What Geek Media Do You Refuse To Partake In?

[jian]

I remember reading something about that, apparently there was a bit of an issue with Henry Cavill's version of Holmes laughingin the Enola Holmes movie, because it wasn't how Holmes was portrayed in the early stories.

Which again is silly, Holmes laughs as much as anyone else in the stories.

 

[cbwjm]

Which again is silly, Holmes laughs as much as anyone else in the stories.

Maybe, I haven't read the books, I just know that the portrayal was enough to raise the hackles of the author's estate.

 

[jian]

Maybe, I haven't read the books, I just know that the portrayal was enough to raise the hackles of the author's estate.

I think their argument was that Holmes is nicer (and more likely to laugh, presumably) in the last 12 stories (collectively The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes) which still remain under US copyright until 2027. The rest of the Holmes canon is in public domain and therefore they don’t get paid for any works deriving from them. Therefore, any version of Holmes that’s at all pleasant must be based on the later works and thus they should get paid.

It’s clearly very tenuous legally and has no cultural merit, which is why Netflix settled out of court for an allegedly tiny sum. Still annoying, though, which is why we probably won’t see any nice Holmes portrayals until 2027.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

“I want a great detective!

“Shush- we have a great detective at Holmes!”

 

[Autumnal]

The portrayal of Holmes's that does most justice to the full mix of traits, I think, is Jeremy Brett’s. His Holmes is aristocratic and aloof, but also kind to those in need.

 

[jian]

The portrayal of Holmes's that does most justice to the full mix of traits, I think, is Jeremy Brett’s. His Holmes is aristocratic and aloof, but also kind to those in need.

Yes, he’s very good. His Watson is also well balanced and representative - energetic, resourceful, not an idiot. Basil Rathbone’s Holmes is also good but his Watson is often a moron, sadly (he’e probably the main archetype for Stupid Watson).

 

[Smackpixi]

Defending House certainly wasn’t on my EnWorld bingo card for today, but here goes anyway.

First, yes, it was part of middle aged white guy is a jerk but right trope, but that was never part of the appeal to me, and it’s more than that. This guy is a jerk, but charmingly amusing at it was the appeal, tacked on to a mystery. the show did medical mystery well, I thought, because they were layman understandable puzzles about the person, not, we did some tests and you have…

But yeah, if you’re not amused by House’s jerk shenanigans, you’re never gonna like the show. much of his obnoxiousness is directed towards people not being honest with themselves or the situation. And if you’re a medical professional seems like you can at least appreciate the show’s one recurring message, don’t lie to your doctor.

he humiliates and mocks the people in his clinic regularly for cheap laughs. In doing so, he often fails to elicit actual useful information or build a rapport which means they might actually comply with his treatment plan

Being a jerk to them, played for laughs, was the point. He had no interest in helping them, the goal was to get out of doing clinic hours. In those clinic hours he’s forced to interact with patients, something he finds near pointless in his practice, because everyone lies. And the clowning of these patients is usually because they’re in denial of something obvious to him, that should be to them as well.

He’s often nicer and more empathic to the patient of the week - presumably because he spends more time with them

He absolutely was not. Never talking to them, or seeing them in person (at least while conscious) was his thing.

but he still often regards them as a puzzle rather than a person**.

100%. The puzzle usually revolves around what are they not revealing, sometimes with their body, sometimes with their words.

Seriously, a doctor who is regularly mean to receptionists or secretaries is an effing idiot and can expect to never see their letters sent on time.

It was very clear everyone except a select few hated him. His mail wasn’t just late, it was never delivered. He was fine with this, admin staff that discarded his mail cause they find him repellant, he’d respect that.

As for doctors being interested in solving problems, they’re always interested in that - that’s what they’re there for - but the question is whether they’re interested in finding out and helping with what the patient’s problem is rather than identifying and solving the clinical puzzle. It’s certainly been hammered into me in my training that my job is to do the former.

Yeah, because you’re a good person. House would hate you, because you’re obviously lying about that, or in denial about how much you truely resent helping people that won’t help themselves.

House clowns all the people around him for being idiots, dishonest with themselves and oblivious to reality. It invites the viewer (me) who also feels that way about the people around them, to enjoy the mocking and showing up. But, I don’t know it ever shied away from the fact who the most dishonest idiot in the room was.

 

[jian]

Defending House certainly wasn’t on my EnWorld bingo card for today, but here goes anyway.

First, yes, it was part of middle aged white guy is a jerk but right trope, but that was never part of the appeal to me, and it’s more than that. This guy is a jerk, but charmingly amusing at it was the appeal, tacked on to a mystery. the show did medical mystery well, I thought, because they were layman understandable puzzles about the person, not, we did some tests and you have…

But yeah, if you’re not amused by House’s jerk shenanigans, you’re never gonna like the show. much of his obnoxiousness is directed towards people not being honest with themselves or the situation. And if you’re a medical professional seems like you can at least appreciate the show’s one recurring message, don’t lie to your doctor.

Being a jerk to them, played for laughs, was the point. He had no interest in helping them, the goal was to get out of doing clinic hours. In those clinic hours he’s forced to interact with patients, something he finds near pointless in his practice, because everyone lies. And the clowning of these patients is usually because they’re in denial of something obvious to him, that should be to them as well.

He absolutely was not. Never talking to them, or seeing them in person (at least while conscious) was his thing.

100%. The puzzle usually revolves around what are they not revealing, sometimes with their body, sometimes with their words.

It was very clear everyone except a select few hated him. His mail wasn’t just late, it was never delivered. He was fine with this, admin staff that discarded his mail cause they find him repellant, he’d respect that.

Yeah, because you’re a good person. House would hate you, because you’re obviously lying about that, or in denial about how much you truely resent helping people that won’t help themselves.

House clowns all the people around him for being idiots, dishonest with themselves and oblivious to reality. It invites the viewer (me) who also feels that way about the people around them, to enjoy the mocking and showing up. But, I don’t know it ever shied away from the fact who the most dishonest idiot in the room was.

As in House himself, presumably? But otherwise, yeah, that sounds reasonable.

(I understand he hates the clinics Cuddy makes him do, and some of the patients are annoying. They’re patients, they’re allowed to be and even meant to be. The way he treats them is often unpardonable.)

(Also, “everyone lies” is a laughably pathetic approach to diagnosis. Yes, people lie to you sometimes. If you do a lot of prison work, for instance, you may hear more lies on average. But history taking is by far the most important part of diagnosis; without it, physical examination and investigations have no context and are basically useless. Just listen and let the patient talk, they’ll tell you everything you need to know.)

I’m not an American internist who went to Johns Hopkins in the 80s and then worked in various US hospital settings until the 2010s, so I don’t know how much of my training and experience (Cambridge in the 90s, about six years of U.K. hospital jobs, U.K. GP) is representative of his. But for me, watching House is probably like a police officer watching a TV show about a brilliant police detective who doesn’t listen to witnesses, fails to de-escalate basic conflict situations, and regularly assaults his suspects in interrogations, but is tolerated because he’s magically always right. It’s like awful copaganda about the worst police stereotypes. Even if he’s not meant to be admirable and eventually gets in trouble, he’s the protagonist and you’re meant to sympathise with him some of the time, and the fact that he always gets his man narratively validates his position.

 

[jtylerk]

Maybe I just don’t enjoy “geek media” in general? I find myself nodding in agreement as I read through these lists.

 

[Smackpixi]

@jian Totally get you’re always gonna hate House, which is fine. But it sure seems like you’re stuck on, this is a totally nonsensical way for a medical professional to behave. It is, there’s a whole normal hospital going on in the background, and then this guy.

(Also, “everyone lies” is a laughably pathetic approach to diagnosis.

Yeah, but is it that laughable of an approach to the human condition? Does maybe everyone have some blind spots in understanding themselves and things the don’t want anyone else to know?

But history taking is by far the most important part of diagnosis;

And his underlings take them. And the show’s general quest is to find out what they didn’t say…what people don’t say about themselves is often the most revealing in what the show is actually about, which is not medical diagnosis. In a practical medical setting, probably no, don’t have to break into there homes to discover if what they are saying is true.

Even if he’s not meant to be admirable and eventually gets in trouble, he’s the protagonist and you’re meant to sympathise with him some of the time,

You can identify with him if you also, on some level, also believe that the people around you are idiots ignorant of themselves and reality. It’s a show for cynics.

If you float through the world believing most people nice, honest with themselves and others, then you can identify with his friend Dr. Wilson, who House loves, but torments. You sound much like that character on the show.

Edit: compliment, not a criticism there. He is the good guy on the show.