Irony Becomes Her

Medical Drama

No one who has met my Granddad will be offended by me saying he is probably my favorite person; no one who hasn't can know for sure he wouldn't be queemy favorite as well.

He went under the knife for a routine procedure yesterday and I was privileged to talk with him before and after the event. Pleased as I was that everything went as expected (boring is good, thought I), further reflection prompted me to consider again what amazing machines our bodies are. That little involuntary muscle behind the sternum simply has to keep going, and at a rate to which I know my voluntary muscles would never submit. I tested them all yesterday in a walk/run with my roommate and the involuntary one proved to be much more of a hard worker than the others. These bodies of ours are quite ingenious temples for our poor souls, which sometimes do not seem worth the trouble of housing.

Never having considered a biological career, I have been thinking about the physical side of life extensively of late. My roommate rented the first season of House on DVD this last week; I have probably watched more of it than is good for me, though I still can't watch the extreme close-ups of incisions and injections which are so much a staple of the show that they might as well be in the credits.

Though this show contains the standard dose of moral relativism predictable in modern drama, I must say that the main doctor character, known for his complete lack of tact and sensitivity, is refreshing to me in light of the empty sentimentality which medical dramas find necessary. The amazing gift of life, drained of all spiritual significance, is a dark mystery indeed. We may as well treat it as such.

Even House slips back into the old standards to make us cry; swelling music, scenes through hospital windows of people embracing, zoom-out shots of doctors staring into space after an especially puzzling or heart-wrenching case. To be deconstructive for a moment, however, there is an underlying question of who is kidding whom. And when people start asking questions, they usually find answers.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

posted by Lynn @ 6:44 AM