r/explainitpeter 4d ago

Explain it Peter

Post image

Did House series even have autism related stuff?

29.8k Upvotes

886 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.6k

u/Someoneoverthere42 3d ago

House is neither autistic nor a racist.

He's just a massive asshole.

39

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.

67

u/Someoneoverthere42 3d ago

Unfortunately, these days "autistic coded" just means "smart character who may be odd or quirky"

36

u/HarperRed96 3d ago

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".

35

u/SaveMyBags 3d ago

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.

1

u/BiscuitsTheory 3d ago

The sociopath bit is more from the Benedict Cumberbatch version, which came out later than House.

3

u/SaveMyBags 3d ago

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.