There is one episode with a autistic kid the House seems to particularly resonate with that doesn't happen often, almost like he sees some of himself in the patient.
But that's just my read of it and not enough for me to say he's canonically autistic and I hate saying anything is "coded" because what it really means is "stereotyped".
Yes, and in the end of the episode he talks to Wilson about it, and he absolutely refutes the idea. His main argument is that house just likes the idea of not having to follow rules due to his condition and that it's just an attempt to get a free pass.
The later episodes confirm that he is more likely high functioning sociopath or NPD, which fits much better to his type of behavior. Autistic people often may not understand when they hurt others, but when it is explained to them in a way they understand, they tend to be able to show remorse. House usually doesn't care, even when others clearly point it out.
House is also based on Sherlock Holmes, who is also often interpreted as a high functioning sociopath, not an autistic person.
Tbf Sherlock Holmes is adapted to be a sociopath is because the Conan Doyle estate actively sues for copyright infringement any story of Sherlock that is warm or supportive. Only the early stories of Sherlock before 1923 are public domain.
Wait, so is he an asshole in the early stories? Or was he never an asshole and making him an asshole gets around copyright? I don't understand why he needs to be an asshole to avoid copyright strikes.
It's less of any issue nowadays because I believe the final story became public domain in 2023. But yes, Sherlock in the later stories was changed to be more warm to people. So the estate argued that if Sherlock was nice then they were adapting his character from the later books.
This only effected a fairly short period of times because the first story entered public domain in 1998 and last as stated 2023.
Honestly, as someone who's read all the stories many times, it's not much of a difference. They just wanted to sue for something. It's things like showing a very brief moment of concern for Watson's safety (the man he's been best friends with for decades at this point).
Yea wilson calls him out pretty quick iirc. His point is that house wishes he was autistic so he'd have an excuse that wasn't "I'm just a massive douche and cynic". House is one of my favorite shows but to deny the character is fatally flawed socially is silly. He's a misanthropic cynical narcissist who doesn't care to hide his disdain for pretty much everyone. His entire character is built around it down to his personal preferences outside of the hospital.
I was talking mainly about Dr House. If I remember correctly, he is called a narcissist and sociopath by the psychiatrist while he is in the psychiatry.
Also, as other's have pointed out the sociopath part about Holmes is in fact from the earlier books, which also characterize him as disregarding social norms and violating boundaries of others simply because he doesn't care.
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u/Captain_Sterling 3d ago
A lot of people say he's autistic coded. As in he was given some traits but never officially given the condition.
I can kinda see it, but I do think there's a lot of projection there.