Young Sheldon fans divided over Sheldon “exaggerating” his dad’s issues

With Young Sheldon being a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, fans are dismayed at how the original series portrayed Sheldon’s dad issues compared to his childhood.

For as long as fans can remember from the original series, Sheldon had a hard time talking about his father in a good light. He even confided in Penny about having caught his father in an affair. Throughout the series, the small tidbits of his childhood explained he wasn’t on good terms with his dad.

Sheldon also talked about his dad’s alcohol use and showed a closer connection to his mother. But Young Sheldon flipped the script by portraying his father as being very loving to his children and a good father.

This has led many fans to question Sheldon’s mindset towards his father in the original series versus Young Sheldon.

Did Sheldon talk bad about his dad to cope?

Some fans believe that Sheldon’s outlook on his dad in The Big Bang Theory is exaggerated compared to how Young Sheldon portrayed him. George Sr. is, by all accounts, a good father who cares for his children. A Youtube mashup highlighted his best moments. But it’s obvious that he’s often unsure of how to navigate Sheldon’s intellect compared to his older son Georgie.

On Reddit, a fan questioned if Sheldon’s disposition towards his father is solely based on the way he coped with his death. As fans know, Sheldon revealed in the series that his father died when he was young. Young Sheldon Season 7 would ultimately play out his father’s death and the possible affair he had witnessed.

But one fan believes it was something else. “Also Sheldon could be exaggerating in his eyes, his mom is amazing bc she dotes all over him and gives him so much affection, attention and takes him seriously. His dad not so much. His dad doesn’t give special attention to just Sheldon but to all of his kids. He hung out with missy and helped her with baseball, with Georgie they just are similar and get along easily, with Sheldon again it’s not the same attention his mom gives him,” said the fan.

They went on to explain that Meemaw also dotted on her grandson more, took him to school, gave him a nickname, and treated him with a different type of love. It wasn’t necessarily grief, but just how the family dynamic was like.

Another fan agreed it wasn’t an exaggeration but a retcon. “YS had to be severely retconned in order to exist. No way they could create a show with all the meanness narrated in TBBT. Even Mary is smarter and Missy a misunderstood and quite bright character (I hate what they did to her at the end of TBBT). To fit the wholesome tone characters and backstory had to be largely changed without excluding the alcoholism and religion entirely. And they did a really good job IMO,” said the fan.

Young Sheldon portrayed the Cooper family as a run-of-the-mill family who have their issues and an intellectually gifted son. Season 7 of the series might ruffle the family’s feathers.