The Case For Cuddy Part 1
House is a show that broke records, boundries, and at the height of it's popularity was the most watched being translated into multiple languages for viewership. Even now it's being re-booted in Turkish. There was countless reasons for this first and foremost a drug-addled devil-may-care protagonist, that re-wrote rules and blurred the lines of morality both in his personal and professsional life. Alongside him was a team of underlings, sometimes sunny, other times just as melocholic, that provided juxtoposition. Then we have Wilson, the role of moral compass and strongest companion throughout the series. Their characters are a mirror of Holmes and Watson, but like with any creation the additiion and subversion to these archetypes is what makes any piece of film an original---enter Lisa Cuddy.
Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein, is the most polarizing character of the show besides House himself. The romance between House and Cuddy is what fuels the most hatred, but even pre-flirtation there is contempt sparked by her very presence and betrayal of the hosiptal's administrator whom House's clearance,hell employment, is even possible.
In the early conception of the show, like with all shows, growing pains and defining changes were made. House himself was pitched as a full-on parapalegic , wheelchair bound, with a scar on his face this is no different than what happens with the characters once they're shown on film; natural affinity collapses into frame to mine for future arc. Originally there was to be a May-December romance between House and Cameron, but because of Hugh Laurie's self-proclaimed Father/Daughter dynamic with Jennifer Morrison he didn't feel comfortable proceeding with it. Thank god for off camera influence otherwise we'd have been subjected to yet another female protege' drooling over her unapologetic male employer yarn. The infinently more age-appropriate Edelstein had, to some's shagrin, an organic chemistry with Laurie, thus House/Cuddy was explored.
( future Insert Quote from Hugh on Lisa from The Official Guide)
Like any actor would, on ANY show Lisa , at times aggressively, pushed for more screen time which would include an origin story and subsequent romance as to not be seen as a one trick pony saying simply 'yes' or 'no' to House. She's consistantly tarred and feather on forums for doing, I can't stress this enough, what *anyone* would do for the integrity of their work and progression of their career. Being as liberated as she was Lisa, character and actor, reconceptualized what a working woman looks and acts like, but she's punished by critics who can only judge the dip of her neckline. (The hypocrisy of this will be explored later) Woman are both smart and sexy the embleshment of that should be equal to other extremity of the show for messaging and sale. Sex sells, it sucks, but it's true, leaning into that isn't exploitive it's taking power back. Not surprisingly, like any other road diverging in the woods of feminism, she can be marked a slut.
"I like him. And I like sex. Do I need to stitch a letter on my tops?"--Cuddy 3.14, Insensitive
So it goes to the people villifying her: One person either brow-beat an entire machine around her including the writers, producers, directors, AND the star (who we've already seen to be a massive influence on the show long before the producers credit by being able to 'nay' a romantic storyline) OR they genuinely agreed with these ideas and collaborated either way it doesn't bode well for her critics. You merely come across as resenting her because the skeletal, unrealized version of your show was never conceived, which is far easier to do than blaming the people ultimately in charge of the entire endeavor. What's done is done. What's canon is canon, and no amount of keyboard warrior posting changes this. If they didn't want this:
HOUSE: [To Foreman] You went home? [Foreman nods. House is pleased.] Good for you. Delegate.
CAMERON: We're not his subordinates.
HOUSE: Making it all the more impressive.----3.19 Act Your Age,
House and Cuddy met one another in college. The story is teased in Season 2s 'Humpty Dumpty', alluded to in House's hallucination in 'Under My Skin' Season 5, and finally confirmed in 'Known, Unknowns' Season 6. They pursued one another within the realm of a few weeks to a few months (those specifics are deeply foggy) and it climaxed with a one night stand which House, had he not been expelled abruptly the next day, would have wanted to grow into an actual relationship. The timeline that makes the most sense considering the amount of time House has been hired at PPTH, given some of the ages they may have been or lied about, graduation from medschool and when Cuddy applied for admin at PPTH puts them roughly at 21 and 27 at this point. For the people in the back that actually share my views of this couple, sometimes to the extreme, they were not 'in love' in this time period. They were on the precipice of dating, but life interupted. The timeline shows clearly that affection for one another grew throughout the time of being colleagues, post infarction.
One of the most controversial aspects of the show is House's injury.. House is with Stacy, a lawyer (this will be important to remember as I go on) who is given proxy decision making while he's in a coma as they've been living together for 5 years. Stacy is arguing for amputation, but House won't have it. Cuddy gives a 'middle ground' alternative once House is under. The decision is legally left with Stacy to pursue. Both of these characters are pivitol to House and his arc from there on out.. They both know his wishes, but instead choose to save his life creating moral grey-space. I've heard arguments. the most conservative, blaming Cuddy for the physical event transpiring the way it did to the erratic accusation of offering him a job as a ploy to negate being sued neither of which are grounded in canon. At this point in any dicernable timeline that works (and wasn't mucked up by writers inconsistancy/laziness) he's 38 and had been working at PPTH since 35, Cuddy was 29 lying about her age to get the job was now 32. Now this could explain why Cuddy felt guilty and let years of clinic duty slip, post-infarction, but it doesn't explain their words on the hiring process:
HOUSE: Oh give me a break. You hired me...
CUDDY: Because you're a good doctor who couldn't get himself hired at a blood bank so I got you cheap.
HOUSE: You gave me everything I asked for because one night I gave you everything you...---3.16 Top Secret
During the tragedy, "Three Stories" Stacy first speaks sympathetically to coax him to do the safest thing and then later in spite discusses his own practices in "HoneyMoon". He dismisses patient wishes on a regular basis to solve his puzzle, which ultimately puts them in a healthier position, *most* of the time. The question of the series is always do the ends justify the means and WHO justifys those ends. House is beyond hypocriful in demanding that Stacy and Cuddy not take the steps, that he would for the greater good. Along with this insipid double-standard is the idea that he would have any right to sue Cuddy and PPTH in the first place. Doctors misdiagnose on a regular basis. House, at the height of his practice, is even more likely to do so 3 to 4 times treating to get it right. Out of the hundreds of cases we see in House, some including death, there were only two that did. "Humpty Dumpty" and "The Mistake" both found in Season 2. (I'm clearly not counting Arlene Cuddy's failed attempt to get House and Cuddy back together) In Season 3 "Words and Deeds" someone lost their experencial memories (some would consider far more than a limb) and wouldn't come forward to claim malpractice.
The Boys club mentality continues beyond professional pursuits and into playtime for these characters. Were we too busy archaically slut-shaming to remember House is seen at different points in the series relishing strippers, hiring hookers, and romantically pursuing unattainable women? (a hooker had to let him down) House chides Cuddy, as some of the audience does, when these actions are taken that inadvertantly hurt him, drive him to jealousy (sometimes literally in a car), or create an equal dichotomy, but in doing so it slowly reveals his interest in her, which compounds the hostility toward character growth in favor of a simple, unnuanced, iconagraphy. Like Wilson with his affairs, co-dependency, and enabling her transgressions, though not as severe, should be seen as acceptable as House's, but are interpreted by extreme fans, as a threat even while the counter-point is being provided.
Dr. Cuddy: Good morning, Dr. House.
Dr. House: Good morning, Dr. Cuddy! Love that outfit. Says, I’m professional, but I’m still a woman. Actually, it sorta yells the second part.
Dr. Cuddy: Yeah, and your big cane is real subtle too.
Dr. House: [Leaving quickly] Gotta go. --Socratic Method, 1.6
It's 'unrealistic' for a hospital administrator to wear low-cut tops every bit as much as it's 'unrealistic' for said administrator to be employing a pill-popping obsessive. We'll tread later into the danger of using those words so loosley when it comes to certain arcs. For now I'm taking on the pety arguments I've seen in relation to her 'revenge' toward him. After years of trying and disappointment Cuddy adopted a child. This was explored in a new and interesting way due to her second-guessing the child becoming the number one priority over those of the hospital and the un-going through line that she is the only one that can semi-manage House. Once passing the keys to Cameron fails, by Cameron's own admission, Cuddy's next step was revenge. She had shown she was capable of it before by switching out vicodin for laxatives 'Mirror,Mirror' , (child's play in House's mind as he's drugged people without permission for both sport and career) but was driven further in "The Greater Good". People have laughingly called her campaign 'abuse'. Cuddy had laid down a trip wire, stolen his cane, and made him think that the elevator wasn't working forcing him to take the stairs. She physically hurt him in ways he was capable of doing to anyone else while he was unhinged or even of sane-mind. Wilson sawed through House's cane which resulted in a fall. House and Wilson constantly prank one another. House has walked without the cane and upstairs before, but in desperate attempt to make Cuddy irredemable you come down on her for taking it? Wilson's response to this is equal and measured, the intent of her display and realizing while she's done wrong, that these are amoral hallmarks done overall in the series :
Wilson: You're hurting him.
Cuddy: Good, after all the stunts he's pulled on me.
Wilson: You're physically hurting him.
Cuddy: That's the point.
Wilson: What's the point? What do you think you're going to accomplish?
Cuddy: (handing a file to the duty nurse) House shouldn't be allowed to make people miserable without paying for it.
Wilson: You're not miserable!
Cuddy: You're telling me how I feel?
Wilson: You're here because you like this. You like working with him.
Cuddy: Wow, if only I'd known I was having fun, I wouldn't have canceled the bouncy house.
Wilson: Fire him, and go be home with your new baby.
Cuddy: I like what he does for this hospital.
Wilson: What he does is who he is. And the same goes for you.--- The Greater Good--5.14
House and her speak at the end. Not only does he come across as unphased by her actions, but he accepts her apology, with the cavat that she'll do a slightly crappier job now. The bonus is that her transgressions lead him to his diagnosis. Perhaps, whether he'd ever admit it or not, he's indifferent to it because of things he's done to her in the past. Showing seething outrage for a character that doesn't characterize himself as a victim is counter-intuitive under most circumstances. You can't eliminate context just because it doesn't fit your perception. We all have subtext and a way to see these characters, but we can't fall prey to delusion by a lack of objectivity as it doesn't change primary truths.
Huge help from the group clinic_duty - Profile (livejournal.com)
Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein, is the most polarizing character of the show besides House himself. The romance between House and Cuddy is what fuels the most hatred, but even pre-flirtation there is contempt sparked by her very presence and betrayal of the hosiptal's administrator whom House's clearance,hell employment, is even possible.
In the early conception of the show, like with all shows, growing pains and defining changes were made. House himself was pitched as a full-on parapalegic , wheelchair bound, with a scar on his face this is no different than what happens with the characters once they're shown on film; natural affinity collapses into frame to mine for future arc. Originally there was to be a May-December romance between House and Cameron, but because of Hugh Laurie's self-proclaimed Father/Daughter dynamic with Jennifer Morrison he didn't feel comfortable proceeding with it. Thank god for off camera influence otherwise we'd have been subjected to yet another female protege' drooling over her unapologetic male employer yarn. The infinently more age-appropriate Edelstein had, to some's shagrin, an organic chemistry with Laurie, thus House/Cuddy was explored.
( future Insert Quote from Hugh on Lisa from The Official Guide)
Like any actor would, on ANY show Lisa , at times aggressively, pushed for more screen time which would include an origin story and subsequent romance as to not be seen as a one trick pony saying simply 'yes' or 'no' to House. She's consistantly tarred and feather on forums for doing, I can't stress this enough, what *anyone* would do for the integrity of their work and progression of their career. Being as liberated as she was Lisa, character and actor, reconceptualized what a working woman looks and acts like, but she's punished by critics who can only judge the dip of her neckline. (The hypocrisy of this will be explored later) Woman are both smart and sexy the embleshment of that should be equal to other extremity of the show for messaging and sale. Sex sells, it sucks, but it's true, leaning into that isn't exploitive it's taking power back. Not surprisingly, like any other road diverging in the woods of feminism, she can be marked a slut.
"I like him. And I like sex. Do I need to stitch a letter on my tops?"--Cuddy 3.14, Insensitive
So it goes to the people villifying her: One person either brow-beat an entire machine around her including the writers, producers, directors, AND the star (who we've already seen to be a massive influence on the show long before the producers credit by being able to 'nay' a romantic storyline) OR they genuinely agreed with these ideas and collaborated either way it doesn't bode well for her critics. You merely come across as resenting her because the skeletal, unrealized version of your show was never conceived, which is far easier to do than blaming the people ultimately in charge of the entire endeavor. What's done is done. What's canon is canon, and no amount of keyboard warrior posting changes this. If they didn't want this:
HOUSE: [To Foreman] You went home? [Foreman nods. House is pleased.] Good for you. Delegate.
CAMERON: We're not his subordinates.
HOUSE: Making it all the more impressive.----3.19 Act Your Age,
House and Cuddy met one another in college. The story is teased in Season 2s 'Humpty Dumpty', alluded to in House's hallucination in 'Under My Skin' Season 5, and finally confirmed in 'Known, Unknowns' Season 6. They pursued one another within the realm of a few weeks to a few months (those specifics are deeply foggy) and it climaxed with a one night stand which House, had he not been expelled abruptly the next day, would have wanted to grow into an actual relationship. The timeline that makes the most sense considering the amount of time House has been hired at PPTH, given some of the ages they may have been or lied about, graduation from medschool and when Cuddy applied for admin at PPTH puts them roughly at 21 and 27 at this point. For the people in the back that actually share my views of this couple, sometimes to the extreme, they were not 'in love' in this time period. They were on the precipice of dating, but life interupted. The timeline shows clearly that affection for one another grew throughout the time of being colleagues, post infarction.
One of the most controversial aspects of the show is House's injury.. House is with Stacy, a lawyer (this will be important to remember as I go on) who is given proxy decision making while he's in a coma as they've been living together for 5 years. Stacy is arguing for amputation, but House won't have it. Cuddy gives a 'middle ground' alternative once House is under. The decision is legally left with Stacy to pursue. Both of these characters are pivitol to House and his arc from there on out.. They both know his wishes, but instead choose to save his life creating moral grey-space. I've heard arguments. the most conservative, blaming Cuddy for the physical event transpiring the way it did to the erratic accusation of offering him a job as a ploy to negate being sued neither of which are grounded in canon. At this point in any dicernable timeline that works (and wasn't mucked up by writers inconsistancy/laziness) he's 38 and had been working at PPTH since 35, Cuddy was 29 lying about her age to get the job was now 32. Now this could explain why Cuddy felt guilty and let years of clinic duty slip, post-infarction, but it doesn't explain their words on the hiring process:
HOUSE: Oh give me a break. You hired me...
CUDDY: Because you're a good doctor who couldn't get himself hired at a blood bank so I got you cheap.
HOUSE: You gave me everything I asked for because one night I gave you everything you...---3.16 Top Secret
During the tragedy, "Three Stories" Stacy first speaks sympathetically to coax him to do the safest thing and then later in spite discusses his own practices in "HoneyMoon". He dismisses patient wishes on a regular basis to solve his puzzle, which ultimately puts them in a healthier position, *most* of the time. The question of the series is always do the ends justify the means and WHO justifys those ends. House is beyond hypocriful in demanding that Stacy and Cuddy not take the steps, that he would for the greater good. Along with this insipid double-standard is the idea that he would have any right to sue Cuddy and PPTH in the first place. Doctors misdiagnose on a regular basis. House, at the height of his practice, is even more likely to do so 3 to 4 times treating to get it right. Out of the hundreds of cases we see in House, some including death, there were only two that did. "Humpty Dumpty" and "The Mistake" both found in Season 2. (I'm clearly not counting Arlene Cuddy's failed attempt to get House and Cuddy back together) In Season 3 "Words and Deeds" someone lost their experencial memories (some would consider far more than a limb) and wouldn't come forward to claim malpractice.
The Boys club mentality continues beyond professional pursuits and into playtime for these characters. Were we too busy archaically slut-shaming to remember House is seen at different points in the series relishing strippers, hiring hookers, and romantically pursuing unattainable women? (a hooker had to let him down) House chides Cuddy, as some of the audience does, when these actions are taken that inadvertantly hurt him, drive him to jealousy (sometimes literally in a car), or create an equal dichotomy, but in doing so it slowly reveals his interest in her, which compounds the hostility toward character growth in favor of a simple, unnuanced, iconagraphy. Like Wilson with his affairs, co-dependency, and enabling her transgressions, though not as severe, should be seen as acceptable as House's, but are interpreted by extreme fans, as a threat even while the counter-point is being provided.
Dr. Cuddy: Good morning, Dr. House.
Dr. House: Good morning, Dr. Cuddy! Love that outfit. Says, I’m professional, but I’m still a woman. Actually, it sorta yells the second part.
Dr. Cuddy: Yeah, and your big cane is real subtle too.
Dr. House: [Leaving quickly] Gotta go. --Socratic Method, 1.6
It's 'unrealistic' for a hospital administrator to wear low-cut tops every bit as much as it's 'unrealistic' for said administrator to be employing a pill-popping obsessive. We'll tread later into the danger of using those words so loosley when it comes to certain arcs. For now I'm taking on the pety arguments I've seen in relation to her 'revenge' toward him. After years of trying and disappointment Cuddy adopted a child. This was explored in a new and interesting way due to her second-guessing the child becoming the number one priority over those of the hospital and the un-going through line that she is the only one that can semi-manage House. Once passing the keys to Cameron fails, by Cameron's own admission, Cuddy's next step was revenge. She had shown she was capable of it before by switching out vicodin for laxatives 'Mirror,Mirror' , (child's play in House's mind as he's drugged people without permission for both sport and career) but was driven further in "The Greater Good". People have laughingly called her campaign 'abuse'. Cuddy had laid down a trip wire, stolen his cane, and made him think that the elevator wasn't working forcing him to take the stairs. She physically hurt him in ways he was capable of doing to anyone else while he was unhinged or even of sane-mind. Wilson sawed through House's cane which resulted in a fall. House and Wilson constantly prank one another. House has walked without the cane and upstairs before, but in desperate attempt to make Cuddy irredemable you come down on her for taking it? Wilson's response to this is equal and measured, the intent of her display and realizing while she's done wrong, that these are amoral hallmarks done overall in the series :
Wilson: You're hurting him.
Cuddy: Good, after all the stunts he's pulled on me.
Wilson: You're physically hurting him.
Cuddy: That's the point.
Wilson: What's the point? What do you think you're going to accomplish?
Cuddy: (handing a file to the duty nurse) House shouldn't be allowed to make people miserable without paying for it.
Wilson: You're not miserable!
Cuddy: You're telling me how I feel?
Wilson: You're here because you like this. You like working with him.
Cuddy: Wow, if only I'd known I was having fun, I wouldn't have canceled the bouncy house.
Wilson: Fire him, and go be home with your new baby.
Cuddy: I like what he does for this hospital.
Wilson: What he does is who he is. And the same goes for you.--- The Greater Good--5.14
House and her speak at the end. Not only does he come across as unphased by her actions, but he accepts her apology, with the cavat that she'll do a slightly crappier job now. The bonus is that her transgressions lead him to his diagnosis. Perhaps, whether he'd ever admit it or not, he's indifferent to it because of things he's done to her in the past. Showing seething outrage for a character that doesn't characterize himself as a victim is counter-intuitive under most circumstances. You can't eliminate context just because it doesn't fit your perception. We all have subtext and a way to see these characters, but we can't fall prey to delusion by a lack of objectivity as it doesn't change primary truths.
Huge help from the group clinic_duty - Profile (livejournal.com)