11/29/06: A Hero in the HOUSE?

Okay, I'll admit it. I am addicted to House M.D.

And it's all Hugh Laurie's fault.

Well, I also blame the brilliant writers who conceived this amazingly megalomanical character who has a heart beneath all his gruff selfishness and intellectual pride.

House has a God complex. And I certainly wouldn't want him to be MY doctor. Unless I were dying, of course.

I know, I know -- it's FICTION. And fiction by definition means that it's not real.

But that's the beauty of this show. House seems like such a real guy. He's far from perfect; he's flawed to the core in so many ways that it's impossible to list them all.

And that's why we can relate to him so well. Our flaws seem so insignificant next to his. And that's always encouraging to us mere mortals.

When we glimpse an iota of humanity in him, we want to stand up and cheer. He's an enigma wrapped in a package of sarcasm and pain. And we can't help to love him.

Back in Emma Thompson's acclaimed Sense and Sensibility, Hugh portrayed a similiar character: Mr. Palmer. Poor Mr. Palmer is married to the stupidest of women, and his sarcasm is glossed over and excused by his simpering wife and her gossip-crazed mother. However, when a real crisis occurs, Mr. Palmer rises to the occasion in all sympathy and helpfulness. E and I always loved his character, and Hugh takes that small character part to the -nth degree in House. And he does it marvellously.

This year, E and I spent our summer evenings viewing the delightfully and wonderfully comic Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh and Stephen Fry as Wodehouse's unforgettable young man-about-town and his "man." After all four seasons, courtesy of Netflix, we felt well-versed in Hugh Laurie's amazing acting style.

And yes, we have Blackadder in our Netflix queue.

So here's to Hugh for bringing much entertainment into our "House."