicia and Missy and Alice. But the movie made it seem like he was some sort of man-whore!
And Penny didn't drink nearly as much as they made it seem! In fact, he had only seen her drunk twice those first few years. So what if she had a few drinks every now and then. And yes, the two times before had both been with Leonard, but that was just coincidence. She is very happy with Leonard! She didn't even mind when he showed her almost nude pics to colleagues. And when he complained about her having friends he didn't enjoy being around, she gladly gave them up for him! That was love!
Right?
As for Sheldon and Amy, they had twisted that relationship into something uneven and weird! Amy was so patient and supportive of Sheldon! Okay, so she wanted him to stop watching sci-fi, and collecting comics, and playing games, but it was only because she was trying to help him grow. And there was nothing wrong with her trying to get Sheldon to be intimate with her! Sheldon just didn't know he wanted sex yet. Once he had it, he'd realize what he was missing. And that whole flu situation was warped! So what if Amy pretended to be sicker than she really was! She was just desperate for Sheldon to touch her! There's nothing wrong with that! It would only be wrong if it was some sex crazed guy trying to seduce a young innocent woman!
Raj jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth. This entire movie was a disaster! When people saw it, they would think horrible things about his friends! He had to stop it's release! But how? A beeping sound began ringing in his ears, making it difficult for him to formulate a plan. He looked around angrily for the source of the noise to stop it. He didn't see any likely origin and he was getting more and more annoyed.
"AHHH!"
Raj jerked upright, sweat covering his body. He looked around frantically, quickly turning off his alarm clock. A dream. Just a dream. Raj wiped at his face and took a shuddering breath. A very vivid, extremely disturbing nightmare, to be honest. He slowly got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and looked into the mirror. He fancied he could still see shadows of the nightmare in his eyes.
He wanted to deny what his dream was telling him. Just a random series of exaggerated memories, right? Penny wasn't really sad and beaten down by Leonard's behavior. Howard wasn't really controlled by his wife. Sheldon wasn't actually being harassed. Right?
He just needed to keep telling himself that everything was fine. Maybe someday he'd actually believe it.
A/N: This isn't goodbye. It's just that I need to step away from this show for awhile. I am not happy with the current undertones of abuse the show seems to be passing off as 'comedy'. The writers have been moving away from the strong, interesting characters and storylines just so they can make lame jokes about sex and sexuality for two years now. They see nothing wrong with subjecting half of their characters to borderline abusive behavior if it gets them laughs and ratings.
I no longer like any of the characters except for Howard. I pity Penny and Sheldon. Leonard, Amy and Bernadette make my skin crawl. It's grown increasingly hard to write any stories when I find I have very little desire to spend time with these characters.
For those of you still writing, I applaud you. You have a stronger will that I do. I wish everyone the best, and I hope I can find my way back here eventually.