A lesson from house

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But do you remember the doctor telling House he doesn't have it and he is just an as*hole?


It's possible he might have been bluffing because he doesn't want House to start using it as an excuse for his behavior and not take responsibility.

Yeah, but lets let the story stand as it is. From the point of a writer with an agenda, especially one that supports neuro-diversity, doesnt it make the most sense to muddy the issue?
For example, it makes no sense to make his 'diagnosis' a definitive thing either way. That justifies asshattery(as you said) and stereo-types aspies. It could also break a certain amount of empathy towards the character from the viewer. "he's not like me", regardless of the spectral position of the viewer.

Its best to make the viewer consider the possibilities, but remain uncertain as to the veracity of the matter. "Why is hes such a jerk? Why do I admire him regardless?" and then perhaps, perhaps, they will think that when they meet an aspie in real life. "Is she like House? Whats with her? Does she really care underneath? He does. I wonder what her talent is?"

I think we have friends in TV land.

LINES IN THE SAND episode 4 of season 3

House says that he envys Adam (the autistic boy) because he get's a free ticket out of caring about social rules where as he and everyone else are exspected to care.

Cameron: Is it so wrong for them to want to have a normal child? It's normal to want to be normal.

House: Spoken like a true circle queen. See skinny socially privileged white people get to draw this neat little circle, and everyone inside the circle is normal, anyone outside the circle should be beaten, broken and reset so they can be brought into the circle. Failing that, they should be institutionalized or worse, pitied.

Cameron: So it's wrong to feel sorry for this little boy?

House: Why would you feel sorry for someone who gets to opt out of the inane courteous formalities which are utterly meaningless, insincere and therefore degrading? This kid doesn't have to pretend to be interested in your back pain or your excretions or your grandma's itchy place. Can you imagine how liberating it would be to live a life free of all the mind-numbing social niceties? I don't pity this kid, I envy him.



It's the first time we've ever been envied, I think. ^^


Wilson: I'm going to read you something. "Asperger's syndrome is a mild and rare form of autism. It is typically characterized by difficulty establishing friendships and playing with peers, trouble accepting conventional social rules, and they dislike any change in setting or routine"... or broadloom. Doesn't say that last part but you get my point.

Cuddy: House doesn't have Asperger's, diagnosis is much simpler; he's a jerk.

Wilson: Why do you think he took this case? Because he believes these parents? Because he wants to help a young boy? He sees himself in this kid and he's trying to help himself. He doesn't want this, he needs it.

House does not have autsim. Autistics break social rules by accident -unaware that what they are doing is 'wrong'. House knows he's being a jerk and is totaly aware of the rules he's breaking. He's not aloof, he's disreagarding them all together.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6AP0liXTDg[/youtube] It's just a fan vid, but it's kinda nice for a screencap of the episode.

Wow you sure know those dialogues well.

Yet, it gets muddy if you're autistic and both break social rules by accident and on purpose.

I'm like that. Life experience and keen observation (an ability which this fictional characters House possesses in far greater amounts than even me) taught me a lot of social rules. But I also miss a lot of finer social rules and mushy emotional stuff.

And House sometimes very rarely displays a total lack of understanding what the others' problems are when it comes to emotional reasoning. He talks his way out of it, but on some rare occasions they take that away and show him as being clueless.

Of course, the reason for that seeing how he's a fictional character is obvious: people who are not perfect, who lack the ability to relate to others sometimes are understood as endearing, naive and in need of protection. House needs to be a little sympathy in terms of such weaknesses. The message is that he's strong but not as strong as he likes to pretend.


On a side note; aloof is also not attributed to Asperger's, but to classical autism/autistic disorder. The DSM-IV-TR says those with Asperger's are eccentric and one-sided, but not aloof.



I personally think that the question whether he's autistic or not doesn't matter because that's just not what the series is about.