Heh. Actually, I see this situation as sort of an interesting parallel, because while all these people are busy being shocked because Wilson is exhibiting typical behavior, you seem somewhat surprised that these people are also exhibiting typical behavior. I see the backlash against Wilson as similar in many ways to the backlash against Cameron from certain quarters.
Many fans have built up an unrealistic ideation of House, and anything that threatens that is bad and must be either reasoned away or destroyed. For anti-Cameron fans, they didn't have much to worry about in early episodes because Cameron was shy and sweet, with a cute crush on teacher. In later episodes, some fans began to dislike and hate her because she started openly pursuing House, and this threatened their perception of House as the aloof and lonely genius who could not be swayed by any but the deepest love for their Mary Sue. For some slash fans, Cameron also threatened their OTP. Thus she must burn. And in the second season, when Cameron became more cynical and distant, more like House (or Stacey), this was even worse, because House might actually start to like her! Oh noes! I think this is the root of a lot of Cameron-hate.
Similarly, Wilson has not been a threat to House until recent episodes. For the most part, House likes Wilson, and it is apparent that, whatever crap they go through, they have a strong friendship. "Detox" was interesting because it showed that Wilson was willing to lie to House, but this was supposedly for his own good, and Wilson backed off at the end. In "Babies and Bathwater," Wilson is still willing to go to bat for House despite House having cost him his job. Yay, Wilson is a great friend, everything is happy. It really isn't until the later parts of season 2 that a serious strain is apparent in their relationship, after House outs Wilson's affair with his patient. And then it's Wilson lying to House, and both of them being jerks about it. But they were okay, sort of. Then came the season finale, and suddenly House is hallucinating Wilson plotting and lying behind his back to force treatment on him (sublimated suspicion or knowledge from "Detox"?). That was a hard one to get a grip on, because we thought House trusted Wilson, as least insofar as he thinks he knows Wilson and finds him predictable. But now Wilson is lying to House and refusing to "help" him, and it's not a hallucination, and that puts a dent into people's perception of House (because House appears vulnerable) as well as their perception of Wilson as Best Friend Ever (especially because Wilson has a history of tacitly supporting House's addiction through prescriptions). Wilson is therefore perceived as a threat to House and thus must be evil incarnate.
Wilson: the new Cameron.
There's another aspect to this problem which has to do with the way Wilson presents himself. Wilson is trying very hard to project an image of goodness that masks his underlying pathology. But I don't get the impression that this is because he wants to prove it to other people; I think he wants very much to convince himself of it. And because he's trying, people who have less experience with pretense or who aren't looking very closely are fooled by his outer persona. It doesn't help that he is onscreen for fairly brief periods and interacts almost exclusively with House and Cuddy.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-09-09 02:52 pm (UTC)Many fans have built up an unrealistic ideation of House, and anything that threatens that is bad and must be either reasoned away or destroyed. For anti-Cameron fans, they didn't have much to worry about in early episodes because Cameron was shy and sweet, with a cute crush on teacher. In later episodes, some fans began to dislike and hate her because she started openly pursuing House, and this threatened their perception of House as the aloof and lonely genius
who could not be swayed by any but the deepest love for their Mary Sue. For some slash fans, Cameron also threatened their OTP. Thus she must burn. And in the second season, when Cameron became more cynical and distant, more like House (or Stacey), this was even worse, because House might actually start to like her! Oh noes! I think this is the root of a lot of Cameron-hate.Similarly, Wilson has not been a threat to House until recent episodes. For the most part, House likes Wilson, and it is apparent that, whatever crap they go through, they have a strong friendship. "Detox" was interesting because it showed that Wilson was willing to lie to House, but this was supposedly for his own good, and Wilson backed off at the end. In "Babies and Bathwater," Wilson is still willing to go to bat for House despite House having cost him his job. Yay, Wilson is a great friend, everything is happy. It really isn't until the later parts of season 2 that a serious strain is apparent in their relationship, after House outs Wilson's affair with his patient. And then it's Wilson lying to House, and both of them being jerks about it. But they were okay, sort of. Then came the season finale, and suddenly House is hallucinating Wilson plotting and lying behind his back to force treatment on him (sublimated suspicion or knowledge from "Detox"?). That was a hard one to get a grip on, because we thought House trusted Wilson, as least insofar as he thinks he knows Wilson and finds him predictable. But now Wilson is lying to House and refusing to "help" him, and it's not a hallucination, and that puts a dent into people's perception of House (because House appears vulnerable) as well as their perception of Wilson as Best Friend Ever (especially because Wilson has a history of tacitly supporting House's addiction through prescriptions). Wilson is therefore perceived as a threat to House and thus must be evil incarnate.
Wilson: the new Cameron.
There's another aspect to this problem which has to do with the way Wilson presents himself. Wilson is trying very hard to project an image of goodness that masks his underlying pathology. But I don't get the impression that this is because he wants to prove it to other people; I think he wants very much to convince himself of it. And because he's trying, people who have less experience with pretense or who aren't looking very closely are fooled by his outer persona. It doesn't help that he is onscreen for fairly brief periods and interacts almost exclusively with House and Cuddy.