Monday, April 27, 2009
I haven't watched "House" in forever but tonight, as I was making dinner, I had the show on in the background. Although I really wasn't watching, I heard Foreman, one of the main characters, say something that caught my attention. I began watching the show after I heard the quote, so I am going to try to fill you all in on the context, or at least what I know of it. A boy, maybe in his late teens, is in the hospital with some mysterious illness... the normal circumstances of the show. However, the boy is also deaf. He was born deaf, and when House presents him with the opportunity to hear by offering to give him a cochlear implant, the boy turns it down. The quote that caught my attention came when Foreman and "Thirteen" were talking about the boy's decision. While "Thirteen" was trying to explain that deafness was a way a life rather than a disability. In response, Foreman said that something that can be simulated with a 3 dollar set of ear plugs will never be a culture. While we can always simulate conditions outside of our own, we are who we are and we cannot change that. Sure, I can put ear plugs in my ears to block out sounds, but when I'm ready to hear again I can simply take the ear plugs out. For people who are deaf, they cannot simply hear when they want to... Their deafness is a part of them and although it does not define who they are, it is a major part of their life. I have always liked "House" but I thought that this quote was incredibly offensive to not only the deaf community but anyone with a disability.
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I have never actually seen an entire episode of House, but I guess that part of the show does not surprise me. Its really too bad though. I feel like the show really could have taken the reigns and showed that deafness can be a separate culture that people are not ashamed of. When I see shows that do not portray people with some sort of disability in a good way it really bothers me. It just shows how little our society knows about people with needs and with shows on t.v. that promote unhealthy thoughts about people with needs it just promotes society to be the same way. That is why I really loved when Scott was on American Idol. I think they show did a great job because he still did everything that the other contestants were doing, but sometimes maybe in a different way. I was really happy to see that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your shock about the quote. That's really interesting that they chose to word it that way, it is extremely offensive. However, I think it is great that they decided to show the boy not accepting the cochlear implant. This is something that is a big deal in the Deaf community, and for them to have him accept it would have been something that people would just expect. It really shows that the writers at least have some sensitivity to the fact that deaf people do have some culture--because this is a big part of it. By having the child turn down the implant he is standing up for his deafness and claiming it as part of who he is.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting post. I have seen House a couple of times and from what I have noticed from watching the show is that the show can get sarcastic at times. This time the show's sarcasm was offensive. The boy made a great point when he said that being deaf is a way of life and not a disability and this point really goes well with what we were talking about in class. I think by the boy refusing the implant shows that he is not disabled in any way and that he is perfectly fine with his way of life.
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