Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión
House M.D.: “Help Me”
Dr. House makes a genuine effort to turn his life around, even going out of his way to help a young woman trapped beneath a crane. Though the woman’s leg is caught under some rubble that can’t be easily moved, Dr. House refuses to allow an amputation of the lady’s leg until all other possibilities have been exhausted. Once he exhausts said possibilities, he insists on performing the amputation himself.
The woman promptly dies in an ambulance en route to the hospital due to a predictable yet unpreventable side-effect of the amputation, prompting Dr. House to undergo a crisis of faith in which he questions the point of doing anything in a world in which such bad things happen to good people. A world in which even people who make an effort to do everything right get punished.
After two years of seeing people in the real world undergo similarly unhappy experiences, I could not help commiserating with Dr. House and his patient, even though Dr. House’s eventual solution to his problems is not one that I would have chosen for myself. It all too often seems like the world is pointless and cruel, that there’s no point in doing the right thing in a world in which people who do the right thing have no more good fortune than people who do the wrong thing.
Yet it is hard to see how just giving in to despair and not doing anything makes the world a better place. Despair may seem emotionally satisfying in the short run. However, in the long run, it seems just as destructive as the cruelty which provokes it.
Granted, it could be argued that the relatively upbeat ending of this episode is every bit as unrealistic as the hallucinations which marked the end of the previous season. But then it could be argued that Dr. House’s ability to regain a medical license despite years of drug abuse is also unrealistic.
In the end, it depends on which type of fantasy you prefer: the genuinely helpful one or the one which is not so helpful. Should you prefer the fantasy which encourages you to help people because it makes you believe that such things matter or should you prefer the fantasy which encourages you to withdraw from people because it makes you believe that nothing you can do can possibly matter? The answer, as always, is up to you. But I know what answer I would choose. And I don't say that because I'm naturally noble or too idealistic for my own good. I have my moments of selfishness and I have had many times in my life in which I have chosen to choose the easy way. However, I also have a conscience and I would like to be able to sleep at night.
House M.D.: “Help Me”
Dr. House makes a genuine effort to turn his life around, even going out of his way to help a young woman trapped beneath a crane. Though the woman’s leg is caught under some rubble that can’t be easily moved, Dr. House refuses to allow an amputation of the lady’s leg until all other possibilities have been exhausted. Once he exhausts said possibilities, he insists on performing the amputation himself.
The woman promptly dies in an ambulance en route to the hospital due to a predictable yet unpreventable side-effect of the amputation, prompting Dr. House to undergo a crisis of faith in which he questions the point of doing anything in a world in which such bad things happen to good people. A world in which even people who make an effort to do everything right get punished.
After two years of seeing people in the real world undergo similarly unhappy experiences, I could not help commiserating with Dr. House and his patient, even though Dr. House’s eventual solution to his problems is not one that I would have chosen for myself. It all too often seems like the world is pointless and cruel, that there’s no point in doing the right thing in a world in which people who do the right thing have no more good fortune than people who do the wrong thing.
Yet it is hard to see how just giving in to despair and not doing anything makes the world a better place. Despair may seem emotionally satisfying in the short run. However, in the long run, it seems just as destructive as the cruelty which provokes it.
Granted, it could be argued that the relatively upbeat ending of this episode is every bit as unrealistic as the hallucinations which marked the end of the previous season. But then it could be argued that Dr. House’s ability to regain a medical license despite years of drug abuse is also unrealistic.
In the end, it depends on which type of fantasy you prefer: the genuinely helpful one or the one which is not so helpful. Should you prefer the fantasy which encourages you to help people because it makes you believe that such things matter or should you prefer the fantasy which encourages you to withdraw from people because it makes you believe that nothing you can do can possibly matter? The answer, as always, is up to you. But I know what answer I would choose. And I don't say that because I'm naturally noble or too idealistic for my own good. I have my moments of selfishness and I have had many times in my life in which I have chosen to choose the easy way. However, I also have a conscience and I would like to be able to sleep at night.
Labels: Dr. House, Filosofía, Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión VII
posted by Tonio Kruger at 8:25 PM
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