November 21, 2009
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Why Cameron Couldn’t Convert Dr. House
Happier times for House and Cameron. Did Cameron become a bitch when she went blonde?
I felt preeeetty conflicted at the end of the most recent House M.D. episode, which was entitled Teamwork. Cameron left – and she left like she’s never left before! It was a proper send off (with softly sung ballad and everything) so I doubt they’ll bring her back except for a very special occasion like the end of the series. (Gasp, it can never end!)
Cameron has always wanted to change House, to heal him. But he didn’t want to upgrade or adjust. Just as in real life, House has only changed when he decided to do it for himself. He never respected Cameron enough to change just because she told him to. (Although he did respect her in other ways.) A lesser man might have have given in, but the change wouldn’t be authentic. Does this mean House is a strong man because he’s stubborn? Hmm…I don’t think I mean THAT. All I really have are questions. (And questions about my questions…)
Was Cameron the angelic moral compass that we now don’t have on House? Or was she more like one of those Christians who hate gay people? Too self-righteous for her own good? Did she lose the fight with herself in trying to be so good, or did she lose the fight in trying to make Gregory House care more than he ever could? And if House could change, could become more snuggly – would we ever really want him that way? That’s not why we fell in love with him. Have you wanted to change him this entire time, or have you been content? Were you worried that this season he’d be too different to be the same House you’ve loved the past several seasons?
Saddest Departure, Part 1: While we knew Cameron was leaving Princeton-Plainsboro on House, we weren’t expecting her departure to be so emotional. Cameron tells House, “I loved you and I loved Chase. I’m sorry for what you’ve become because there’s no way back for either of you.” Her words paralyze him. With a chaste kiss on the cheek, Cameron is gone. – TV Guide
In the end, Cameron finally admitted that she had loved House. It didn’t feel as satisfying to hear as I always thought it would. Maybe because when she admits it, it’s after she no longer does. As Cameron leaves us, it’s hard not to feel a bit abandoned on a personal level. Her departure makes us ask a very important question about House. Even after his time healing, is he still a prickly cactus who is inherently and significantly damaged? That glimmer of hope for mental health and stability – is it gone? And if it is, should we feel happy? It’s enough confusion to make you listen to a sad little song over and over. I suggest Where Did you Go by Jets Overhead. It was the song at the end of Teamwork. I’ve listened to it four times so far. Damn good tune. I might not have the answers for how to psychologically profile Cameron or House, but I do know good music when I hear it.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 6:22 am
I think you are wrong about Cameron wanting to change House. Yes, she wanted to help him cope with the pain, but she never said or did anything to change him and his personality (in contrast to another female person on the show some people obsess about right now). She just wanted to help him get rid of the pain, and that’s not a bad thing. She loved (or I think more like still loves) House for who is was, his personality, why would she want to change him? And House was just too stubborn (a character trait we fans usually love him for) to accept that. I hope she will come back, and I hope it will happen soon. In any way, I’ll miss her, and obviously House will miss her too (see his reaction in their final scene together).
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
The moral compass is gone and to me, there’s nothing but depressive darkness ahead for this show. I cannot believe they let her go, even though that last scene between House and Cameron was very emotional. The way he walks after her, knowing he doesn’t want her to leave, but he can’t bring himself to say anything. Also, he doesn’t shake her hand again, he doesn’t accept her resignation, but she is in control for the first time. He can’t take that away.
I absolutely think that House has gone too far and no one except Cameron has pointed that out to him. No one cares to stop this.
And Cameron herself IS flawed, but when it came to House she genuinely wanted to help him, she genuinely cared too much for her own good. And then her own husband goes and disrespects her so, I wouldn’t know what to do if I was in her shoes. And I think a lot of it is resentment when she tells that Chase’s demise is House’s fault. But you can’t blame the girl.
I will miss her, and I will miss the show.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Cameron never tried to change House, as evidenced in “Cane and Able” when she said to Cuddy, “Why does he have to be like everybody else?” I think she just wanted to bring him a bit of happiness. The two of them brought a nice balance to each other. As for House, he has changed over the years. He’s become worse, more of a bastard than ever and that, to me, has been the biggest downfall of the show. I used to admire him and could see what it was that Cameron saw in him that made her fall in love with him. There was something redeemable in him, and they finally got it back in “Broken,” but now they’re throwing it away again as I suspected they would. I stopped watching regularly since the end of season four. The departure of Cameron has guaranteed that I won’t ever tune in again.
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Some good points you make there but I have to disagree about Cameron wanting to change him. The show’s history (something everyone likes to disregard) proves that she’s the only one who actually never tried that.
Wilson and Cuddy (the best friend and the love interest) were always the ones who tried to change him. Hide this from House, lie about this, teach him a lesson in humanity. Cuddy even admits it openly in an episode in season 3 when she pays him extra to work in the clinic, so that he can be closer to the people and truly learn what humanity is. In season 5 she practically forces him to take methadone because it made him happier, even after he tells her he’s not taking it because it affects his brilliance as a doctor she still tries to persuade him.
Cameron on the other hand supported him on many occasions, fiercely defending him when she discovers that Wilson and Cuddy hid something from House, she asks Cuddy why House has to be like other people. And let’s not forget that Wilson doses House with antidepressants to make him happy.
In an episode with House’s new team Cameron says that maybe in order to be a great doctor House has to be a jerk. Over the years she was the only one who accepted him for who he is.
I think she was naive in the way to believe House would open up to her and that she’d be able to make him a happier person, to make him less miserable.
Every character on the show has its flaws and mistakes and you can like them or not, but I find this hypocrisy among the fandom (and the writers themselves) highly annoying. Cameron wanting him to be happy makes her a bad person but Wilson and Cuddy trying to constantly change him make them just worried friends.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I full heartily agree with the others. Cameron never said she wanted to change him. She basically said she wanted to heal him. Heal him from his pain that he was in. She never reflected on the bad quirks in his personality.
She simply said that he made a bad choice that broke her heart because her own husband went that route as well. That’s the whole foreground of the story. If Cameron said she wanted to change him, it would have been in what she said.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
It’s an interesting argument you make. The problem, as others have said, is that Cameron never actually tried to fix House. He once accused her back in season 1 of wanting him only because she needed broken people to fix now that her husband was dead but that was proved to be false by season 5. Other than that, she never tried to fix him.
What Cameron wanted was for House to live up to his capabilities and not take the easy or slipshod way out as he too often did. She wanted him “to be more”, as John Crichton said to Aeryn Sun in Farscape.
It’s interesting that Cameron is always defined as the person who wants to fix House because Wilson and Cuddy have been actively trying to fix him since season 1. Both of them told House to change, not Cameron. Cuddy especially wanted to fix him, teach him humility and humanity and most recently wanted him to stay on methadone so he had the potential to be her partner. The show is now pushing Cuddy as House’s ship but there is no way they can get together without the writing changing House into someone completely different. What I saw as the advantage to Cameron is that it was possible for House to explore a relationship with her without substantially changing his character. That’s not possible with Cuddy, who is his boss and now has a baby.
I disagree that Cameron was self-righteous and too moralistic. In 100+ episodes, she only got angry five times: the husband in Fidelity who would rather his wife was dead than find out she was unfaithful; the cyclist who lied to the kids who idolized him; Hannah who lied to her partner to get her to give up part of her liver; and Dibala who was a mass murderer. If that’s an “insane moral compass”, it’s only because everyone else at PPTH seems to have no moral compass at all. (In Teamwork, Cameron was written out of character to justify her leaving the show. Up to then, she was always more open to different sexual practises than either Foreman or Chase.)
What Cameron did, to steal what someone said, was hold House’s feet to the ethical fire. Now that she is gone, there is no one left to do that. Getting rid of Cameron will leave a hole in the show that can’t be filled by any of the remaining characters.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I agree with everything Sadie pointed out above. Cameron liked House just as he was. Did she want to bring a little sunshine into his life? Sure she did. I don’t understand why that was such an unforgivable sin in the House fandom. Also, as others have pointed out, Wilson and Cuddy have plotted time and time again to change House, to teach him lessons in humility. Where is the outrage over that? I’d like for someone to point out to me when Cameron has tried to plot against him to teach him a lesson, since everyone is always accusing her of doing so. Really I’m tired of arguing over it. Huddy shippers and Hilson shippers are going to see what they want to see and disregard the facts.