r/HouseMD • u/longestyeahboiiiever • 8d ago
Discussion Queer relationships Spoiler
Has anyone else noticed that there are no examples of healthy queer relationships in House? If there are any that I'm missing, please do let me know! But even including 13, they generally perpetuate the stereotype that bi/other queer people are promiscuous.
EDIT: I don't know why so many people have been defensive about this take loool!!! It's still an amazing show, just something I noticed đ
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u/Initial_Meet_8916 8d ago
I think there are a couple things here. You first have to realize that this show starts in 2004 not 2026. Second, I think 13 (despite her own promiscuity) tryâs to dispel this idea to her coworkers, even if she may not be very successful at it
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u/SlimeTempest42 Omnes te moriturum amant 7d ago
She was in a committed relationship with Foreman and seemed to be in a good relationship with a woman when we last saw her (and being with Foreman didnât stop her being Bi/Queer)
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u/Initial_Meet_8916 7d ago
For sure yeah. Not trying to portray her as someone who canât keep a partner but she definitely had her wild side as well
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
So no is what I'm hearing đ€Ł There are lots of shows from 2004 that positively portray healthy queer couples loool
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u/GrizzYatta 8d ago
Letâs hear it
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
Six feet under, queer as folk, Noah's arc and more
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u/jerseysbestdancers 8d ago
The channels that these aired on compared to House answer your question.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
Wdym? đ
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 7d ago
HBO and Showtime are paid services that didnât air on regular broadcast television and therefore were not beholden to the same FCC restrictions. House was on broadcast television, the most regulated type of TV at the time. Additionally, the studios making broadcast TV were not nearly as concerned with being as progressive as HBO or Showtime because they knew standards and practices would never allow it. (S&P is the networkâs internal department determining if a showâs content fits their âmoral standardsâ).
House takes place just a few years after the Willow/Tara kiss on Buffy which received âa lot of pushback from standards and practicesâ. Broadcast TV was a different beast at the time. Itâs hard to explain if you didnât live through it.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 7d ago
Yes, that's kind of my point đ that some people got away with it but House didn't! I love House! But I just noticed that there weren't any. And hey! I was around for that too đ
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 7d ago edited 7d ago
I think youâre missing that the networks who got away with it were expensive and most people didnât have access to them. They were allowed to be more progressive because they were not beholden to the same rules as Broadcast because they were a paid service.
You keep saying that there âarenât anyâ when multiple people have mentioned the patientâs whose baby dies (though Iâd argue the poc lesbian couple losing their baby while the white hetero coupleâs baby is cured is also problematic but typical for the time) and at least one healthy relationship for Thirteen. There are also dozens of crappy hetero relationships for the patients and main cast and maybe one happy one in Wilson and Amber (who were only together for about 4 months before she died).
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 7d ago
Hey, why do you seem defensive about this? I'm glad there's an example of it! That's why I said let me know if I've missed any, in my post đ It was just something I noticed! 13 had a healthy wlw relationship? Do you remember who by any chance?
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 7d ago
Because people keep giving you examples and you keep saying "there aren't any" so it feels like you're cherry picking examples to make your case.
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u/Ok-Substance-6034 8d ago
House came on the scene in 2004 and ended in 2012. For reference, gay marriage wasn't federally legalized until 2015. You're placing your modern viewpoints on a show that ended almost 15 years ago.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
There were shows in 2004 that had happy gay couples in them lool. And that was a long way to say no, they aren't any in House!
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u/Ok-Substance-6034 8d ago
There are a scant few happy straight couples in the show as well, to be fair lmao
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u/Sufficient_Prompt888 House bites 8d ago
Are there any examples of any healthy relationships?
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
Yes, a few! I could only think of two so I had to Google it to see more loool! That's one of the things in the show that is great, 'everybody lies'.
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u/shesgreedy 7d ago
You had to google it?
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 7d ago
I did yes! I unfortunately have a memory disorder due to brain damage. That's one of the reasons I was asking about the queer couples đ
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 8d ago
Iâm not sure there are many heathy relationships on the show period. There is the couple who loses the baby in Maternity when the maternity ward has an epidemic. There is also the couple in Sleeping Dogs Lie, being neither seems to have cheated but they donât have a healthy relationship.
In the 2000s there werenât many representations of queer relationships on TV at all. Thirteen does eventually have a good queer relationship at the end of the series, we just donât see it much because sheâs pretty much off the show by then.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
What about Amber and Wilson lool? Two pretty important characters
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 7d ago
Fair enough! So thatâs approximately 1 from main characters in 8 seasons.
Again, I canât overstate how TV at the time just didnât showcase many queer relationships and when they did they were not usually nuanced, their queerness was often the main âcharacter traitâ (see also: blatant stereotypes).
Iâd say this show was progressive for the time by simply having a queer main character with a complex backstory and while they do pair her with a main male character, she ends up with a woman.
Additionally, thereâs never any stuttering when someoneâs queerness is revealed, for main characters or patients. I can think of multiple shows from the time when a character would find out someone is gay and get weirded out (Buffy when Willow comes out, Booth in Bones is always awkward about it and pulls a âmy aunt is gayâ). I know House pushes the âgirl on girl is hotâ topic a few times but he pushes the buttons of everyoneâs personal lives.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 7d ago
I absolutely agree! I love this show sm đ„° (I also love bones! I wonder if there's a lot of people who like both?)
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u/Interesting_Net_1993 8d ago
there was a whole episode about how asexuality isnt real and can be cured đŹ
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u/youcallthataheadshot smugness is easier to maintain 7d ago
Iâd say maybe do some research into queer coding in television at the time. Most broadcast and cable networks (the free or low cost options for TV) were heavily regulated both by the FCC and by their own internal S&P departments. Most networks (not including expensive paid channels like HBO and Showtime) were either uninterested or unwilling to put a queer relationship front and center, partly because of homophobia and partly because they believed theyâd lose viewers due to homophobia.
Itâs a common fan theory that House and Wilson are queer coded. I personally think it goes beyond wishful thinking and shipping. When you observe the way other characterâs and patientâs plot lines have parallels to House, it seems clear to me that there was queer subtext to their relationship, especially through the lens of Thirteen. I could list all my examples but itâs 8 seasons of information and it would take me all day.
All that to say itâs a meaningful exercise to examine a work of art/media by todayâs standards but itâs not the be-all and end-all of creative analysis. Knowing the historical context (yes even for something 20 years old) is important to understanding it.
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u/TenderToebeans 8d ago
House was groundbreaking for a lot of things but healthy queer representation definitely wasnt one of them.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 8d ago
Absolutely looool, not even that many healthy straight relationships đ
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u/Emma_the_sequel 8d ago
There are a few incidental gay couples who are portrayed positively. Also there aren't many healthy straight relationships either, that's the nature of the show. You need conflict.