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40cakesWatching House last night with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaina. In the B plot (possibly C plot?), an African-American man is having heart problems. He first sees Dr. Foreman, who is also black. I missed the first 20 minutes coming back from work, but I assume from later events that Foreman prescribed a medicine that's more effective on black patients than white patients. In Act 2, the patient comes back to the clinic to see Dr. House. House mentions that he knows the patient wasn't taking the meds. At this point, the patient gets indignant and said he didn't want the "black medicine," he wanted the same stuff everyone else got. House being House, he gets into a snarky argument with the patient, insisting that it's not racism and the patient isn't getting something inferior; if he got the "white drug," he'd probably die. The patient gets up to leave, insisting he'll see another doctor. Sighing, House balls up the script, tosses it aside, and says, "Fine. I'll give you what they give Republicans." The patient walks away a happy man.
If you didn't know that House gave him the same prescription anyway, but just lied to him, welcome to your first TV show.
Dr. Foreman finds out House's switcheroo while confronting him, originally believing his boss had given the patient the wrong drug. He then gets even angrier that House fooled the patient, saying, "That's what you white people always do."
Me: ...save lives?
Dr. Foreman: You always want to lie to us.
Me: Because he refused to listen to reason!
House: Fine, I'm a racist. And that man will have to live with that knowledge for every day of his long, long life.
Dr. Foreman: Every slave owner thought he was doing the black man a favor. "Poor Negroes can't take care of themselves. Let's give them a place to live and a job, and teach 'em right from wrong."
Jaina: But he couldn't take care of himself! He didn't want the drug! This has to be some sort of Godwin's Law violation!
The scene is left with us feeling like House was in the wrong and he's a racist, which doesn't sit right with me. The patient wasn't lied to because he was black; he was lied to because he was stupidly stubborn and that would eventually cost him his life. If this was a female patient who was insisting on getting the same drug given to men for a particular ailment, I'd feel the same way if Cameron got upset with House and gave him a spiel about how women were/are seen as inferior. STFU. That patient was an ass.
I think this extends to the fact that I feel like Foreman's character EXISTS so they can be all edgy and play the race card. When they wrote up Chase's character, I don't get the feeling that they meant for him to be Australian. When they wrote Cameron's character, I don't think they much cared what she physically looked like. When they wrote Foreman's character, it seems like they made up a "black character" foremost, and then cared about making him a doctor. "See, he used to be a homie, living the thug life on the streets, but now he's cleaned up his act and become a doctor!" If they wanted to be original, they should've made him come from a middle-class suburban home, and made Chase the Australian gangsta or something. Meh.
Now, in conclusion, I'm a white chick in the suburbs, and the closest I've come to racism is someone once saw my bare legs and told me I didn't have to wear white hose to work. So if anyone feels the whole scene was justified, and I'm completely in the wrong, share with the class. You know I'm all about that.
jaina. In the B plot (possibly C plot?), an African-American man is having heart problems. He first sees Dr. Foreman, who is also black. I missed the first 20 minutes coming back from work, but I assume from later events that Foreman prescribed a medicine that's more effective on black patients than white patients. In Act 2, the patient comes back to the clinic to see Dr. House. House mentions that he knows the patient wasn't taking the meds. At this point, the patient gets indignant and said he didn't want the "black medicine," he wanted the same stuff everyone else got. House being House, he gets into a snarky argument with the patient, insisting that it's not racism and the patient isn't getting something inferior; if he got the "white drug," he'd probably die. The patient gets up to leave, insisting he'll see another doctor. Sighing, House balls up the script, tosses it aside, and says, "Fine. I'll give you what they give Republicans." The patient walks away a happy man.If you didn't know that House gave him the same prescription anyway, but just lied to him, welcome to your first TV show.
Dr. Foreman finds out House's switcheroo while confronting him, originally believing his boss had given the patient the wrong drug. He then gets even angrier that House fooled the patient, saying, "That's what you white people always do."
Me: ...save lives?
Dr. Foreman: You always want to lie to us.
Me: Because he refused to listen to reason!
House: Fine, I'm a racist. And that man will have to live with that knowledge for every day of his long, long life.
Dr. Foreman: Every slave owner thought he was doing the black man a favor. "Poor Negroes can't take care of themselves. Let's give them a place to live and a job, and teach 'em right from wrong."
Jaina: But he couldn't take care of himself! He didn't want the drug! This has to be some sort of Godwin's Law violation!
The scene is left with us feeling like House was in the wrong and he's a racist, which doesn't sit right with me. The patient wasn't lied to because he was black; he was lied to because he was stupidly stubborn and that would eventually cost him his life. If this was a female patient who was insisting on getting the same drug given to men for a particular ailment, I'd feel the same way if Cameron got upset with House and gave him a spiel about how women were/are seen as inferior. STFU. That patient was an ass.
I think this extends to the fact that I feel like Foreman's character EXISTS so they can be all edgy and play the race card. When they wrote up Chase's character, I don't get the feeling that they meant for him to be Australian. When they wrote Cameron's character, I don't think they much cared what she physically looked like. When they wrote Foreman's character, it seems like they made up a "black character" foremost, and then cared about making him a doctor. "See, he used to be a homie, living the thug life on the streets, but now he's cleaned up his act and become a doctor!" If they wanted to be original, they should've made him come from a middle-class suburban home, and made Chase the Australian gangsta or something. Meh.
Now, in conclusion, I'm a white chick in the suburbs, and the closest I've come to racism is someone once saw my bare legs and told me I didn't have to wear white hose to work. So if anyone feels the whole scene was justified, and I'm completely in the wrong, share with the class. You know I'm all about that.
