I didn't want to tackle any controversial subjects today, so here's a post about racism.

[40cakes]

Watching House last night with 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.

Comments

[jerseyfabulous.livejournal.com]

i missed something. where did godwin's law come into it?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Well, you know I'm with you. Because I was...with you.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

ON THE COUCH!

Doesn't have quite the ring of "IN BED! does it?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

I don't know - is Godwin's law the one about "I'm allowed to make fun of _____ because I AM _______"? I can never keep these straight.

Snacky's Law is the one about being those bitches from high school, ne?

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

People seem to be in agreement so far. It would've been a lot more interesting if Foreman had been the one lying, for instance.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hadn't even thought of that. That would've been interesting.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Not quite, no. Being roommates housemates is great, innit.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Godwin's is the Hitler one. I think what I actually said was "This has to be a violation of some jurisimprudence law, like Godwin's or something."

[nothingjerk.livejournal.com]

House isn't a racisit I think he can just be a prick. And true Assholes know no colors.

Medical shows always tackle the Race thing, cop shows are usually afriad to.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

It's sad because they hardly ever try Making a Point like that. Save that crap for ER, House!

[jerseyfabulous.livejournal.com]

don't know about snacky's law, but godwin's is definitely the hitler one (as soon as someone invokes hitler, the thread/discussion/flame war is over.) i only know it because several of my college email lists used it.

[chaosblue.livejournal.com]

I think Foreman's biggest problem isn't that he *really* believes that whitey-out-to-get-us shpiel he started spouting; he's just really vulnerable as a very visibly successful member of his demography who regularly comes in contact with the ones who weren't so successful. He carries a certain element of guilt about it, and I think that was what the writers were trying to communicate, especially considering that the underlying theme of this episode was guilt. I think that if he really believed it, he wouldn't have argued with the guy in the clinic to try to get him to take the drug in the first place.

... I need good House icons. ;_; I can't make any until I get home, though. Somebody help me?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Good interpretation. Maybe I missed that since I missed the beginning of the ep. I also really didn't like how the scene ended, with Foreman marching out and House looking all thoughtful, like, "Yes, perhaps he was right, and I should've let the man believe the best medicine for him was inferior, thus killing him."

Check my friendslist! All my House communities have been posting iconses all day. A lot of them are pretentious, though. LOOKOUT!

[chaosblue.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I don't think that was House's "hmmm, was I wrong?" look. It was more like his "I am so totally psychoanalyzing you right now and hoo-boy are you gonna LOVE it when I point it out to you!" look. It takes a LOT for House to reconsider his stance on anything, and one grumpy old man and a conflicted Houseketeer isn't enough to accomplish that. XD

Will commence icon-shopping now. ^_^

[valorously.livejournal.com]

The whole episode kept making me think of the Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiment, especially when the old man kept talking about a lack of trust. But the whole storyline ended kindof...well... unclear, in my opinion. An "Oh....kay? That's... it?" sort of deal.

I can def. see what chaosblue is saying, though. Totally didn't even think to connect the guilt issues in both storylines. Guess I was kind of tired. ^^;

I am so going to find House icons when I have time. :D

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

I think the whole episode does black people a tremendous disservice by suggesting that they are so myopic as to not be able to see the forest for the trees. The real racism is in the script writing, I think. It seems like a tenuous construct, and honestly, just reinforces a stereotype of the black Dr. Foreman as an inferior and irrational thinker. As my boyfriend points out, in medicine and science there is no greater insult than that, the implication being that it almost makes you unfit for the job. Science and Medicine is predicated on the ability to be an objective skeptic.

The "House mulls it over" scene at the end is clearly placatory smokescreen to distract the average viewer and play on their intellectual insecurities- making them assume there's actually some moral conflict that they just didn't get, because if that scene wasn't there, people would be left thinking exactly what you're thinking anyway- which is, wtf?

Also, I think the show has reassigned the facts a bit from real life vis a vis who's actually worried about what: my boyfriend is a drug research scientist, and he was saying that white people were panicking all over the place when studies showed that a certain drug worked better for black heart patients, pre-emptively assuming there would be a backlash from offended African-Americans. If these people truly believe black people are as sentient as white people, (which thankfully, most people do) why would they automatically jump to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to rationalize something that white people can apparently can?

I think sometimes the collective white guilt cycles back and backhands people into being racist all over again.

[drederick.livejournal.com]

>>If these people truly believe black people are as sentient as white people, (which thankfully, most people do) why would they automatically jump to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to rationalize something that white people can apparently can?<<

Most white people think (at least subconsciously) that there are genetic differences between themselves and black people that affect behavior and various abilities. They also think that black people will feel bad if anyone argues that differences between races amount to more than skin color. It isn't that the white people don't think black people can realize that the drug isn't racist, given the genetic differences. The white people are worried that blacks will make the inference "my physiology is significantly affected by my race --> maybe the plight of my people as a whole is similarly affected".

[scathachdhu.livejournal.com]

Wow, look what I missed.

Hopefully I'll be able to explain myself coherently and without sounding like an ass.

Even today, depending on your your family's background, many black children are raised to be suspicious of white people. I certainly was, and so were the majority of my black friends growing up. Given the history of black people in this country, the idea of being lied to "for your own good" by a white person rubs me the the wrong way on a visceral level.

However, this is pretty much conditioning. As I grew up, I learned to judge everything as it came instead of making assumptions. But we're still not to the point where everyone sees each other as individuals instead of representatives of particular groups, so many people still view motives through the lens of race, class, ethnicity or what have you.

Old habits die hard; people teach their children what to fear and mistrust. And even if you know logically that the action was for the best, there's always the...defense mechanism, I guess to make sure that you're not being taken advantage of. Without having seen the episode (or the show, so I know nothing about the characters), I wouldn't say that Foreman was right, but I can see why he'd react that way. I also agree with the people above who said guilt probably played a part.

For curiosity's sake, about how old would you say Foreman is? Because that might have a lot to do with it.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

I'd say he's at least 30. They're all full-fledged doctors, and Cameron's already a damn widow.

You didn't sound like an ass, and I can definitely see your point. Someone else mentioned the running theme of the episode was guilt, and I can take the scene a little more looking at it from that angle. I was doing the dance of "But he didn't lie because he was black! He lied because he was irritating and stubborn and wouldn't do what was best for himself! Ends justify the means!" Looking at it this way, I can see that Foreman might be miffed from his way of thinking that House lied to his patient to get him to take the drug.