"House" and religion

"House" is, in general, a frustrating show for me-- fascinating and compelling, but not among my tip-top favorites. This is for several reasons. First, House's consistently acerbic demeanor makes every episode predictable on some level. Second, any given verbal sparring match with House ends with House left speechless, unable to reply after a zinger from his interlocutor (usually female). Third, the plot of every episode (except, notably, the one under discussion) unfolds almost exactly the same way. Fourth, those aforementioned zingers-- usually psychoanalytical in nature-- can be annoying because they often sound like what they are: the work of writers desperately reaching for something new and profound to say this week. It's not often that I want my TV writing to be as stilted and self-conscious as the writing one expects to find in stage plays, or even in some movies. "House" would be just as interesting if it didn't try to bring us one Deep Human Truth per week, but some episodes occasionally do invite an exploration of deeper matters.

I wish I had recorded and re-watched a rather uncharacteristic episode of "House" that aired as a repeat on the USA Network last night ("One Day, One Room"-- see here). A young woman is brought in, and it soon becomes apparent that she's a rape victim. She insists that only House should be her caregiver-- not the psychiatrist, and not a different medical doctor. House is perplexed: he knows how unlikable he can be, and reasons that the woman deserves to be treated by someone more socially adept. Eventually, though, House finds himself stuck in a treatment room with the woman, and they eventually begin to talk. House asks the woman about her background, and she says she majored in comparative religion.

The ensuing dialogue was interesting, but I couldn't help feeling that the woman didn't sound like a student of comparative religion. Of course, students in that field come in all shapes and sizes, from atheistic to hard-core fundamentalistic. Nevertheless, the conversation rang false with me; the woman would have, at the very least, brought out tidbits from a variety of religions instead of relying on very generic and oversimplified God-language. She also wouldn't have rejected House's attempt at injecting philosophy into the discussion: no self-respecting student of comparative religion would fail to see the relevance of philosophy to religious discourse. She invites philosophical rebuttal every time she makes general metaphysical statements.

The episode ends with House and the woman on cordial terms: it turns out that she insisted on House because she saw him as something of a kindred spirit, someone who had also suffered a deep hurt, and it was this perception that fed her desire for connection. House tells her about the physical abuse he suffered as a child, which allows the woman to open up and tell House about her rape, and to terminate the pregnancy caused by the rape. The episode, while different from the usual "House" fare, was nonetheless frustrating because it did attempt to make time for some sort of religious and philosophical debate, then cheated us by not giving us a fully fleshed-out comparative religion student. The show included a subplot about a dying old man; had they dropped that subplot, there would have been more time for House and the woman to have had a meaningful (not to mention more realistic-sounding) discussion.


_