theeverdream (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theeverdream) wrote2010-02-08 10:37 pm
theeverdream) wrote2010-02-08 10:37 pm
Entry tags:
(Very slightly fandom-related) rant about people's perceptions of certain medical issues
Rant. Not related to anyone on lj - prompted by comments to article about Hugh Laurie and injuries from his role in House.
By JAMES TAPPER
Last updated at 2:16 PM on 21st September 2009
Selected comments on the article, and my responses:
I love House and I love Hugh Laurie in it, but I simply can't believe this. The nature of filming is that it is done in short bursts and scenes and between those short bursts of filming one goes back to being Joe Bloggs or Hugh Laurie. Hugh is 50 this year... we're all getting older and I think this is the more likely explanation if something is beginning to go wrong with his joints and stuff.
Ah, what? Because you have to do something constantly for it to hurt you? As he is older it wouldn't be a farfetched thing to think his age is causing joint problems, but that doesn't mean that House's limp isn't causing problems too (and in fact would cause even more problems in an older person). And I would be willing to bet that a person knows the difference between aging pain and pain from a certain, very very unnatural motion that he is forcing on his body.
Doesn't quite sound real to me. I mean what about John Mahoney who played Martin Crane for 11 years? I mean if there were serious injuries from limping, John should have been wheel chair bound by now, Well...hopefully there is NOTHING wrong with Laurie - I am sure he's not dying to move back to England, - but if it is something of an injury, I do not blame him...no one else is going to listen because they are buys making $ off of him! I just ador this soul, and I wish him well!! I watched the show a couple of times, thought it really interesting but it never quite caught my attention. Then again, I know Laurie and English actor and some of his very best British acting! He has come a long way!
I do like this comment overall - it seems kind. I think that regarding John Mahoney - people are different, for one thing, and for another I think the nature of the walk that their two characters had/have was very different and if I had to choose one that would put less strain on my joints personally, it would almost certainly be Martin Crane's.
Surely with all the money being House has earned him he can afford a couple of new knees?
Excuse me? How many brain cells does it take to realize that joint replacement surgery isn't just a matter of money, but is a huge, life-changing deal and, despite how many people love the character he plays, it is really not outside the realm of possibility that he would rather quit his job than undergo that? At least the question seems to be concerned for Hugh Laurie's well being to some extent.
Do me a favour. He earns millions and yet all we seem to hear from Mr Laurie is moaning. If it isn't his depression it is his poor knees.
Get real Hugh, you are talented and a great actor but constantly moaning makes you appear as a sullen fool.
Okay, I know that you may be very jealous of celebrities or people with more money than you or whatever, but they're people too. Depression and pain are very, very real problems and if a person wants to talk about those problems... well, you don't have to listen, now do you?
Maybe you just think that celebrities should keep all personal stuff to themselves. In which case I could kind of get where you are coming from even if I don't necessarily agree. But... I'm guessing you're the type of person who thinks that if someone's situation isn't "as bad" as yours they don't have any right to complain.
Oh wait a minute. I'm just going back over the comment and... "he earns millions". Yep, that clenches it. Silly me, giving you the benefit of the doubt when it should be clear that you think money solves everything.
So some of these bother me more than others - and a lot of the comments there were kind. But just the idea that there's even some crap being said makes me upset.
Now, I don't know anything about Hugh Laurie's House-related joint problems besides what I read from this article. (I was watching an old episode of House and the channel has interesting facts about the shows or actors, and it said he was having medical problems, and found this from a Google search.) So for all I know, he has age-related joint pain only, or he complains in every single interview and never says anything positive. And the article isn't new so there might be newer info that would help for someone wanting to know about Laurie's specific issue.
But for me, the main point is that these type of comments are reflective of the attitude that some healthy people can have towards chronically unhealthy people. And it makes me sad, and angry.
Do you live with a chronic medical condition or know someone who does? Have you studied the impact these conditions can have on people, in school or as a dedicated hobby? If you can't answer these or questions like these with a yes, then... you really don't know what it's like.
Now, I know that these types of things can be hard to understand. And I certainly don't expect people to get it right all the time - especially when different people can have completely different reactions to and problems from the same medical condition.
But I really would like just a little bit of compassion... of giving people the benefit of the doubt. Of looking at someone using a handicapped entrance to a building and not seeing anything wrong visibly yet not automatically assuming that the person is being lazy, for example. Because disabilities come in all shapes and sizes and thinking you know when you don't really know can actually be pretty offensive.
I think I needed to get that out of my system!
By JAMES TAPPER
Last updated at 2:16 PM on 21st September 2009
Hugh Laurie says he may be forced to quit his starring role in the hit TV medical drama House - because pretending to have a limp has given him real injuries.
The former Blackadder star now has a limp himself after playing cantankerous Dr Gregory House, who uses a cane to walk, for the past five years.
Laurie, 50, said: ‘The show might last through to series seven, eight or nine but I don’t know if I will because I’m starting to lose my knees. It’s a lot of hip work. There are things going badly wrong. I need to do yoga.’
The actor has been nominated for Best Actor at the Emmy Awards for three years in a row, and the series is shown in 66 countries.
As Dr House, he walks with a limp in his right leg - due to an infarction in his thigh muscle which caused him to have the dead tissue amputated.
rest of article hereThe former Blackadder star now has a limp himself after playing cantankerous Dr Gregory House, who uses a cane to walk, for the past five years.
Laurie, 50, said: ‘The show might last through to series seven, eight or nine but I don’t know if I will because I’m starting to lose my knees. It’s a lot of hip work. There are things going badly wrong. I need to do yoga.’
The actor has been nominated for Best Actor at the Emmy Awards for three years in a row, and the series is shown in 66 countries.
As Dr House, he walks with a limp in his right leg - due to an infarction in his thigh muscle which caused him to have the dead tissue amputated.
Selected comments on the article, and my responses:
I love House and I love Hugh Laurie in it, but I simply can't believe this. The nature of filming is that it is done in short bursts and scenes and between those short bursts of filming one goes back to being Joe Bloggs or Hugh Laurie. Hugh is 50 this year... we're all getting older and I think this is the more likely explanation if something is beginning to go wrong with his joints and stuff.
Ah, what? Because you have to do something constantly for it to hurt you? As he is older it wouldn't be a farfetched thing to think his age is causing joint problems, but that doesn't mean that House's limp isn't causing problems too (and in fact would cause even more problems in an older person). And I would be willing to bet that a person knows the difference between aging pain and pain from a certain, very very unnatural motion that he is forcing on his body.
Doesn't quite sound real to me. I mean what about John Mahoney who played Martin Crane for 11 years? I mean if there were serious injuries from limping, John should have been wheel chair bound by now, Well...hopefully there is NOTHING wrong with Laurie - I am sure he's not dying to move back to England, - but if it is something of an injury, I do not blame him...no one else is going to listen because they are buys making $ off of him! I just ador this soul, and I wish him well!! I watched the show a couple of times, thought it really interesting but it never quite caught my attention. Then again, I know Laurie and English actor and some of his very best British acting! He has come a long way!
I do like this comment overall - it seems kind. I think that regarding John Mahoney - people are different, for one thing, and for another I think the nature of the walk that their two characters had/have was very different and if I had to choose one that would put less strain on my joints personally, it would almost certainly be Martin Crane's.
Surely with all the money being House has earned him he can afford a couple of new knees?
Excuse me? How many brain cells does it take to realize that joint replacement surgery isn't just a matter of money, but is a huge, life-changing deal and, despite how many people love the character he plays, it is really not outside the realm of possibility that he would rather quit his job than undergo that? At least the question seems to be concerned for Hugh Laurie's well being to some extent.
Do me a favour. He earns millions and yet all we seem to hear from Mr Laurie is moaning. If it isn't his depression it is his poor knees.
Get real Hugh, you are talented and a great actor but constantly moaning makes you appear as a sullen fool.
Okay, I know that you may be very jealous of celebrities or people with more money than you or whatever, but they're people too. Depression and pain are very, very real problems and if a person wants to talk about those problems... well, you don't have to listen, now do you?
Maybe you just think that celebrities should keep all personal stuff to themselves. In which case I could kind of get where you are coming from even if I don't necessarily agree. But... I'm guessing you're the type of person who thinks that if someone's situation isn't "as bad" as yours they don't have any right to complain.
Oh wait a minute. I'm just going back over the comment and... "he earns millions". Yep, that clenches it. Silly me, giving you the benefit of the doubt when it should be clear that you think money solves everything.
So some of these bother me more than others - and a lot of the comments there were kind. But just the idea that there's even some crap being said makes me upset.
Now, I don't know anything about Hugh Laurie's House-related joint problems besides what I read from this article. (I was watching an old episode of House and the channel has interesting facts about the shows or actors, and it said he was having medical problems, and found this from a Google search.) So for all I know, he has age-related joint pain only, or he complains in every single interview and never says anything positive. And the article isn't new so there might be newer info that would help for someone wanting to know about Laurie's specific issue.
But for me, the main point is that these type of comments are reflective of the attitude that some healthy people can have towards chronically unhealthy people. And it makes me sad, and angry.
Do you live with a chronic medical condition or know someone who does? Have you studied the impact these conditions can have on people, in school or as a dedicated hobby? If you can't answer these or questions like these with a yes, then... you really don't know what it's like.
Now, I know that these types of things can be hard to understand. And I certainly don't expect people to get it right all the time - especially when different people can have completely different reactions to and problems from the same medical condition.
But I really would like just a little bit of compassion... of giving people the benefit of the doubt. Of looking at someone using a handicapped entrance to a building and not seeing anything wrong visibly yet not automatically assuming that the person is being lazy, for example. Because disabilities come in all shapes and sizes and thinking you know when you don't really know can actually be pretty offensive.
I think I needed to get that out of my system!
no subject
I go to a chiropractor regularly and I'm sure he'd confirm that the acting is causing all kinds of problems. I get lectured just for standing with all of my weight on one leg.
I've got this sinus/migraine thing which means basically I've had a sinus headache for at least part of the day every day for the last couple years. It's been a battle just to get my boss to keep the office blinds down when it's really bright out. He plays a game where he keeps pulling them up a little bit every couple of minutes because he thinks it's funny and also he's an asshole.
no subject
Yes!
I get lectured just for standing with all of my weight on one leg.
Mmm, yeah. Reminds me of when I was at school and going to a chiropractor - he was very anti-wallet in a back pocket.. I had forgotten about that. Small things can add up so much!
I've got this sinus/migraine thing which means basically I've had a sinus headache for at least part of the day every day for the last couple years.
Aw, I'm really sorry to hear that.
It's been a battle just to get my boss to keep the office blinds down when it's really bright out. He plays a game where he keeps pulling them up a little bit every couple of minutes because he thinks it's funny and also he's an asshole.
That's... .... I have no words. Well, I have a few for your boss, but they're all very rude.
Wow. >:(
no subject
Thankfully I don't really notice the headache when I'm busy and doing stuff. It's just kind of background irritation. Annoying, though.
no subject
Even background pain can slowly wear a person down and make them less productive - I wonder if he knows? Even if he did maybe he just doesn't care about being a good boss, if he's just generally annoying. But regardless of anything else, you shouldn't have to deal with that. *hugs*
no subject
It's really more to the point that all of us feel like we're in a sitcom and we just make fun of him all the time. And everyone has to deal with that kind of thing to a certain extent, but I also get to go skiing and fossil hunting and take road trips and call it work, so it's kind of a trade off.
I will stop now because I could write a book about him. Thanks for the hugs.
no subject
Seems like you're trying to be positive about it which I think is probably the best way to live life... my mom used to say a lot that you can't change anybody else's actions or attitudes, just your own.
Very welcome - any time <3
no subject
So, I believe Hugh. As for John Mahoney, every body is different. Filming a sitcom is a different situation, and Martin wasn't in every scene, and usually sitting in his beloved recliner. House is in nearly every scene, and is physically active in many of them.
'Nuff said for me! LOL. I'm off to have a second cup of coffee to get both body and mind moving!
no subject
Enjoy your coffee! :)