Like Amy, Raj is a well-respected character on paper. He is an astrophysicist who for the best part of seasons 1-6, could not physically talk to women unless he was under the influence of alcohol. He is best friends with Howard and often hangs out at Leonard's apartment. The fundamental problem with the way the writers portray Raj's character however, is that he is subject to relentless racist jokes and oppression. Many of the jokes surrounding his character are often related to his nationality. What's interesting too, it that he doesn't oppose any of the jokes made at him but rather reinforces them, often initiating them. What would be nice to see is the show beginning to make forms of comedy that do not rely on shaming nerds, shaming race or shaming gender. The sidelining of Raj means that he only often appears in the conversation as the butt of racist jokes and if this was avoided, he would actually be a pretty awesome character.
