re: bedside manner and experience with patients: Cameron clearly hasn't, either. Chase is the only one who seems good at it already, and that makes sense given his speciality, I guess.
Actually, I think Cameron has had the most experience. She knows that using the official names for things is good and all, but you need to make sure the patient understands you, too. (Such as when Chase is going on to the woman in the pilot about what they're going to see in the CAT scan, and Cameron just says, "Basically, it'll light up your brain like a Christmas tree.") Cameron's problems seem to be the opposite of House's and Foreman's, though, in that she gets too close to patients. She doesn't seem to have any emotional barrier between her and them, so that when things start to go wrong, she doesn't have the defense. She's too close. And that's not good for a doctor, either.
I think [Wilson] sees House as a wounded genius, so he can justify House's lack of bedside manner even if he doesn't really like it. Foreman, to Wilson, is just going to come off like a heartless, arrogant prick.
Oh, I think Wilson is fully aware of how much of an arrogant prick House is. *g* I think the key difference is that he knows House. He knows how smart he is, but he also knows that some of that "heartlessness" is a defense against caring at all (rather than simply caring too much). It's also a by-product of seeing patients as puzzles to be solved, rather than people. (I love the connection they made in the pilot, where Wilson points out that he can't just let the woman die now that he's met her: She's no longer just a list of ailments to put a name and treatment to, she's a person.)
Foreman, on the other hand, has not earned that right to be that arrogant yet, at least in Wilson's mind. For one thing, he doesn't know Foreman as well. For another, he just hasn't been a doctor long enough, treating patients long enough, with enough instances of being right to actually earn the level of arrogance he might see him having.
[Foreman] keeps thinking that House does things for personal reasons, only to have House say that it has nothing to do with anything but intellect. So now he's trying to apply the same principles here, except that this case is all about the personal. Poor Foreman. He's so confused!
The problem with people who don't understand other people, is that when they try to figure those other people out, they just end up battering their head against a brick wall. I think, on the one hand, Cameron is right, and that Foreman and House are just a little too much alike for their (or anyone else's) own good. House is the puzzle that Foreman can't figure out and it makes him nuts! On the other hand, I think Foreman just doesn't get how House operates. And, frankly, much as I love him, I wouldn't want to work for House, either. *g*
And with regards to that moment, you're right, that House is always telling them to think intellectually and without emotion, and that it Foreman is therefore totally not getting it when House is taking the case for purely emotional reasons.
I was about to say that House doesn't react emotionally about anything else, except where Wilson is concerned, but that's not true at all. Would he have wanted in on John Henry's case--and been so passionate about staying with it--if he hadn't been a fan of the music? And I don't think he has any interactions with Cuddy that aren't emotionally based, i.e., he thoroughly enjoys doing whatever will make her the most nuts. *g*
And, yes, his patients seem to somehow hit a moment with him a lot of the time where they're no longer just cases, but people. Maybe it is a good thing that he only takes one case at a time.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-02-14 01:20 am (UTC)re: bedside manner and experience with patients:
Cameron clearly hasn't, either. Chase is the only one who seems good at it already, and that makes sense given his speciality, I guess.
Actually, I think Cameron has had the most experience. She knows that using the official names for things is good and all, but you need to make sure the patient understands you, too. (Such as when Chase is going on to the woman in the pilot about what they're going to see in the CAT scan, and Cameron just says, "Basically, it'll light up your brain like a Christmas tree.") Cameron's problems seem to be the opposite of House's and Foreman's, though, in that she gets too close to patients. She doesn't seem to have any emotional barrier between her and them, so that when things start to go wrong, she doesn't have the defense. She's too close. And that's not good for a doctor, either.
I think [Wilson] sees House as a wounded genius, so he can justify House's lack of bedside manner even if he doesn't really like it. Foreman, to Wilson, is just going to come off like a heartless, arrogant prick.
Oh, I think Wilson is fully aware of how much of an arrogant prick House is. *g* I think the key difference is that he knows House. He knows how smart he is, but he also knows that some of that "heartlessness" is a defense against caring at all (rather than simply caring too much). It's also a by-product of seeing patients as puzzles to be solved, rather than people. (I love the connection they made in the pilot, where Wilson points out that he can't just let the woman die now that he's met her: She's no longer just a list of ailments to put a name and treatment to, she's a person.)
Foreman, on the other hand, has not earned that right to be that arrogant yet, at least in Wilson's mind. For one thing, he doesn't know Foreman as well. For another, he just hasn't been a doctor long enough, treating patients long enough, with enough instances of being right to actually earn the level of arrogance he might see him having.
[Foreman] keeps thinking that House does things for personal reasons, only to have House say that it has nothing to do with anything but intellect. So now he's trying to apply the same principles here, except that this case is all about the personal. Poor Foreman. He's so confused!
The problem with people who don't understand other people, is that when they try to figure those other people out, they just end up battering their head against a brick wall. I think, on the one hand, Cameron is right, and that Foreman and House are just a little too much alike for their (or anyone else's) own good. House is the puzzle that Foreman can't figure out and it makes him nuts! On the other hand, I think Foreman just doesn't get how House operates. And, frankly, much as I love him, I wouldn't want to work for House, either. *g*
And with regards to that moment, you're right, that House is always telling them to think intellectually and without emotion, and that it Foreman is therefore totally not getting it when House is taking the case for purely emotional reasons.
I was about to say that House doesn't react emotionally about anything else, except where Wilson is concerned, but that's not true at all. Would he have wanted in on John Henry's case--and been so passionate about staying with it--if he hadn't been a fan of the music? And I don't think he has any interactions with Cuddy that aren't emotionally based, i.e., he thoroughly enjoys doing whatever will make her the most nuts. *g*
And, yes, his patients seem to somehow hit a moment with him a lot of the time where they're no longer just cases, but people. Maybe it is a good thing that he only takes one case at a time.
So, how much do you love this show?
*holding arms out as wide as possible* *g*