My latest obsession has been with the television show “House M.D.” an odd show about a cynical, abrasive diagnostic specialist working on medical mysteries in a first class teaching hospital. The show is both intriguing and unsettling to me, and because of my “habit” I have been content to continue viewing (at a frantic pace, I might add), trying to figure out why I like such an offensive character and why such amusement leaves me so concerned about the influence such a popular show has on not only our culture, but on my dear friends (and sometimes my son!) who watch it just like I do.
It’s not surprising that this show works overtime to be politically correct, all the while providing the post-modern poke at every side of every issue. (Yes, I know this is a contradiction. I can't explain it any better.) Nothing is absolute in this show, except the two fundamental truths that “everyone lies” and “people can’t change.” Married, single, homosexual, devoutly religious, obese, vain, old, young, red, blue, green . . . everything is great, and at the same time ridiculous too, and you can make fun of anyone as long as the worst of it’s done behind the backs of those involved. Well, that is unless you are a spoiled, selfish doctor whose one diagnosis a week justifies the abuse he dishes out on his boss, his staff, his patients, and pretty much anyone else he encounters. He’s allowed to insult people to their faces, because . . . he’s funny. And he’s in pain . . . and addicted to serious narcotics. (It’s OK! They’re legally prescribed!) As the kids and I say, he’s not really mean, he’s just misunderstood . . . and yet again, in genuine post-modern fashion, his meanness is so clear it’s impossible to misunderstand him.
I’ve thought about the attractiveness of a guy like House. Would I like that wise-cracking Renaissance man in real life? Would the guy who might actually like people under his hard exterior seem as vulnerable to me if I met up with him in a hospital, or anywhere else? Would his unshaven, casual (sloppy and unprofessional) appearance be enough for me when I saw the twinkle in his eye from his admiration of his own wit? To that I can answer a definitive no. His confrontational “style” and total void of compassion for anyone, including his “friends” would send me running. OK, maybe I would cower, since I hate confrontation, but my point is that anything I see and like on the show, could never be enough in real life to interest me in being anywhere near him. Why am I so intrigued by it on a show?
One of the things the show has repeatedly explored that has raised my curiosity is House versus God. While the writers of the show would like to give some sort of belief a fair shake, their position (summed up in House) is clear. Science is god, and if it can’t be presented, tested, and solved by House, it can’t be trusted. What’s more, those who do live by any kind of faith, well, they’re a little wacky and to each his own, but they’re not really to be trusted either. The thing I don’t get is that all of the characters in the show who live by these post-modern philosophies are miserable. Really miserable. They can’t count on each other, they can’t count on what they know (because there’s always one more fact hiding and hindering their diagnosis), and they can’t even satisfy themselves. Yet they continue living their lives just as they always have, laughing all the way to their vices that dull the pain. Sex, drugs, alcohol, control, knowledge . . . most of them have tried it all, and they’re still looking.
Of course the real winner in the show is the patient or patients with the life-threatening condition who comes right to death’s door, only to be saved in the nick of time by our anti-hero with a cane. Amazing that such a thing can happen in one short hour! OK, not really, they cure ‘em on the show in one or two days . . . ‘cause everyone knows that one unblocked artery, the elimination of the toxin, or the administration of two doses of just the right medicine instantly corrects the condition and years of wear and tear from it (not to mention the damage done looking for the answer to the mystery).
I know that I sound picky and critical. I’m just slowly seeing that my fascination with House M.D. is about as constructive to my soul as his Vicodin habit is to his body. I have long believed that you can’t let things into your head without them affecting the way you think, even if you are watching critically, making lists of all the things that are morally and ethically wrong, and discussing it with the most discerning of your friends. You just can’t filter out all of the toxic waste, and cleaning it up a little isn’t going to be enough to leave you without the need for a doctor. I’m also coming to realize that I have the pre-existing condition of growing up in an increasingly post-modern world, so that it is a hard battle to rehabilitate my thinking to conform to God’s Word. With my pre-existing condition, adding toxic waste philosophy quickly puts me at critical mass, needing intensive care.
Unfortunately, with this condition, I think it’s going to take a little more work than an hour . . . or even a few days of treatment. Odd that the One who can step in and heal me in that short amount of time, or even instantly, usually just doesn’t do it that way. So I’m looking at some hard detox time to free me from this habit. Fortunately, the cure is no mystery:
Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:27-31
Sorry, House. From now on, you can keep your medicine. I’ve found what will satisfy me for good.
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