I’m a fan of the TV show House, which features the titular character Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), an genius of a doctor who specializes in diagnosing unexplained illnesses and ailments. The comedy in the show comes from House’s abrasive, misanthropic personality. He verbally slaps around both his patients and his underlings, plays pranks on his only friend, and treats his boss with utter disrespect. In particular, the contrast between House and his friend James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), a nice guy who goes out of his way to flatter and lie to people to assuage their egos is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the show.
One example of this is in an episode from last season that I re-watched recently, “Joy to the World.” One of the subplots of this episode involves Wilson betting House that he can’t be nice to a patient. House subsequently diagnoses a clinic patient complaining of headaches as pregnant, despite her claims of her and her fiancé being virgins. House orders a paternity test, the results of which show that the woman’s baby was the result of parthenogenesis, a spontaneous genetic mutation that resulted in one of her eggs being fertilized without the need for sperm. After receiving a gift from the couple following this news (and winning the bet), House reveals that he faked the paternity test, the real results of which showed that the woman had in fact cheated on her soon-to-be husband. House concocted the bogus parthenogenesis story in order to save the couple’s relationship – a “nice” goal.
Meanness in the pursuit of truth is no vice; niceness in the defense of lies is no virtue.
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Ha! What happens when the husband checks out Wikipedia and realizes parthenogenesis can’t happen in animals as advanced as humans?
Of course, in the Red States, the child would be taken to be the second coming of “Ja-eezus”.
In blue states he would be aborted as a birth defect.
There is also an element of insurance fraud since Huse is intentionally misdiagnosing a medical condition and billing for it. We don’t see that side of it in this show, but in real life, all of House’s patients would gets bills for all those fancy and futile tests he does.
In red states, there is likely enough Bible literacy to know that Jesus comes on a cloud next time, not in virgin birth. The Anti-christ, on the other hand, is born into the world.
The kid might not survive childhood either way.
This is actually close to standard medical ethics. Unless the *man* orders the paternity test, any non-paternity results are generally suppressed. This comes up in genetic testing for congenital defects (the reason why the medical profession assumes a general rate of non-paternity of around 10%) , for example, where doctors learn that Dad is not, in fact, Dad, but do not share this with Dad (presumably Mom knows anyway) on the theory that (1) this was not the reason for the test and (2) disclosing the information would violate the privacy of Mom.
In this case, House, and not the father, ordered the test, so the non-disclosure of non-paternity is kind of standard current medical practice currently.
Yes, the medical profession covers up cuckolding and considers it ethical to do so. Why? Because they say “not our problem”.
Another reason why we need mandatory paternity tests at birth.
The medical profession does this and believes they are doing the greater good for the sake of the child and the family unit and they make it an ethical decision based on loyalty to the patient (either the child or the mom).
This is why the road the Hell is paved with Good Intentions.
The women I know that watch House love the character because he’s an asshole.
Interesting post, Ferdi.
I too am something of a fan of “House” and understand the core premise of the lead character. Your take on the late Barry Goldwater’s famed quote, which I might add was used by the Tim Roth/Thade character in Tim Burton’s remake of The Planet Of The Apes, merits some attention.
Yes, there is something to be said for speaking truth to power. But the question here, at least to me, is whether being mean for its own sake is a goal in itself. For some, the truth is just a means to “sock it to” someone, especially if we feel in some way aggreived. I’m not against telling it like it is, but I also do think there is something to be said for discretion, too. True, a lot of the contrivances we engage in may be in fact pretty lies-but bereft of these social niceties, we quickly revert to a Lord Of The Flies existence. Who’s helped by that?
W/all due respect, for some, a kind of South Park mentality is a guilty pleasure, or a kind of academic pursuit; but being born and bred in one of America’s toughest inner cities, Hobbs’ quote about life being mean, brutish and short is more than just a string of words. Life on the mean streets is as “keeping it real” as it gets, but trust me when I tell you, such bad medicine can be worse than the disease.
Having seen enough flatout uncouth inhumane meaness to last three lifetimes firsthand, I am of the view that it is indeed possible to be honest, and cordial, at the same time. Telling the truth doesn’t require one being an asshole.
Which brings me to House himself. Yea, he’s brilliant-he’s also ALONE. No one wants to be around him anymore than they absolutely has to, including his obstensible best friend. And as for “real”?-House, had he existed in the realworld, would have been fired yesterday, not only for talking to his boss in such a way, but for the many truly whacky, albeit brilliant things he does with patients. And as we who learn and study Game know, House-types rarely if ever get laid in real life-theyre too smart to get away with being the kind of assholes Women actually want, much less like. His only option is the Bunny Ranch.
Again, House is brilliant, but we can better than that. Let’s raise the bar. Marcus Welby wasn’t half bad.
O
Yes, ladies love House, but not simply because he’s mean. Lou Grant from Mary Tyler Moore was a similarly (but not as extremely) abrasive character, but was not the subject of many women’s masturbation fantasies.
It’s not the crotchetiness or meanness the ladies love, at least not entirely. Here’s what the ladies love about House:
First and foremost, House is a very good looking guy (in a Hollywood “rough around the edges” way. Similar to how a soap opera puts an eye patch on a good looking guy to make him seem ugly.)
Second, House is excedingly competent. And a doctor. Have a girl look at a (non-dweeb) doctor to her left, and a guy kicking a cat to her right . . . which do you think she’s going to choose?
I’ll grant that there is also some arrogance and “don’t give a f***” element to House’s personality that many ladies dig. But as far as the meanness goes, it makes for great television, but with the exception of ladies who always seem to have boyfriends who beat them, that’s not going to be the way to impress the ladies.
As I’ve written before, notwithstanding the popular myth of doctors as rich white Republicans, the medical profession is actually quite culturally left-wing.
Riff Dog: Wilson is also reasonably good looking, and also a doctor. Why do the women watch for House rather than for Wilson?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but House doesn’t seem to have any girlfriends, etc. Am I right?
O
I agree. The wholly unjustified superiority complex that Homocrats have over ‘red staters’ reveals the deep insecurity of Homocrats.
Didn’t blue states like CA, NY, and MA all have Republican Governors in the last decade (Arnold, Romney, Pataki)? DIdn’t NYC have a Republican Mayor? So are they blue or red?
These are inconvenient questions for Leftists, as are all logical questions.
House isn’t just the bad boy image, he is the socially autistic image. He does not have the “tact” chip in his motherboard and he believes his intellectual brilliance is a valid substitute. The vast majority of House’s patients almost die because of what he does to them before he gets the 50th minute inspiration and miraculously cures them. He is way luckier than he will admit. But I enjoy the show because i enjoy the non-medical plot twists and subtext humor.
“But the question here, at least to me, is whether being mean for its own sake is a goal in itself…Who’s helped by that?”
I’m not advocating for total House-style brusqueness, but in my opinion, society has swung too far in the opposite direction.
“And as we who learn and study Game know, House-types rarely if ever get laid in real life-theyre too smart to get away with being the kind of assholes Women actually want, much less like. His only option is the Bunny Ranch.”
Good point. I’d add that part of the reason these types of men are unattractive to women is because they’re social autists, incapable of interacting with people normally. The downside of having a high IQ is being detached from the rest of humanity.
Thanks for the comment. I have a post coming tomorrow that will explain my views on this more thoroughly.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but House doesn’t seem to have any girlfriends, etc. Am I right?”
Most of Season 2 concerns House’s contentious relationship with an ex-girlfriend who takes a job at the hospital.
If I’m not mistaken, House is an atheist and rather antagonistic to religion.
Wilson isn’t ugly. But that doesn’t mean he’s goodlooking. And he’s a doormat. He isn’t presented as brilliant: the emphasis is that he’s a compassionate oncologist. His scenes always have him as victim(women)/enabler(House). If House was a woman, he’d be House’s ‘emotional tampon.’ As they’ve said explicitly (not the tampon part).
He does, however, have women fawning over him in the show. His deliberate refusal to act on it (most times) is what’s frustrating and a hammering in of how he self-inflicts much of his misery.
Being immersed in medical ethics myself, I regard House as a show that is constantly in rebellion on this specific subject. It’s probably one of the best ways in which the unethical part of nondisclosure is highlighted: the only nice ‘ethical’ action that the In Real Life ‘long since struck off and in prison’ fictional doctor would do.
The show is constantly trying to reinforce the idea that what’s important about a doctor is that they’re competent and not merely ethical. And yes, the first is more important than the latter. Indeed one can argue the latter is only important if the first fails. However, a doctor at the peak of brilliance ideally has both qualities in abundance.
People like House DO exist in real life. He is an extreme outlier; a lot of people ALMOST like House, who do follow authority / formal legalistic procedures more than he does when absolutely necessary, but infrequently, exist in the upper echelons of professions/businesses. One does have to be brilliant to get away with it though at least in high profile areas. (There are also a lot of skirters of procedures etc. at the low end but that’s an entirely different thing, generally venal or covering up incompetence, which are a lot of the reasons for the rules in the first place.) It also helps to affect being on the left. Really. It does.
Also House has a kind of respect for his boss, head hospital administrator Dr. Cuddy. Not for her doctoring skills, but her reasonably light touch management. He does consider her the embodiment of the “system” and something to endlessly try to get around and manipulate. I also think he realizes she unusually cuts him as much slack as she can most of the time (sometimes seriously risking her own position), in recognition of his actual bona fide brilliance and much more often than not rightness, and does so more than most other administrators in her position would do. As well the genuine sexual tension between the two is a fixture of the show.
House does vastly more good than harm, and more good than any normally very, very high IQ guy in his position might. He’s something of a creative genius as well as real bright. btw, correct me if I’m wrong Bhetti, but my understanding is that diagnostic medicine, where it’s difficult, is the general intellectual peak of clinical (as opposed to research) medicine, requiring the most mental horsepower. House is in command of a team that constitutes something of the “Supreme Court” of diagnostic medicine. he get’s the cases other ace diagnosticians in his part of the country, and sometimes further afield than that, can’t figure out.
(Bhetti and I saw the next to last episode of last season together last night. Via the interwebz.)
Why are there no holistic healers in any Hollywood shows?
Yes, it is the ingenius peak of clinical medicine, requiring familiarity with practically all specialties (although one could argue his team — who can perform any procedure Under The Sun — are the ones who’re really unrealistic due to that superpower. But maybe they make them like that in the US of A. What else can you guys do?). And not even then, because of all the rare presentations. So it requires an artistic creativity working off knowledge of medical (contrasting nature of his epiphanies versus rote lists of his team).
Thank God for small mercies?!
House is very holistic in the more literal meaning of the word. Who else has their medical team check out their house as well as their ‘mental, spiritual, physical’ wellbeing?
Hey, I just realized.
You pretty much asked ME OUT on that date didn’t you?
Ok, not formally. But you maneuvered me to asking you pretty damn explicitly.
Shameless hussy!!
(Well it did take me ’til now for that to occur to me. Some skilz involved in that me thinks.) ;)
You did ask me out, “theoretically”.
Girl gamer!
Wilson is actually a great example of what girls mean by “good looking”.
Wilson has a pretty symetrical face with nice enough features. If he were a woman he’d be a 7 probably. He’s not a male 7 by looks. (His doctor status/income would make him that or an 8 if he wasn’t just pathetic at game.) Why isn’t he by looks?
Because what girls mean by looks includes the edginess /dominance/leader thing on the one side, versus wuss or herb thing on the other, that they can glean from looks. Actually that’s what constitutes male looks more than anything, at least once they’re past being tweeny or teeny boppers and have some concept of actual sexual attraction.
Hence the actor Hugh Lorie, though old, has a definite edginess to him and a kind of looks for someone susceptible to men his age. When he as a much younger man played Bertie Wooster in Wooster and Jeeves, the ineffectual, bumbling Wooster would be described in much the same way Bhetti describes Wilson here I think. Not BAD looking, but not good looking either. No sexual edge you see. That’s what girls mean by looks, more than anything.
(As well Hollywood has been in the business of blurring this since near it’s inception. Since talkies anyway.)
It includes that most of all actually,especially for girls in tune with their sexuality, and sluts, and girls who’ve read Roissy and had things peeled away from clouding their eyes even though far from sluts or very experienced, and so on.
Misery is too strong a word I think. Chronic semi-misanthropic, fully cynical unhappiness, more like.
Obviously it’s a central show concept. It’s part of what ties the thing together. If this aspect of House were to change due to e.g. his finding a kind of love and a woman moving in with him that he genuinely cared for, even if unable to deeply give, it would seriously effect the dynamics of the drama. But I’ll leave that aside. There are other show concepts. Let’s run with this one.
As well House’s unhappiness is part of the Western tortured creative artist tradition. No he’s not an artist per se, but he is a creative genius. It’s actually a Western tortured creative genius tradition. It has been applied to scientific greats as well, big time. That tradition got fully crystalized and jacked in the 19th century, but it had been kicking around as a theme at least since the Renaissance. Germans especially went hog wild on this idea, but Brits too. See e.g. Byron.
It’s a theory with some considerable truth but also a lot of fitting bodies into the available casket.
To wit. Do you have to be tortured to be a creative genius? Or does being a creative genius make you a little tortured?
My answer: SOMETHING has to get you to concentrate big time. Feeling socially tortured can work well for that.
meanwhile highly aggressive thug type alphas who don’t possess much brain power are socially useless or usually worse and we should ….
Well. They aren’t advancing the ball much are they?
OTOH, we want girls to encourage juiced (aggressive) brainy guys to lead and innovate.
Maybe girls need a bit of a genetic tweeking to fine tune their gina’s? Who wants to fund that?
Hugh Laurie
“Good point. I’d add that part of the reason these types of men are unattractive to women is because they’re social autists, incapable of interacting with people normally.”
But they often acquire social dominance within male circles. This is one problem with a lot of “Game,” which focuses on dominance. A lot of guys in the extreme male brain side of the spectrum need to build empathy/emotional awareness more than they need to build dominance.
So why is diagnostics considered to be hard?
It should not even take a particularly good memory. A decent set of software, updated less often than typical anti-virus software, should be able to encompass diagnostic elements of every known malidy to human and animal kind and their treatments, diagnostic sensitivities and confirmations.
It would have the further benefit of being wrong less often then doctors are today. Any doctor who uses it would be automatically shielded from malpractice because doing what the program said would be the very definition of best practice. On top of that, it would open up the entirety of medical knowledge to the masses. The capability to self diagnose would lower health care costs universally and with much less risk to the patient. Why isn’t that the case today in every doctor’s office and hospital?
But then a show like House would be pretty boring if all they did was google the symptoms and said “Viola”.
“House is excedingly competent. And a doctor”
Try again. Has anyone cataloged all the unnecessary tests and surgeries House has ordered ( especially the unnecessary brain surgery, which appears a couple of times per season)?
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