Dr.Gregory House – House M.

D
Dr. Gregory House played by an able bodied
actor Hugh Laurie suffers from Limb Infarction
which causes the character to use a cane to
help him walk. The character of House is an
extreme example of this disability. The area
of the tissue death is irreversible and it affects
the nerves and muscles so that it causes pain
in the effected area. The character of house
has the quadriceps muscle removed on his
right leg. It is portrayed accurately but it is
exaggerated slightly because it is an extreme
case.

The character of House is fairly realistic we

could say his disability has caused him to
become more arrogant with the pain it
causes him and the Vicodin he takes to ease
the pain which adds more depth to the
character or we could argue he was arrogant
before and this has made him care less for
patients. His character doesn’t patronise
people he tells it to them how it is and this
could show how he would like to be treated
and not patronise because of his disability.
After looking at Paul Hunts 1991 case study
we can see that the character of House is
stereotyped as being his own worst enemy.

There is an episode in season three where House is

refused his regular parking slot for people who use
wheelchairs only. After finding out the hospitals new
researcher has the slot for her use as she is paralyzed
from the waist down he begins to use a wheelchair
around the hospital to win his slot back in a bet. At the
back of his wheelchair he has a sign which proves his
sarcasm which says ‘I’d rather be walking’. In the episode
house is trying to prove that just because he has a cane
and the other woman has a wheelchair doesn’t mean he
can be kicked out of his slot which means he has to walk
further to the entrance. This represents how House feels
but as you see this episode you begin to see how
arrogant he is and determined to get his place back.