In 2011, my beloved miniature pinscher Bucky died very suddenly. He had been my soul mate and my psychiatric service dog. Because of my grief, I was unable to leave the house.
Another writer, my friend Carle, decided to help me through this process. I was obsessed with the television show starring Hugh Laurie, "House M.D," about a misanthropic, brilliant, crippled doctor. Carle downloaded the first 5 seasons. Within a few episodes, he was as obsessed as I was. This blog is the correspondence we conducted, episode by episode. With a few digressions.
Carle's entries are in black; my contributions are in blue.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Season One, Episode 21, Three Stories
House's ex Stacy Warner asks him to treat her husband. House takes over a
diagnostics class for a day and presents the class with three case
studies of leg pain. As House tells his story and the class gradually
fills up with listeners, the class learns a lot about how to be better
doctors, and Chase, Foreman and Cameron learn some important details of
House's past.
House admires Carmen Electra's golfing attire
finally, the REAL payoff. I suspected something like this was coming but am glad I didn’t take shortcuts. Your highlights may have gotten me there by a faster route—say, Everest by helicopter—but would I have appreciated the view as much? That’s why JAWS doesn’t show up until the third reel.
And it gets better: the “ducklings-to-be” in exact same proportion in the half-empty lecture theater; the game w/Carmen Electra!; gobbles a handful of pills—“on average, drug addicts are stupid” and, after he becomes ID’d as his own: Asian girl: “The patient was stupid!” H: “On the average, they all are.”; and the piece d’ resistance--staring into the camera “Oh, yes, that patient won’t come in for another three months. Luckily, it has been well-established that Time is not a fixed construct…”—and then that eyebrow lift… HOUSE GOES META!
Then the backstory w/Stacy. Now we understand his view of the untrustworthiness of love.
He said: all or nothing.
She said: the middle way.
He gets: chronic pain and limp.
She gets: frozen out forever.
Both of them get: a Life.
Then the exterior, interior thing. Notice how the ducklings turn up, and the lecture hall starts to mysteriously fill up as word spreads like wildfire: “Psst! House is teaching a class!” then Wilson, then cuddy—this is a major event at the school! And so the answers: it would appear that cuddy felt guilty, no matter what else, when she hired him (unless he already was working there then--ambiguous). And even though Wilson is not present in any of the scenes, he knows about the death-time House spent on the astral plane. And after Wilson, Cameron and Foreman all ask their big ones what’s his summary? “I find it more comforting to believe that this is not simply…a test.”
OK. WAIT A MINUTE! Straight, declarative statement, but he says nothing about what IT IS. Did you get that? He gives you a negative but do we not automatically assume the false positive? This is a core value of philosophy, right? Ok. Carle’s Law 101: a Negative is NOT a False Positive; it merely SOUNDS LIKE IT while it states what something IS NOT. All he says is that the answers proposed are too simplistic. And that is what truly fine brinksmanship in writing sounds like. also Derrida, but that's another thing. THIS IS SOMETHING HOUSE THOUGHT ON, A LOT, BEFORE REACHING HIS SECULAR CONCLUSION.
Yeah. This I could like.
House admires Carmen Electra's golfing attire
finally, the REAL payoff. I suspected something like this was coming but am glad I didn’t take shortcuts. Your highlights may have gotten me there by a faster route—say, Everest by helicopter—but would I have appreciated the view as much? That’s why JAWS doesn’t show up until the third reel.
And it gets better: the “ducklings-to-be” in exact same proportion in the half-empty lecture theater; the game w/Carmen Electra!; gobbles a handful of pills—“on average, drug addicts are stupid” and, after he becomes ID’d as his own: Asian girl: “The patient was stupid!” H: “On the average, they all are.”; and the piece d’ resistance--staring into the camera “Oh, yes, that patient won’t come in for another three months. Luckily, it has been well-established that Time is not a fixed construct…”—and then that eyebrow lift… HOUSE GOES META!
Then the backstory w/Stacy. Now we understand his view of the untrustworthiness of love.
He said: all or nothing.
She said: the middle way.
He gets: chronic pain and limp.
She gets: frozen out forever.
Both of them get: a Life.
Then the exterior, interior thing. Notice how the ducklings turn up, and the lecture hall starts to mysteriously fill up as word spreads like wildfire: “Psst! House is teaching a class!” then Wilson, then cuddy—this is a major event at the school! And so the answers: it would appear that cuddy felt guilty, no matter what else, when she hired him (unless he already was working there then--ambiguous). And even though Wilson is not present in any of the scenes, he knows about the death-time House spent on the astral plane. And after Wilson, Cameron and Foreman all ask their big ones what’s his summary? “I find it more comforting to believe that this is not simply…a test.”
OK. WAIT A MINUTE! Straight, declarative statement, but he says nothing about what IT IS. Did you get that? He gives you a negative but do we not automatically assume the false positive? This is a core value of philosophy, right? Ok. Carle’s Law 101: a Negative is NOT a False Positive; it merely SOUNDS LIKE IT while it states what something IS NOT. All he says is that the answers proposed are too simplistic. And that is what truly fine brinksmanship in writing sounds like. also Derrida, but that's another thing. THIS IS SOMETHING HOUSE THOUGHT ON, A LOT, BEFORE REACHING HIS SECULAR CONCLUSION.
Yeah. This I could like.
Season One, Episode 20, "Love Hurts"
Plot: When House snaps at a patient in the clinic, the patient
appears to suffer a stroke as a result of the confrontation. To avoid
legal trouble, he agrees to take the patient’s case. However, when none
of the easy answers are right and the patient soon gets worse, House has
to push past the patient’s lies to find the right diagnosis.
Annette the dominatrix takes matters into her own hands
hmm… so this is what you were raving about. When it gets personal and ugly, when you have to squirm in yr seat to get through a scene, that means you have crossed over from watching these abstract entities going about their bogus activities for your detached amusement and have begun to care about the internal mechanisms of human emotions. And, up to the standards of willie the shakes, you get a triple set of jollies: the guy who likes doms, the old couple and Viagra, and house and Cameron—the tragic and comic, and slapstick. (oh, and the revelation that chase doesn’t chase long—he catches everything but STDs)--to fill out the 360 degrees.
major block here is this: cameron knows enough to understand the ways of seduction, so why doesn’t she play it better? I mean, goody-two-shoes, yes, but every male only wants her to shine up that patent leather so they can look up her skirt. All she needs do is point those toes inward and say: “but I want you to…” and we are quivering masses of goo! virgin bride aside, even slightly-corrupted innocence is waaay hotter than victoria’s secret. ASK ANYBODY!!!!—FIRST ORDERS ARE ALWAYS: you DO make small talk! GEEZ LOUISE! Or howsabout Dear Abby? PUH-LEEEZE! Her sorority pals? TEASE! Her Facebook friends? SQUEEZE! Or ANY response to Wilson’s plea to GO E-Z? HUH? GET A CLUE! Even I know that if you want a big fish you don’t try to yank it out of the water—that’s why they call it “playing”!!! Secondly: when house lays it out, she just lets him. At work she offers counterarguments but here? I could think of a half dozen weak points to his presentation without breaking a colon, or a semicolon even. WHERE ARE HER DIAGNOSTIC ABILITIES NOW???
Yes, she's hot, but she doesn't have a clue. Cameron not only likes lame, she is lame. Later in the seasons she's reprimanded by a patient for never letting herself go, which leads to some pretty awesome consequences. There's nothing in her character to suggest she knows much about the art of seduction. In my opinion. this is exactly why she lets House clobber her emotionally. Doesn't Wilson say something like, "Young innocent girl melts the crusty older man's heart"?
yes. in another of his comic turns. hey, on all those chat rooms or b-boards or whatever you do in fandom, does the subject of Chekov come up much?
Annette the dominatrix takes matters into her own hands
hmm… so this is what you were raving about. When it gets personal and ugly, when you have to squirm in yr seat to get through a scene, that means you have crossed over from watching these abstract entities going about their bogus activities for your detached amusement and have begun to care about the internal mechanisms of human emotions. And, up to the standards of willie the shakes, you get a triple set of jollies: the guy who likes doms, the old couple and Viagra, and house and Cameron—the tragic and comic, and slapstick. (oh, and the revelation that chase doesn’t chase long—he catches everything but STDs)--to fill out the 360 degrees.
major block here is this: cameron knows enough to understand the ways of seduction, so why doesn’t she play it better? I mean, goody-two-shoes, yes, but every male only wants her to shine up that patent leather so they can look up her skirt. All she needs do is point those toes inward and say: “but I want you to…” and we are quivering masses of goo! virgin bride aside, even slightly-corrupted innocence is waaay hotter than victoria’s secret. ASK ANYBODY!!!!—FIRST ORDERS ARE ALWAYS: you DO make small talk! GEEZ LOUISE! Or howsabout Dear Abby? PUH-LEEEZE! Her sorority pals? TEASE! Her Facebook friends? SQUEEZE! Or ANY response to Wilson’s plea to GO E-Z? HUH? GET A CLUE! Even I know that if you want a big fish you don’t try to yank it out of the water—that’s why they call it “playing”!!! Secondly: when house lays it out, she just lets him. At work she offers counterarguments but here? I could think of a half dozen weak points to his presentation without breaking a colon, or a semicolon even. WHERE ARE HER DIAGNOSTIC ABILITIES NOW???
Yes, she's hot, but she doesn't have a clue. Cameron not only likes lame, she is lame. Later in the seasons she's reprimanded by a patient for never letting herself go, which leads to some pretty awesome consequences. There's nothing in her character to suggest she knows much about the art of seduction. In my opinion. this is exactly why she lets House clobber her emotionally. Doesn't Wilson say something like, "Young innocent girl melts the crusty older man's heart"?
yes. in another of his comic turns. hey, on all those chat rooms or b-boards or whatever you do in fandom, does the subject of Chekov come up much?
I think on any other show that would have been
what happened. But as you can see, House is more onto her motives (she wants
damaged men--witness Poor Dead Husband) than she's ready to admit.
still, she will often differ with him on a diagnosis. if she's got that much confidence in her opinion, she should be able to offer an alternate analysis of the symptoms house presents over the appetizers.
still, she will often differ with him on a diagnosis. if she's got that much confidence in her opinion, she should be able to offer an alternate analysis of the symptoms house presents over the appetizers.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Season One, Episode Nineteen, "Kids" - They Grow Up So Fast
At a swimming and diving meet, one of the judges collapses and is shown to be bleeding from one ear. His lumbar puncture indicated a virulent strain of bacterial meningitis.
House arrives at the hospital, which is dealing with the outbreak could have affected 2500 people at the pool. Cuddy insists that House help out. House comes across a 12 year old diver. She has a fever and a rash that she says she’s had for a week. Despite the symptoms, he doesn‘t think she has meningitis. Cuddy agrees to give them an hour to work on the diver. Although her latest tests show her red blood cells are intact, House orders Chase to check her blood. House realizes one cause of the disorder is unlikely, but possible. House goes to tell the patient she's pregnant. The pregnancy is causing her blood to clot and be shredded by the clot - a rare complication. She admits she experimented with intercourse. He tells her they have to terminate the pregnancy and treat her blood for antibodies.
House interviews candidates for the fellowship but dismisses them all. House goes back to Cameron and tells her he wants her to come back. She says that's not good enough. She says he has to take her out on a dinner date. House agrees.
medicomical relief time! The epidemic creates enough chaos so that house gets thrown off center, which makes his scrambling all the more fun—and, yeah, that he is forced to consider the consequences of his actions. Cuddy: “you want those nurses and dr’s we had to let go? You’re the one that cost this hosp. $100 million”—like they had no budget before this? still and all, how big an ego does it take to carry that weight?
Back to the comedical. The dismissal of the interviewees is abs. classic. “you want to be a non-conformist? Get a haircut and a pocket protector like him (Wilson). Like the Asian kids who don’t leave the library for 20 hr stretches. They don’t care what you think.” Then the Jewish superwoman: from Wilson: “THAT’S OUR HITLER!” His “Producers” quote floored me. I laughed. Out loud. Maybe twice. It actually gave me hope that I will last the run.
Oh, and tell me now? Why do you like chase, even though he is the one who ratted out house? Love is blind but Lust isn’t?
I don't exactly lust over Chase. Just sometimes his sheer cuteness gets to me. I've never had fantasies about him. Sort of like House saying about Cameron that she's like a nice part of art (paraphrase).
is he referring to her degas-like quality of waif-i-ness?
I haven't had direct sexual fantasies about any of the men in that show, although I like it when they take their shirts off.
haven't seen that happen yet. when does cameron?
Don't you think you should take a break? Even I did! Although I watched a DVD at a time, which was about 4 episodes at a stretch.
House interviews candidates for the fellowship but dismisses them all. House goes back to Cameron and tells her he wants her to come back. She says that's not good enough. She says he has to take her out on a dinner date. House agrees.
medicomical relief time! The epidemic creates enough chaos so that house gets thrown off center, which makes his scrambling all the more fun—and, yeah, that he is forced to consider the consequences of his actions. Cuddy: “you want those nurses and dr’s we had to let go? You’re the one that cost this hosp. $100 million”—like they had no budget before this? still and all, how big an ego does it take to carry that weight?
Back to the comedical. The dismissal of the interviewees is abs. classic. “you want to be a non-conformist? Get a haircut and a pocket protector like him (Wilson). Like the Asian kids who don’t leave the library for 20 hr stretches. They don’t care what you think.” Then the Jewish superwoman: from Wilson: “THAT’S OUR HITLER!” His “Producers” quote floored me. I laughed. Out loud. Maybe twice. It actually gave me hope that I will last the run.
Oh, and tell me now? Why do you like chase, even though he is the one who ratted out house? Love is blind but Lust isn’t?
I don't exactly lust over Chase. Just sometimes his sheer cuteness gets to me. I've never had fantasies about him. Sort of like House saying about Cameron that she's like a nice part of art (paraphrase).
is he referring to her degas-like quality of waif-i-ness?
I haven't had direct sexual fantasies about any of the men in that show, although I like it when they take their shirts off.
haven't seen that happen yet. when does cameron?
Don't you think you should take a break? Even I did! Although I watched a DVD at a time, which was about 4 episodes at a stretch.
Season One, Episode Eighteen, "Babies And Bathwater"
First aired on May 10,
2005. Naomi, who is 28 weeks pregnant, suddenly collapses. She is 39 and has miscarried three times.
Finally, the dispute between them comes down to a
showdown before the Board and Wilson gets caught in the crossfire. Naomi has small-cell lung cancer which requires radiation and a C-section first
and the patient refuses that wanting to carry the baby longer to give
the baby a better chance. Later she gets "an embolism. A blood clot."
and she dies but they save the baby.
Wilson is fired because of his support for House; Cuddy has to
decide whether to risk her own career.
This is the last episode to feature Edward Vogler in the series, making this episode the last one of the "Vogler arc".
come Nineveh, come tyre…or as Colbert would say: THE THREATDOWN! Here we are at the crunch—D-Day! Now, I know all the other “house-that-again?” freaks are going to take this in stride--like the board is going to dismiss Wilson in a naked power play? Jumpin’ Jee-Hosni-fat! Why didn’t they just give vogler a rubber stamp when he came in? I was under the assumption that he was given the post of chair by acclimation, not because he bought it.
V: “a man is the sum of his actions…this man is a disgrace to this hospital.” Like nobody there can ADD UP, either? how many f*ing lives he and his ducklings have saved? (the basic plot does bring the metaphor to the fore—hence the title.
But it seems even more ridiculous that vogler would interpose in a surgical matter. C’mon! Suffice it to say, if this is characteristic of their idea of story arcs, I don’t see how I’m going to last for five seasons.)
Fave moment: the two ducks at the door—foreman: “coward!” chase: “child!” …that and the song at the end, Wilco?
This is the last episode to feature Edward Vogler in the series, making this episode the last one of the "Vogler arc".
come Nineveh, come tyre…or as Colbert would say: THE THREATDOWN! Here we are at the crunch—D-Day! Now, I know all the other “house-that-again?” freaks are going to take this in stride--like the board is going to dismiss Wilson in a naked power play? Jumpin’ Jee-Hosni-fat! Why didn’t they just give vogler a rubber stamp when he came in? I was under the assumption that he was given the post of chair by acclimation, not because he bought it.
V: “a man is the sum of his actions…this man is a disgrace to this hospital.” Like nobody there can ADD UP, either? how many f*ing lives he and his ducklings have saved? (the basic plot does bring the metaphor to the fore—hence the title.
But it seems even more ridiculous that vogler would interpose in a surgical matter. C’mon! Suffice it to say, if this is characteristic of their idea of story arcs, I don’t see how I’m going to last for five seasons.)
Fave moment: the two ducks at the door—foreman: “coward!” chase: “child!” …that and the song at the end, Wilco?
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
What Is Sexuality? Bisexual, Monosexual, Asexual: House/Wilson
Part of an email debate between me and Carle, based on an essay a fan wrote about how House/Wilson are “gay.” (This was written circa 2011)
Carle:
OK. so. you're married to another man. OK. that means you are living a gaymosexual life. (and I did NOT say "life-STYLE". it IS a life. physical, legal, self-evident.) perfectly obvious. bald fact on the face of it. now. you say you are bi-sexual. OK. fine. so you are living/married to just one person. OK. now, are you claiming to be bi-sexual because you watch straight porn? OK. so that means that if I watch a gaymosexual act, I am, perforce, bi-" even if, while I am married to a woman and have a monosexual relationship with her?
Me:
Depends on whether or not it gets you off. Being aroused and climaxing to gay porn is an act, not an intent. Even if you are in a monosexual/heterosexual relationship. The fact that only your own body is involved makes no difference. It's realization. Otherwise they wouldn't arrest people for having pedophiliac porn on their computers. Or the men who like to watch women in high heels squash small animals.
Carle:
It is, in point of fact, masturbation. it is, in point of fact, a MONOSEXUAL ACT, despite the motivation. the only choice is to put your hand on your genitals or not. the gay leap forward is putting your hands on ANOTHER'S genitals. you can't seriously say that fantasizing is the same thing as doing, can you? can't buy that. intent vs. act. this IS philosophy 101. start with Aristotle’s "entelechy" and let me know where you finish.
Didn't look it up, did you?
And catholic religion as well: venal sin vs. mortal sin. everything is 'potentiality' UNTIL it is realized. so then, anyone claiming to be bi-sexual who does not engage in bi-sexual ACTS, vis-a-vis, to cross that line from intent to realization, is merely fantasizing and fetishising (at the extreme) and not REALLY someone who has made an active choice in their practices.
Elisa:
Stepping down from the intellectual platform: There are too many variables in human beings to exclude such an enormous gray area. Many of the men in my father's generation were too highly “programmed", as you would say, to easily make that choice. There was a writer in my memoir class in his late 70s who wrote fascinating pieces about life as a closeted homosexual. He was married, with children, defined himself as straight, but went into the Village, where the roles were as codified as the most rigid (pardon the pun) of leather queens, down to what ties you wore. THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS HAVING NO OTHER CHOICE.
Carle:
Right. you have a choice today whether you want to drink or not. you CHOOSE not to, right? so, someone who never had a drink can't be an alcoholic because they never drank. can't be an addict because they never touched drugs. can't be bisexual because they only have sex with an opposite-gendered partner every once in a while, after procreation, but spend all their time looking at gay porn. an alcoholic or an addict is either active or inactive OR in recovery. whichever way you want to label it, it comes down to CHOICE. the only exclusive condition is one that NEVER acted nor acts upon their desires.
CHOICE. Just because they SAW no other choice that means there wasn't one? They CHOSE to have a HETERO relationship, enter into a marriage contract, sire offspring--regardless of excuses. THESE ARE CHOICES. I can call myself a "writer" because I write. I cannot call myself a published author because I am not published. (OK. maybe that has more to do with the publishing industry.) now, I said that to say this: given the CHOICE, would I prefer to simply be a writer? no, because the second label means success. (in varying degrees, sure. but some material reward is associated with it so let us not go into the fine print.) To be a "successful" bi-sexual, I would have to go from fantasizing about it to doing it. by the same token, you can call yourself a straight black male, but "go slippin' on the down-low" just for a bit one the side. that makes you bi. but if you do it without having sexual intercourse or bj's from your wife, then you are "becoming" gaymosexual. but, again, that is a choice. so, I will give you this: someone may BECOME EXCLUSIVELY GAY in their choices, but that does not invalidate PAST CHOICES. and, if you choose again, that label in invalidated because of its exclusivity. are we or are we not responsible for the choices we make in life? yes or no?
Me:
How much do we know about other people's private sex lives? (Before the interwebs, I mean.) I've had several friends in celibate marriages, something I never "got." I mean, what's the point? These women generally weren't happy with the state of things, but only one had the courage to dump her husband so at the very least she could get a little sumpin-sumpin.
Carle:
My favorite quote on this was from one of the last appearances of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. on Johnny Carson. when asked what he thought about gay liberation or somesuch (however the topic came up) he said, "I want to start an Asexual liberation movement. Can't you just see us? Thousands of happy smiling people walking down the center of fifth avenue with a big banner: 'HAVEN'T DONE IT IN YEARS AND FEEL GREAT!'"
Me:
Or heterosexually defined women who discover--yes, discover--that they are actually gay? (Their definition, not mine, so I'm not getting into semiotics.) There are vast numbers of people who are hamstrung by shame, fetishes, whatever to ACT on their impulses. Also, where do the people who call themselves "asexual" (and they'll smack you if you call them otherwise) fit in? Not even they know! They argue about: can you be asexual if you kiss somebody/what level of contact is acceptable to be considered "asexual," etc.
Carle
SEE ABOVE
Me:
Writing all of this makes me feel so comfortably defined, I must admit. (wink)
Carle:
Now, I will grant that it is entirely possible for someone to, under extreme duress and reprogramming (sex slaves, repeated rape, prison environment, conditioned response, etc.) to be turned into one or the other. but that is due to behavioral circumstances beyond their control. IT IS NOT AN ACTIVE CHOICE. but let us extend the argument to "the closet". since...forever, I guess, that has been the refuge of those too gripped by fear to openly declare their lesbingham/gaymosexual identity. fine. granted. no argument. THEY ARE ______. however, BI? see? doesn't work. if you have sex with one gender, and eschew the other, for whatever reason/fear, you are still _______________. so you say: oh, no, I'm really gaymosexual but I only slept with "her" because my family made me/needed respectability/wanted children, etc. ok. YOU MADE A CHOICE. so? does that mean you can say you were REALLY A CLOSETED GAYMOSEXUAL BUT!--"played straight"? and, of course, could never be BI? no, that was just a sham!--I didn't mean it!--I didn't love her!---I loved the house carpenter!!!
Me:
Responded to above. A lot of sexuality presentation has to do with era, and to understand the choices, you need to understand the era. Truman Capote was the exception, not the rule (speaking of EARLY in his career).
Carle:
Right. and he never nailed you? sorry. you did the deed?--you're BI, Whether you like it or not.
Me:
There are men who only had sex with their wives to have children. And women who only had sex with their husbands to have children. That's not a sexual choice, per se, it's a practical choice, no matter what it does to the lives involved. I don't know if you did this as a kid, but when my friends and I discussed our parents' sex lives (to the tune of EW EW EW) we would decide they would have had to have sex the same number of kids they had, but no more. Of course for probably 75%--85%, let's be generous,that isn't true. But for the other 15% simply because you had sex does not make you bi, especially if you only did it as a means to an end (jeez,can't stop with the double entendres) and hated every minute of it. Yes, it is a choice, but it is not made out of sexuality.
Carle:
AND AFTER YOU READ ABOUT ENTELECHY, SEE ABRAHAM MASLOW ON THE SELF-ACTUALIZED INDIVIDUAL. We can go 'round and 'round on this point. so where the hell DO you draw the line?
But, and more important--who cares?
Me:
You do, for one.
Carle:
Still, in the House/Wilson debate, this is crucial so, until they settle into a married gaymosexual relationship, they cannot be considered gaymosexual. am I drawing straws here? Or setting up a "strawman" hypothesis? I think not. I'm just giving it a legal edge because the socio-gender-policy one is too vague and ambiguous.
Me:
And sexual orientation isn't limited to three options but is a continuum.
Carle:
OK. when you factor in shoes, the possibilities are endless. I sense this is not going anywhere. embryonically, we are ALL bisexual, the determinant chromosome not showing up until much later in the game.
The whole point, as far as I can see, is who gets to have the best label.
Carle:
OK. so. you're married to another man. OK. that means you are living a gaymosexual life. (and I did NOT say "life-STYLE". it IS a life. physical, legal, self-evident.) perfectly obvious. bald fact on the face of it. now. you say you are bi-sexual. OK. fine. so you are living/married to just one person. OK. now, are you claiming to be bi-sexual because you watch straight porn? OK. so that means that if I watch a gaymosexual act, I am, perforce, bi-" even if, while I am married to a woman and have a monosexual relationship with her?
Me:
Depends on whether or not it gets you off. Being aroused and climaxing to gay porn is an act, not an intent. Even if you are in a monosexual/heterosexual relationship. The fact that only your own body is involved makes no difference. It's realization. Otherwise they wouldn't arrest people for having pedophiliac porn on their computers. Or the men who like to watch women in high heels squash small animals.
Carle:
It is, in point of fact, masturbation. it is, in point of fact, a MONOSEXUAL ACT, despite the motivation. the only choice is to put your hand on your genitals or not. the gay leap forward is putting your hands on ANOTHER'S genitals. you can't seriously say that fantasizing is the same thing as doing, can you? can't buy that. intent vs. act. this IS philosophy 101. start with Aristotle’s "entelechy" and let me know where you finish.
Didn't look it up, did you?
And catholic religion as well: venal sin vs. mortal sin. everything is 'potentiality' UNTIL it is realized. so then, anyone claiming to be bi-sexual who does not engage in bi-sexual ACTS, vis-a-vis, to cross that line from intent to realization, is merely fantasizing and fetishising (at the extreme) and not REALLY someone who has made an active choice in their practices.
Elisa:
Stepping down from the intellectual platform: There are too many variables in human beings to exclude such an enormous gray area. Many of the men in my father's generation were too highly “programmed", as you would say, to easily make that choice. There was a writer in my memoir class in his late 70s who wrote fascinating pieces about life as a closeted homosexual. He was married, with children, defined himself as straight, but went into the Village, where the roles were as codified as the most rigid (pardon the pun) of leather queens, down to what ties you wore. THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS HAVING NO OTHER CHOICE.
Carle:
Right. you have a choice today whether you want to drink or not. you CHOOSE not to, right? so, someone who never had a drink can't be an alcoholic because they never drank. can't be an addict because they never touched drugs. can't be bisexual because they only have sex with an opposite-gendered partner every once in a while, after procreation, but spend all their time looking at gay porn. an alcoholic or an addict is either active or inactive OR in recovery. whichever way you want to label it, it comes down to CHOICE. the only exclusive condition is one that NEVER acted nor acts upon their desires.
CHOICE. Just because they SAW no other choice that means there wasn't one? They CHOSE to have a HETERO relationship, enter into a marriage contract, sire offspring--regardless of excuses. THESE ARE CHOICES. I can call myself a "writer" because I write. I cannot call myself a published author because I am not published. (OK. maybe that has more to do with the publishing industry.) now, I said that to say this: given the CHOICE, would I prefer to simply be a writer? no, because the second label means success. (in varying degrees, sure. but some material reward is associated with it so let us not go into the fine print.) To be a "successful" bi-sexual, I would have to go from fantasizing about it to doing it. by the same token, you can call yourself a straight black male, but "go slippin' on the down-low" just for a bit one the side. that makes you bi. but if you do it without having sexual intercourse or bj's from your wife, then you are "becoming" gaymosexual. but, again, that is a choice. so, I will give you this: someone may BECOME EXCLUSIVELY GAY in their choices, but that does not invalidate PAST CHOICES. and, if you choose again, that label in invalidated because of its exclusivity. are we or are we not responsible for the choices we make in life? yes or no?
Me:
How much do we know about other people's private sex lives? (Before the interwebs, I mean.) I've had several friends in celibate marriages, something I never "got." I mean, what's the point? These women generally weren't happy with the state of things, but only one had the courage to dump her husband so at the very least she could get a little sumpin-sumpin.
 |
| Wilson and House. Art by euclase |
Carle:
My favorite quote on this was from one of the last appearances of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. on Johnny Carson. when asked what he thought about gay liberation or somesuch (however the topic came up) he said, "I want to start an Asexual liberation movement. Can't you just see us? Thousands of happy smiling people walking down the center of fifth avenue with a big banner: 'HAVEN'T DONE IT IN YEARS AND FEEL GREAT!'"
Me:
Or heterosexually defined women who discover--yes, discover--that they are actually gay? (Their definition, not mine, so I'm not getting into semiotics.) There are vast numbers of people who are hamstrung by shame, fetishes, whatever to ACT on their impulses. Also, where do the people who call themselves "asexual" (and they'll smack you if you call them otherwise) fit in? Not even they know! They argue about: can you be asexual if you kiss somebody/what level of contact is acceptable to be considered "asexual," etc.
Carle
SEE ABOVE
Me:
Writing all of this makes me feel so comfortably defined, I must admit. (wink)
Carle:
Now, I will grant that it is entirely possible for someone to, under extreme duress and reprogramming (sex slaves, repeated rape, prison environment, conditioned response, etc.) to be turned into one or the other. but that is due to behavioral circumstances beyond their control. IT IS NOT AN ACTIVE CHOICE. but let us extend the argument to "the closet". since...forever, I guess, that has been the refuge of those too gripped by fear to openly declare their lesbingham/gaymosexual identity. fine. granted. no argument. THEY ARE ______. however, BI? see? doesn't work. if you have sex with one gender, and eschew the other, for whatever reason/fear, you are still _______________. so you say: oh, no, I'm really gaymosexual but I only slept with "her" because my family made me/needed respectability/wanted children, etc. ok. YOU MADE A CHOICE. so? does that mean you can say you were REALLY A CLOSETED GAYMOSEXUAL BUT!--"played straight"? and, of course, could never be BI? no, that was just a sham!--I didn't mean it!--I didn't love her!---I loved the house carpenter!!!
Me:
Responded to above. A lot of sexuality presentation has to do with era, and to understand the choices, you need to understand the era. Truman Capote was the exception, not the rule (speaking of EARLY in his career).
Carle:
Right. and he never nailed you? sorry. you did the deed?--you're BI, Whether you like it or not.
Me:
There are men who only had sex with their wives to have children. And women who only had sex with their husbands to have children. That's not a sexual choice, per se, it's a practical choice, no matter what it does to the lives involved. I don't know if you did this as a kid, but when my friends and I discussed our parents' sex lives (to the tune of EW EW EW) we would decide they would have had to have sex the same number of kids they had, but no more. Of course for probably 75%--85%, let's be generous,that isn't true. But for the other 15% simply because you had sex does not make you bi, especially if you only did it as a means to an end (jeez,can't stop with the double entendres) and hated every minute of it. Yes, it is a choice, but it is not made out of sexuality.
Carle:
AND AFTER YOU READ ABOUT ENTELECHY, SEE ABRAHAM MASLOW ON THE SELF-ACTUALIZED INDIVIDUAL. We can go 'round and 'round on this point. so where the hell DO you draw the line?
But, and more important--who cares?
Me:
You do, for one.
Carle:
Still, in the House/Wilson debate, this is crucial so, until they settle into a married gaymosexual relationship, they cannot be considered gaymosexual. am I drawing straws here? Or setting up a "strawman" hypothesis? I think not. I'm just giving it a legal edge because the socio-gender-policy one is too vague and ambiguous.
Me:
And sexual orientation isn't limited to three options but is a continuum.
Carle:
OK. when you factor in shoes, the possibilities are endless. I sense this is not going anywhere. embryonically, we are ALL bisexual, the determinant chromosome not showing up until much later in the game.
The whole point, as far as I can see, is who gets to have the best label.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
House Triple Play Day! Darth Vogler X 3
House, Triple Play Day
s1 ep 15, Mob Rules
Plot: A judge orders House to treat a mob informant. House does so under protest, but even when the patient recovers, he figures something is wrong with him and wants to keep treating him. When he butts heads with Vogler over the treatment of the patient, Vogler spends two days fighting with Cuddy over House's continued employment, resulting in Cuddy having to make a terrible compromise in order to keep House at the hospital. Meanwhile, House figures out someone on his team is keeping Vogler informed and takes steps to try to confirm who it is.you’ve got “Vogler the enforcer” and a federal witness in here; perfect fit. But there is no way a mob-connected atty is going to have that much access to the witness, even if it is his brother. I mean, are these writers only basing this script on what they've seen in “the godfather part 2”? (I couldn’t never figure how tom hagen got to frank in that army base lock-up. Did anyone ever explain that?!?!)
I know I promised to throw away all criticality w/r/t the ducklings but this violates my code of ethical detachment from existential living on the 21st century planet earth. And—yeah—I liked the corvette, like anybody else. But would the government keep him on the case with an obvious bribe sitting in his driveway? Oh yeah, and the IRS? Credulity can only stand so much strain…
s1 ep 16, Heavy
Plot: A morbidly obese 10 year old girl has a heart attack. House is intrigued, but the obvious cause of her problems seems to be her weight, and Chase won‘t stop mentioning it. Can the team look through her appearance to see the real cause?House is trying to deal with a conundrum. On Vogler's orders (backed by Cuddy), to make his department profitable, he has to fire one of his three staff members. House tries to stall for a few months, but Cuddy tells him he has a week.
now Darth Vogler ups the ante.
Cameron: “why are you telling me all this? Because you feel guilty?”
V: “I don’t feel guilty. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel sad. I may be rich, but I’m human.”
FINE DISTINCTION. Isn’t “sad” when we are resigned to things over which we have no control? I distinguish this from depression, another animal entirely. Depression is rage/anger turned inward—usually over powerlessness and helplessness.) So why aren’t these Dr.’s smart enough to know they’re being manipulated? I mean, HAVEN’T THEY EVER HEARD OF MEPHISTOPHELES? DON’T THEY KNOW WHAT A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN IS?
 | |||
| Upper photo: Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) Below: Edward Vogler (Chi McBride) |
s1 ep 17, Role Model
When a politician friend of Vogler’s collapses at a rally, he demands House at least examine the man. House soon takes an interest in the case, but his conclusions seem to end any chance the patient has of pursuing his political career. In addition, Vogler’s demands on House increase to the point where he wants House to shill for his new pharmaceutical.House goes to give his speech, with Vogler depending on House's reputation and integrity to sway the audience. He starts on script, but ends after one paragraph. When Vogler threatens his fellows unless he completes his speech, he goes back to the podium and just tells the audience that the new drug is good because is just the old good drug, only a lot more expensive and under a new patent. He also says that Vogler's company merely fools around with existing drugs to make them slightly different so they will get a new patent. Cuddy and Wilson are mortified. Vogler is stunned. House leaves the stage.
Cameron goes to see House. She agrees to resign so he won't have to fire her or Foreman. House asks why and she says it is to protect herself. She admits she likes him despite his faults because she thought he liked to help people, but she has now realized that he does what he does because he always wants to do the right thing. She thinks that the only way she can do the right thing is to quit.
this was how many years before Obama? (The politician is black. He does not think he can win, but he is paving the way for future black candidates) not looking for a prediction, just a comparison. 2005?
OK. So, subplot is the blackmail for the drug endorsement. Uh—what? Like the medical establishment is going to believe this? Vogler owns the hospital and the drug company, and house is a known iconoclast offender, and NOBODY’S going to see the--- oh I give up!
(ok. no, i don't.)
Season 1, Episode 14: "Control"
Plot: A young, high powered CEO of a cosmetic company starts to
suffer intense pain. House quickly diagnoses the problem, but realizes
revealing the truth about it will mean the patient’s certain death.
Instead, he risks his own career to hide the truth and get her the
treatment she needs. During all this, Princeton-Plainsboro takes on a
rich new chairman of the board who has just offered a $100,000,000
donation. He immediately sees House as dead weight and decides to
infiltrate House’s team to get ammunition against him.
another comedical! this is more like it! w/big bizness metaphor! re: Cameron’s method of getting agreement from the other two. house: "did you just read 'the one-minute manager" on soft-position bargaining? it isn't going to work." now house has a libido? OK, help me out on this one: Vicodin? it doesn't suppress the sex drive? (like i would know?) so this is the "vogler" arc? biggie smalls as billionaire. well, the name is...
A BIT O' MALE TRIVIA: in comics, in titles like The Justice League of America and The Avengers and The Defenders and The X-Men (basically any team) every couple years will come out with a Fall or New Year's issue entitled: The Old Order Changeth, or something equally pseudo-latin pretentious. see, they figure the suits have gotten stale and need some new spandex and soap opera to jazz it up. also, a new mission or quest or adventure-to-save-the-world/universe/dimension/reality AND A NEW VILLAIN!
arch-enemies are so groovy, it was about time sherlock house met a match. and this one IS good--that is BAAAD: soft-spoken menace like a thug in an elevator holding a razor to yr ear while he coos in yr ear.
...the name is perfect: germanic and tyrannical too! i mean, is house going to call him "Mein Herr"?
as for the rest? I’m going to check on the polite dissent for the whole thing about the use of emetics (if that is what epicac is) ruining yr heart. if so, i am surprised it hasn't been mentioned in ads aiming at teenage girls who are trying to be waifs. but the whole thing about the hosp. being given up to clinical trials? don't they all do that? seems like no big deal, but i guess it can become one. (like the plotline of ford's "the fugitive" remake.)
PS: ...or even better "MEIN FUHRER!" like Dr. Strangelove!
aha. more2B, huh? and only the mantis people of wolfrilla kill after mating. Then, low-tar cigarettes.
another comedical! this is more like it! w/big bizness metaphor! re: Cameron’s method of getting agreement from the other two. house: "did you just read 'the one-minute manager" on soft-position bargaining? it isn't going to work." now house has a libido? OK, help me out on this one: Vicodin? it doesn't suppress the sex drive? (like i would know?) so this is the "vogler" arc? biggie smalls as billionaire. well, the name is...
A BIT O' MALE TRIVIA: in comics, in titles like The Justice League of America and The Avengers and The Defenders and The X-Men (basically any team) every couple years will come out with a Fall or New Year's issue entitled: The Old Order Changeth, or something equally pseudo-latin pretentious. see, they figure the suits have gotten stale and need some new spandex and soap opera to jazz it up. also, a new mission or quest or adventure-to-save-the-world/universe/dimension/reality AND A NEW VILLAIN!
arch-enemies are so groovy, it was about time sherlock house met a match. and this one IS good--that is BAAAD: soft-spoken menace like a thug in an elevator holding a razor to yr ear while he coos in yr ear.
...the name is perfect: germanic and tyrannical too! i mean, is house going to call him "Mein Herr"?
as for the rest? I’m going to check on the polite dissent for the whole thing about the use of emetics (if that is what epicac is) ruining yr heart. if so, i am surprised it hasn't been mentioned in ads aiming at teenage girls who are trying to be waifs. but the whole thing about the hosp. being given up to clinical trials? don't they all do that? seems like no big deal, but i guess it can become one. (like the plotline of ford's "the fugitive" remake.)
PS: ...or even better "MEIN FUHRER!" like Dr. Strangelove!
Given
up to clinical trials? I'm not sure what you mean. It's a teaching
hospital, so I'm guessing they would have clinical trials. In Season 5 a
clinical trial figures prominently, although not for House.
I almost never go to Polite Dissent, because I know half the medicine is
twisted around for story purposes. (Like the doctors doing everything
themselves. At a wedding in the ladies' room, I met a nurse whose job is
preparing the slides for doctors...the actual job takes two days, and that's
before they see the slides. But having that in there would be like
watching paint dry. That's why it's "show biz."
Hahaaah!
House enjoys tormenting Jewish people, making Holocaust jokes
and such. In one episode he upbraids Wilson for using a lame excuse for
speeding:
"You
lost control of your speed? That's like Hitler saying, I lost track of
the Jews!"
More "Control"
Yeah, he has a libido, he goes to hookers. Unless it's the Flying Nun, I don't think you can have an asexual lead character. Oh, and aliens. Unless they kill their victims after they have sex.aha. more2B, huh? and only the mantis people of wolfrilla kill after mating. Then, low-tar cigarettes.
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