CatherineM Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 **************Spoiler Warning for those who haven't seen it yet******************** I watched House last night because it was about a priest who hallucinated that he had seen Jesus. I was expecting a Catholic bashing, and as hard as those things are to watch, I do it so that I can be prepared to refute what people are saying. The priest had been working at a skid row homeless shelter because he had been accused a couple of years before of molesting a teenager. At first they thought he was just a drunk, but as he got sicker, they assumed it was AIDS. He tried to explain that he hadn't done anything that he could have contracted AIDS from. He had basically lost his faith because of the way he had been treated. He kept telling them he was innocent and the teenager was confused. He got shuffled from parish to parish as they kept finding out about the accusation. One of the doctors who was convinced that he was lying actually went to find the kid to tell him the priest was dying of AIDS and that he should get tested. I expected the show to end like that. Bad priest, molester, basically getting what he deserved. Not at all. The kid showed up at the hospital, and the doctor who violated privilege by telling him the priest was sick had this look on his face like he was expecting the kid to come in shooting. Instead the kid came in and apologized, got down on his knees and asked for the priest's forgiveness. After that they find out that the infections he had, that normally hit someone with AIDS, were caused by a genetic illness that can cause immune suppression. There was this assumption that his faith was being healed at the same time his body was, as he reached out to put his hand on the forehead of this kneeling teenager in a sign of absolution. I can not remember another mainstream TV show, or movie, that showed a priest wrongly accused. One of my favorite pastors told me once that it was his biggest fear because if they get accused, they are guilty until proven innocent. They lose their housing, insurance, income, all at once. Their support system is immediately pulled because other priests are afraid of getting tagged too by offering support to the accused. On the show, one of the doctors asked him why he was working at this homeless shelter because he'd make more money working at Starbucks, and he said that he'd entered the seminary when he was 19, and the church was all he knew. He'd spent his entire adult life doing this work, and didn't know what else to do. When asked why he held onto his celibacy eventhough he had lost his faith, he just said, "who wants a priest?" I guess I'm just really surprised they let this story go forward. Anything that makes the Church not look horrible or oppressive seems to just no longer be filmed. It's been a long time since people like Bing Crosby played priests that every one loved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I was appreciative of the fact that the priest wasn't the bad guy as well. House is such an atheist, but I'm encouraged by the fact that the producers and writers have nothing against him being wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHy do I ALWAYS miss the good episodes!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1783432' date='Feb 17 2009, 11:26 AM']AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHy do I ALWAYS miss the good episodes!!!!!!!!![/quote] ...and you read the spoilers anyway? Tsk tsk. I love House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 I guess I identify with the whole "cranky cripple" motif. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1783438' date='Feb 17 2009, 11:30 AM']I guess I identify with the whole "cranky cripple" motif.[/quote] You're a female House??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havok579257 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 early season of law and order: svu have dealt with similar issue. elliot stable, the main charecter is a cahtiolic and his faith has been explored numerous times. there has been at least 2 episodes where priests have been accused of child molestation/gay relationships and murder but have turned out to be innocent. there has also been episodes where preiests have been found guilty of such acts. although out of most shows on tv, law and order : svu is actually one where they deal with christianity and catholic faith in a fair manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='havok579257' post='1783445' date='Feb 17 2009, 01:35 PM']early season of law and order: svu have dealt with similar issue. elliot stable, the main charecter is a cahtiolic and his faith has been explored numerous times. there has been at least 2 episodes where priests have been accused of child molestation/gay relationships and murder but have turned out to be innocent. there has also been episodes where preiests have been found guilty of such acts. although out of most shows on tv, law and order : svu is actually one where they deal with christianity and catholic faith in a fair manner.[/quote] Yes, I have seen those episodes. The series Bones has Booth who is the lead FBI agent as catholic as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKolbe Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 In a way, it is quite in character for House to have come to the conclusion he did. He wanted to solve the problem, so he conjectured the possibility of it not being a hallucination; and acted accordingly. But still, i think that episode opened up his character's possibilities and gave a new insight into how House ticks. I think he is a closet agnostic, but his need for control brings out atheistic tendancies. Other than the atheist thing, my wife says I remind her of him...well the atheist thing AND his 'good looks'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 I also watch Bones, but can't get SVU since I moved to Canada. I do like seeing practicing Catholics as characters on shows. I do remember years ago when Stabler was having marriage trouble that they were going to their priest for counseling. It wouldn't dawn on most people that you could do that, let alone that you should do it. Years ago, you couldn't have an openly gay character on a show. Then slowly they introduced characters, that were likable or even cool that were gay. I heard yesterday that they were going to have a Lesbian wedding on one of the American soap operas. My husband has given a bunch of speeches on the stigma of schizophrenia where he says that having a character on a mainstream TV show with schizophrenia would do more for eliminating stigma than anything else. Can you imagine if Kramer on Seinfeld was shown having to go to the hospital to have his meds tweaked now and then? Maybe someone in Hollywood is trying to slowly inject some positive Catholic characters or themes? Booth is a really cool character, and in the beginning we didn't know he was Catholic, but now they show him actually going to church to pray. That doesn't come out of thin air. Someone has to take a positive step to ask that it be included in the script. The actor who plays Booth was raised Catholic, so that might be where it is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='MIkolbe' post='1783501' date='Feb 17 2009, 12:53 PM']In a way, it is quite in character for House to have come to the conclusion he did. He wanted to solve the problem, so he conjectured the possibility of it not being a hallucination; and acted accordingly. But still, i think that episode opened up his character's possibilities and gave a new insight into how House ticks. I think he is a closet agnostic, but his need for control brings out atheistic tendancies. Other than the atheist thing, my wife says I remind her of him...well the atheist thing AND his 'good looks'... [/quote] I agree. His character, which he's ridiculously opinionated, has proved more than once that when his opinion is incorrect, he'll change. Medically he's wrong all the time. About four times a show. Socially, obviously, is different, but there definitely have been times where he changed his tune because he realized he was doing the wrong thing. If House were to find something that convinced him he was wrong about God, he wouldn't reject it out of hand. I like what this episode opened up though, in terms of character. The priest challenged him extremely well. What was it he said? Something about how House is looking for something to prove him wrong? He's spot on. House is the archetypical scientist in that sense; when something proves his theory wrong, then the new evidence will be taken into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aalpha1989 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 House will never change his beliefs about God. He will always be a self-proclaimed atheist, but as Kolbe said, he is really an agnostic. There was one episode where he kept telling this woman to abort her "fetus" because it would be easier that way, and the woman had him operate instead. During the operation the baby grabbed House's hand and afterwards House always referred to it as a baby, and even admitted that it was a person. He said that the right thing would still have been abortion. In another episode a man was admitted for electrocuting himself. He said he didn't want to commit suicide, he just wanted his heart to stop. He had been in a car accident the previous year in which his heart had stopped for 90 seconds and he had viewed Heaven. House does the same thing to himself, hoping to see something, and when he wakes up he seems somewhat changed. At the end of the episode, however, it is revealed that he saw nothing during the time that his heart was stopped. Even if House admitted the possibility of God (something I don't think he will ever do), he would remain an agnostic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Well it would be pretty out there for the show itself, that's true, but as a character, I think if House was a real person there would be the potential for conversion. I don't think they'll explore that to its conclusion though, because of the way a tv series works... but [b]if[/b] he were real... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilde Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Did any of you see the last episode of 30 rock, I was positively surprised as well. quote: "don't tell me you're just one of those convenient Catholics that go once every Sunday" And they've dealt with the problem of evil before on House. In the episode where that girl who studies religion is advised to get an abortion. She gets one in the end though. bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 I was think about another show that a character has started talking about faith, and that's Numbers. The FBI agent brother started going back to Temple, and has started talking about it with his brother and girlfriend. There are lots of Jewish characters on TV, but I think the only time I saw Seinfeld in the temple was at a wedding or funeral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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