Progressive Racial Representation or Strategic Whiteness?: Raj and Priya Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory

ABSTRACT

This racial rhetorical analysis draws from strategic whiteness to examine the 2007–2019 TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory (TBBT)’s construction of Asian Indian characters, Raj and Priya Koothrappali. This critique maps how Priya, through White racial bonding, is rhetorically developed as the wary antagonist of TBBT, and Raj is constituted as childlike and sexually ambiguous. Subsequently, both are situated as unappealing romantic partners to those within the bounds of whiteness, and serve as catalysts for White racial coupling, thereby maintaining White normativity and power. The paper closes with a discussion of the analysis’s ideological implications within a historical context characterized by the racialization, exclusion, and maltreatment of Asian Americans within the U.S.

KEYWORDS:

• Whiteness
• race
• Asian Indian
• racial rhetorical criticism
• interracial
• representation

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Dr. Alberto Gonzalez, the editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback that helped to improve this manuscript. A prior version of this paper was presented by the first author at the Central States Communication Association (CSCA) annual Conference in Madison, Wisconsin in March of 2022.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.