It infuriates me how House’s friends act about his dad

As others have said, I think a big part is it is that House doesn’t speak about his childhood to those he sees daily. (I know he talks about it to Eve (?) in One Day, One Room but can’t think of others.)

While it’s unfortunate that his friends, especially Wilson and Cuddy, still push the expectation on House that he should be civil to his father - they don’t know about his abuse. They’re both used to seeing House being jerk to those around him, especially people he doesn’t like, so it’s likely that they presume the same of his father. (Sometimes I also find that they don’t have a respect for his boundaries in general, so it lines up with them not thinking the hate House has for his father is due to anything significant.)

I entirely understand why House doesn’t talk about his past with those he’s closest to, because even in 2023, people still have the belief that children who are should raised in abusive homes should be respectful to their parents. When you include the aspect of being open about physical abuse, which is a deeply traumatic thing for someone to relive at any age, it makes sense why House doesn’t open up about it. While the abuse isn’t his fault, his own fear of being vulnerable means that he’s put in uncomfortable situations for him involving his father and the same is true of any abuse victim who isn’t ready to relive their trauma.

Personally, I skip any scenes with House and his father, or even a discussion of it because I get where House is coming from and I don’t like how the show handles it. (I even joke with my friends that I’ll use the speech his gives at his dad’s funeral when it comes to my own stepdad.) But at the same time, I can also understand why his friends push him into uncomfortable situations because they don’t know the truth or respect his boundaries.

/r/HouseMD Thread Parent