Suppose Steve McQueen were an Animagus ...

[readingrat]

Remember Steve McQueen, the rat in 'Hunting' whom House catches for Stacy and whom he keeps as a pet? Suppose he were really an animagus who decides after due consideration of House's pet-keeping abilities to change back to his human form, which is that of a child somewhere between the ages of one and ten. (I'm trying to create a credible scenario for House to have a kid. If you don't like my scenario, choose your own from the plethora of kid-fics at the Pit.) So now House has Steve to take care of. Let's give little Stevie a face: imagine a younger version of Peter Pettigrew, looking for affection and recognition, but with a propensity to make himself scarce whenever disaster strikes. (This really makes no difference: you can make him a younger version of Justin Bieber if you prefer.) House nonetheless feels a certain amount of affection and an even larger degree of responsibility for the little rugrat.

Also imagine, if you please, that Huddy never happened. Imagine that House hitches up with some other person. I like to use Nora, Wilson's neighbour at the loft conversion, for this purpose because she excites neither sympathy nor aversion in me. She's good-looking, reasonably smart and no doormat. If you tend towards slash then choose someone of the male gender, but don't take anyone you like or dislike particularly. For the sake of simplicity I will from now on refer to House's partner as 'Nora'. Substitute 'Norbert' if you so wish (and if it doesn't remind you too much of Hagrid's Norwegian Ridgeback).

Suppose House and Nora have been dating for a longer period of time, say six months. During that time Nora has hardly acknowledged Steve's presence. She's babysat him a few times, but always with a show of reluctance. When she pops in at the hospital for an impromptu lunch date and meets Stevie there with House she pulls a face. She doesn't mind hinting that from her point of view boarding school would be a viable alternative to his presence  - House isn't quite sure whether she's joking or not. In the six months that she's dated House she's never volunteered to keep the kid busy; when she suddenly and inexplicably offers to do so  House is practically bowled over. Behind House's back she insults the child, calling him a moron, a lump of clay and thick as a whatever sandwich when talking about him to her friends. House, although unaware of the insults, is aware enough of Nora's low opinion of his child to be genuinely surprised and flattered when she calls Stevie a 'bright kid'.
 
I think if House were in a relationship like that, with a partner who was disrespectful of someone he considered his personal responsibility, we'd all be yelling, 'Dump her/him already, will you!' Instead, everyone in the forums, even in the Hilson ones, is talking about cosy family moments.

During the 'You don't lie to me. Ever,' arc I was firmly Team House. If there was anything to object to in House's behaviour I didn't notice it. I know there are people who are going to say, 'She knew what she was getting into and she said she doesn't want to change him, so she has no right to be upset if House is an absolute bastard about Rachel.' Quite. Only, Cuddy doesn't seem to be cherishing any sort of expectation at all, nor is she trying to change House. Her astonishment at his grudging admission that Rachel was a 'bright kid' (which one can say of almost any kid - it's not the mark of a genius) showed that she wasn't expecting anything of the sort from him and that she genuinely cherished the moment. That is SAD. The fact that Cuddy is fine with the situation does not excuse House. Cuddy shouldn't be fine with the situation, if only for Rachel's sake

I know that I'm seeing this from the wrong perspective. We're supposed to see House contented because he's getting the domesticity he's always craved while Cuddy has finally settled down after initially taking out her insecurities on House. In short, everyone's happy, House so much so that he he's helpful and supportive over and above his normal capacities. House's previous behaviour (and Cuddy's too) isn't meant as a slur on his character; it's meant to highlight this short period of bliss that is probably due to end next episode. But if this were real life I'd say, Woman, go back to Lucas.

Comments

[barefootpuddles.livejournal.com]

But I think Cuddy's expectations for House are different than both a normal mother's would be to a normal boyfriend partly because this is tv show (and lots of things are accepted at PPTH that are not okay in RL) and partly because she knows the 'real' House under the sarcasm from all her years with him. Also, he hasn't said much in front of her that would indicate he doesn't like Rachel once they started dating.

House did call Rachel a moron in earshot of Rachel this past episode, but Cuddy wasn't there to hear it. I think he was just talking to himself but still, that's a shame. I think we (the audience) are supposed to see that he is warming up to Rachel and that she is winning him over. That is what i think TPTB are trying to do, but they are doing it slowly because if it happened too quickly the audience wouldn't accept it.

Of course in real life there are a lot of women who put up with a lot of boyfriends who are awful to the kids. I heard once that the most dangerous thing you can do to a female child is live with a man who is not her father. Sad, huh? But i don't think Cuddy is that kind of woman, nor House that awful with children. But with his past addition behaviors he is the kind of man that an intelligent non-TV single mom should never allow unsupervised with her child.

[readingrat.livejournal.com]

Objectively, I know that we're meant to see that House is a real softie underneath. The progress from 'Unplanned Parenthood', where he planned to abandon a child for whom he'd taken the responsibility, to 'Carrot and Stick', where he voluntarily spends time with aforesaid kid, is enormous. If I were his therapist I'd be jumping up and down with joy. That is, however, a House-centric view of things. A Rachel-centric view would be different ... As viewers of the show 'House MD' we're supposed to admire House's relative progress, which is amazing, not to judge the impact that his behaviour as an absolute force has on the people surrounding him.

Everyone of us, however, brings their own issues into the viewing process. People with disabilities tend to judge the cane-sawing incident or the tripwire planted by Cuddy as acts of dire cruelty, whereas the physically unimpaired tend to do little but smile at the slapstick element. Those who have first-hand knowledge of drug addiction issues can't forgive Wilson for leaving an OD'ing House lying on the floor of his apartment. Those of us with no such background tend to focus more on what House put Wilson through till then to bring him to the point that he'd abandon a needy friend. My issue is that I happen to have children, so when I watch House interact with Rachel, I can't but help seeing how this would influence her (and Cuddy), not how much House is trying and improving.

[brighidsfire.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I've become discouraged trying to make any sort of critical analysis of this season. The writing is so uneven that it's literally a different show every week, according to the writer who's done the episode.

I think I can see where the storyline is headed; this is House trying on domesticity in the official name of getting regular sex, but more out of curiosity--to see if the role will fit. Now he's a little scared to find he has the capability to take on being a parent and a lover. I honestly don't think he will deliberately sabotage his relationship with Cuddy, I think it's inevitable because House can't be anything other than House, and being himself is too much for most people to handle. IMO Stacy was essentially correct: in a relationship with House, there's only room for one. That might not be absolutely 100% true now, but it's still true enough to cause ructions.
His behavior with Rachel doesn't surprise me. It makes sense to me that he'd use clicker training and a quantitative method to train her: rational and results-producing. That she grew closer to him was obviously a big surprise for House.