October 31, 2006

House: The Redefining of Genetic Relationships

If you've been reading my most recent blog posts you'll probably discover that I spend Tuesday nights camp ed out in front of the TV. All I can say is, thank you Lord for DVR.

I'm intrigued by the nature of truth on tonite's episode of "House." A young couple learned that the rare illness that almost took both of their lives was genetic condition...that there was "no good reason two unrelated people would get it." Likely having the same father, the doctor informs them that this was nothing to be alarmed about. "You're not really siblings." This doesn't set right with the young woman who shouts "We have the same father!" The doctor responds in what the writers think is probably the most compassionate manner by continuing to distort their reality: "You didn't fight in the backseat on car trips. You didn't change each other's diapers. You guys just met and fell in love."

"House" may be just a tv show, but we understand the persuasive power of ideas and images. Saying something is something other than what it is is the embodiment of self-referrential incoherence. To suggest that two people are not related because they didn't grow up together is to ignore objective biological truth.

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