Starnes and Cooper

I made a crass, ill-considered remark last night.

Current Jeopardy! champion Liam Starnes has been likened by many to Sheldon Cooper, especially as portrayed by Iain Armitage in Young Sheldon. But those comparisons are not universally appreciated. Yesterday in The Jeopardy! Fan, Andy Saunders took exception:

I have seen the articles comparing Liam to a certain fictional character, and I am left wishing a couple of things: firstly, that the fanbase was less cruel; secondly, that certain spaces on the Internet would be more tightly moderated. It’s not fair to any contestant to have their appearance judged in such a fashion, and this mocking can be worn on those who have chosen to moderate their spaces less aggressively, including those who administer the various Facebook groups on that site.

Initially, I didn’t see what the problem was, and during last night’s Eastern Time airings, I made a remark on social media that dismissed the complaint as an unwarranted overreaction.

After getting some feedback, I realized I had to be missing something. Not having watched The Big Bang Theory or Young Sheldon, and having only a passing familiarity with those series, I wasn’t aware of the association of the character with autism. Now knowing that, it’s entirely understandable that Saunders and others might consider that “cruel” — as either an implication that Starnes is autistic, or generally pejorative toward those who are.

My lack of knowledge of that context explains my retort, but doesn’t excuse it. Before firing back, I should have at least attempted to familiarize myself with why the comparison is unacceptable to many. I apologize to Saunders and anyone else offended by my flippant comment — nobody more so than Starnes, if he falls within that cohort.

I especially recommend the link two paragraphs above, to a writing by the mother of an autistic child, to help understand why people are unhappy with likening Starnes to Cooper. It occurs to me that mike myself, many may be unaware of the background, not willfully ignorant or dismissive of it.