I don’t normally blog about shows I don’t like. Why waste words talking about something you’d rather not? This is just to explain why I encourage people to watch the shows and movies I blog about.
I’ve been watching the First Season of House, MD and I must say it is the wittiest show I’ve ever seen. (See Inside My Head category.) How can you not like a show that leaves you dripping with acid from the sarcasm and wondering why you never thought of that comeback? Honestly, few shows actually teach me something and House is one of them. I’ve been forced to look up what the hell vasculitis means and Churg-Strauss. I’ve become more of a hypochondriac too, scared of termites because of nephthalene poisoning and going to India (you’ll know when you’ve seen that particular episode). Aside from putting a damper on my travelling plans (I’m sticking to First and Second World countries), I’ve also realized it could have been actually cool to be a doctor. (Of course, 14 years of medical school made that uncool. And the fact that I live in the Philippines. Reason is self-explanatory.)
Having a lead character like Gregory House just made the show riveting. I love how they break down stereotypes and have instead a lead who is as damaged as he is smart. You have a man who is so removed from interpersonal relationships that he can alienate people with only a single sentence. Yet this inability to bond and feel is what makes him a great doctor because he can make objective decisions without the impediment of his emotions. He is a vicodin addict, yet a doctor who knows the effects of drugs better than anyone. He sacrifices a life to save the majority but disagrees with the hospital patients being used for agressive experimental treatments in the name of Science and risks his medical license to save a troubled bulimic who cuts herself, because he thinks she is worth saving, even though she may not. He is not so good that he should be sainted and not so bad that he should be doomed to hell. And that is what is so fascinating. He is so flawed but with every patient he saves, you can’t help but feel that he is redeeming himself. He is pompous and arrogant, never could accept his mistakes but encourages his staff to challenge his diagnosis. He is such a contradiction that even his staff scratch their heads once in awhile.
I love House because it made me smarter, much like CSI. I love the fact that I learn from it. Few shows end with me wanting to applaud the writers and kissing their feet because I know I never could have written what they have. I probably will never be as witty but I’ll keep watching the show hoping someday, I will be.