Through out the pervious five seasons of House MD, addiction and all of the unsightly nuances acquainted with it drove the show down roads many popular television shows have yet to travel. Gregory House, trusted Vicodin to ease and, perhaps mask, physical pain caused by a dying leg. I have been an avid viewer of the show for…a long time, and over the years I, and many others, have watched House plummet to the depths of despair and, during season 6, climb over his addiction. House, as defined by pervious seasons, is ruthlessly ‘independent’, self-serving, pragmatic and conniving. With a dark wit, he drives the show to places and dilemmas that often make House think about his world view and leave the viewers to think over the problems themselves.
This, I believe, is where the true heart of the show lies: the ability to question. While House’s attitude towards humanity has been described as ‘misanthropic’ his real driving force comes from needing to solve ‘the puzzle’, to find the truth. This idea is very apocalyptic in a society that often calls for ‘unity’. However it must be said that House is not the ‘poster-boy’ of the Kingdom. In fact, his strong sense of independence, extreme cynicism and dislike of human contact strongly contradicts the goals of the Kingdom as well as suggesting a particular form of modernism. While the drive to find the truth is incredibly important to God’s Kingdom, House rejects religion avidly and tries to find objectivity through his medium: science. David Shore’s character can continue to be striped down and examined, however I will move on.
This particular episode, The Tyrant, focuses strongly on the idea of righteous killing verses ‘just doing your job’. Dibala, a ruthless dictator, becomes ill and is treated by ‘House’s Team’ lead by Forman. The dictator is rumored to be planning an ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Sitibi people in his kingdom. This question is huge and is often not thought about by the normal human being with a normal work life. However, as people of the Kingdom we must constantly be in question and challenge ourselves and our faith. It is this reason that House MD is incredibly important to popular culture.
1. I have praised House MD as a show, however the main character loudly proclaims to be an Atheist. What are some of the unpleasant things about this show that cannot be over looked?
2. If Dibala was in your living room, what would you do?
This, I believe, is where the true heart of the show lies: the ability to question. While House’s attitude towards humanity has been described as ‘misanthropic’ his real driving force comes from needing to solve ‘the puzzle’, to find the truth. This idea is very apocalyptic in a society that often calls for ‘unity’. However it must be said that House is not the ‘poster-boy’ of the Kingdom. In fact, his strong sense of independence, extreme cynicism and dislike of human contact strongly contradicts the goals of the Kingdom as well as suggesting a particular form of modernism. While the drive to find the truth is incredibly important to God’s Kingdom, House rejects religion avidly and tries to find objectivity through his medium: science. David Shore’s character can continue to be striped down and examined, however I will move on.
This particular episode, The Tyrant, focuses strongly on the idea of righteous killing verses ‘just doing your job’. Dibala, a ruthless dictator, becomes ill and is treated by ‘House’s Team’ lead by Forman. The dictator is rumored to be planning an ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Sitibi people in his kingdom. This question is huge and is often not thought about by the normal human being with a normal work life. However, as people of the Kingdom we must constantly be in question and challenge ourselves and our faith. It is this reason that House MD is incredibly important to popular culture.
1. I have praised House MD as a show, however the main character loudly proclaims to be an Atheist. What are some of the unpleasant things about this show that cannot be over looked?
2. If Dibala was in your living room, what would you do?
Whoa--nice call on posting the whole episode! We'll have to check it out. Good insights, Hannah, on how House is a tangled up ball of good and bad (like all of us).
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