I want to give your lovely response the full return it deserves, so be warned: I may ramble :)
First off: I don't think you hate Wilson, or that you think he's one-dimensional. Generally, I've found that people who are interested in the H?W pairing (sexual or otherwise) who have problems with Wilson don't hate him. Those tend to be, and I generalize, Huddy and Hameron fans who piss me off with their opinions of Wilson, usually because they are so shallow!
I'm torn as to whether Wilson truly doesn't understand the effect he has on House, or if on some level he DOES understand, but is just to exhausted and worn-out to acknowledge and then deal with it. I do believe that when House hurts Wilson (which hasn't REALLy happened since season 3, JMO) he knows exactly what he is doing. Which is worse? I don't know.
It's always fascinating to me how much rabid (in a good way!) House fans who can empathize with House can understand the character. I've never had to deal with addiction or chronic pain, in myself, so while I can recognize the issues, I have a lot of trouble understanding them.
I identify very strongly with Wilson, in ways which sometimes make me uncomfortable. I can manipulate people very easily when I want to. I can be incredibly charming when I want to be. I'm an accomplished liar. I'm sixteen, and I've been severely depressed since I was 12. Depression and medication ARE things I have dealt with personally, so the way Wilson deals with his depression helps me connect with him. I also have a need to feel needed, in that I like to take care of people. Also, I am not an insecure person, but I do feel safer and more secure in my relationships if I am providing some sort of caretaking, emotional or otherwise. I also have a compulsive need to appear well-adjusted and healthy, which I am slowly but surely shaking off in therapy (next step- blue hair!). For example, I once had a social worker who was in charge of keeping me from failing my classes tell me, "You look like you've never had a hard year in you life." My response was, yeah, that's part of my issues, YOU STUPID CUNT. (Pent-up rage, much?)
So, while I can't really identify with House, I can with Wilson, and so my perspective is skewed in that particular direction.
I do believe House is a tragic character, but it frustrated me, for example, that he couldn't just tell Wilson, Yes, yes I am in therapy, now FUCK OFF. I understand why he didn't, but I really wish he would.
I think that House and Wilson are screwed up in such contradictory ways that it is difficult to compare their damage, but I would say that you are probably right that House's is more complicated. I also think it is more obvious, but this may be because of our unique position as viewers. I think Wilson's ability to hide his damage is almost admirable, in terms of how very good he can be at it. I also find it tragic, relatable to my own life, and VERY interesting.
I like that you mentioned that Wilson is far more self-centered than House. I think that, over the past 5 seasons, House has shown himself to be more selfish than Wilson. Wilson, on the other hand, is more self-absorbed and self-centered. He will do unselfish things, but he is very centered on himself. Did that make sense?
And, finally, I'll leave you with an analogy before I go. I have a dog. My dog has an orange hot-dog toy, with a squeaker on each end. A good H/W discussion is like when my dog bites one end of the hot dog and squeaks, and then I grab the other end and squeak back. A bad H/W discussion is like the times when I squeak my end, and instead of squeaking his own end back, my dog lunges for my end and bites my hand. And that is my *brilliant* analysis ;)
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primarycolors92.livejournal.com at 08:57pm on 02/04/2009![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
First off: I don't think you hate Wilson, or that you think he's one-dimensional. Generally, I've found that people who are interested in the H?W pairing (sexual or otherwise) who have problems with Wilson don't hate him. Those tend to be, and I generalize, Huddy and Hameron fans who piss me off with their opinions of Wilson, usually because they are so shallow!
I'm torn as to whether Wilson truly doesn't understand the effect he has on House, or if on some level he DOES understand, but is just to exhausted and worn-out to acknowledge and then deal with it. I do believe that when House hurts Wilson (which hasn't REALLy happened since season 3, JMO) he knows exactly what he is doing. Which is worse? I don't know.
It's always fascinating to me how much rabid (in a good way!) House fans who can empathize with House can understand the character. I've never had to deal with addiction or chronic pain, in myself, so while I can recognize the issues, I have a lot of trouble understanding them.
I identify very strongly with Wilson, in ways which sometimes make me uncomfortable. I can manipulate people very easily when I want to. I can be incredibly charming when I want to be. I'm an accomplished liar. I'm sixteen, and I've been severely depressed since I was 12. Depression and medication ARE things I have dealt with personally, so the way Wilson deals with his depression helps me connect with him. I also have a need to feel needed, in that I like to take care of people. Also, I am not an insecure person, but I do feel safer and more secure in my relationships if I am providing some sort of caretaking, emotional or otherwise. I also have a compulsive need to appear well-adjusted and healthy, which I am slowly but surely shaking off in therapy (next step- blue hair!). For example, I once had a social worker who was in charge of keeping me from failing my classes tell me, "You look like you've never had a hard year in you life." My response was, yeah, that's part of my issues, YOU STUPID CUNT. (Pent-up rage, much?)
So, while I can't really identify with House, I can with Wilson, and so my perspective is skewed in that particular direction.
I do believe House is a tragic character, but it frustrated me, for example, that he couldn't just tell Wilson, Yes, yes I am in therapy, now FUCK OFF. I understand why he didn't, but I really wish he would.
I think that House and Wilson are screwed up in such contradictory ways that it is difficult to compare their damage, but I would say that you are probably right that House's is more complicated. I also think it is more obvious, but this may be because of our unique position as viewers. I think Wilson's ability to hide his damage is almost admirable, in terms of how very good he can be at it. I also find it tragic, relatable to my own life, and VERY interesting.
I like that you mentioned that Wilson is far more self-centered than House. I think that, over the past 5 seasons, House has shown himself to be more selfish than Wilson. Wilson, on the other hand, is more self-absorbed and self-centered. He will do unselfish things, but he is very centered on himself. Did that make sense?
And, finally, I'll leave you with an analogy before I go. I have a dog. My dog has an orange hot-dog toy, with a squeaker on each end. A good H/W discussion is like when my dog bites one end of the hot dog and squeaks, and then I grab the other end and squeak back. A bad H/W discussion is like the times when I squeak my end, and instead of squeaking his own end back, my dog lunges for my end and bites my hand. And that is my *brilliant* analysis ;)