House M.D. and Its' Detective Elements

From the very start of film history, various genres improved and changed a great deal. In these modern times, the cross-over genre is especially popular. The focus of this essay, House M.D., is a medical drama, though not a typical one. House M.D. concentrates on an eccentric doctor of great intelligence and his doctors’ team (who never stop to mistake), trying and almost always successfully solving interesting and puzzling cases. In many ways the series fits the definition of detective fiction. To begin with, this essay will introduce the theoretical material to the reader. Subsequently it will describe the similarities of the elements of a traditional detective story and this medical drama. Then, it will center on one of the method the doctors use to help solve medical mysteries. Finally, the essay will describe some features of the main character. Since this essay will focus on the detective side of the series House M.D., it is important to define a few terms that will be used afterwards. According to J. A. Cuddon, detective fiction is “a form of fiction in which a mystery, often a murder, is solved by a detective” (Cuddon, 229). In other words, a detective story focuses on a crime which is usually unsolvable for ordinary people and only the clever detective manages to figure everything out. What is more, the difference between the “Golden Age” detective figure and the “hard-boiled” detective figure must be noted. Conforming to Aysegul Kesirli, the centre of a detective fiction is a masculine, strong, detective character (Kesirli). The “Golden Age” detective is the opposite: “the classical detective of logic and deduction is not engaged at all; he is there just for the sake of the puzzle” (Kesirli). So the “hard-boiled” detective is a power figure, generally physically or mentally superior to others, whereas a detective of “Golden Age” is more passive and not as aggressive. As it was mentioned earlier, this essay will now focus on the similarities of the

References: Cuddon, J.A. “Detective Story” in Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1992. 229. “Hunting” in House M.D. Dir. David Shore. Perf. Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison, and Jesse Spencer. 20th Television, 2005. Kesirli, Aysegul. “Kesirli: House as Detective Drama.” In Crime Culture. Spring, 2012. Accessed 07 November 2012. http://www.crimeculture.com/?page_id=3327 Merriam-Webster, ed. “Detective Story” in Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 1995. 320.