In spite of what the title might evoke in the geeky mind, this is not an entry about Baudelaire. No, it is about popular culture and the references, or correspondences, that are planted in popular culture. All viewers of FOX’s tv show House will have noticed that he used to live in no 221B, which, of course, is a reference to Sherlock Holmes who lived in 221B Baker Street. Naturally, there are plenty more correspondences between the good doctor House and the wise and wicked Sherlock Holmes, because they are the same character! Wilson is Watson, especially in that he is more ‘what?’ than ‘will’, House and Holmes both have a drug addiction, and they both tend to be arrogant in a slightly funny manner, etc. We don’t need to go further down that road and I once wrote an entry about the comedic positions of the different characters (I wrote it in Danish, but here you go).
The one thing I wanted to point out today is the tiny reference made to Monty Python in the recent episode 9 of the 6th season:
Wilson: I’m not here for an argument, House!)
House: No, right, that’s room 12 A.
This, of course, is a reference to Monty Pythons Argument Sketch, which goes something like this:
Abuser: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Head Hitter: Well, I was told outside that…
Abuser: Don’t give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
Head Hitter: What?
Abuser: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, toffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
Head Hitter: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I’m not going to just stand…!!
Abuser: OH, oh I’m sorry, but this is abuse.
Head Hitter: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Abuser: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
Head Hitter: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Abuser: Not at all.
Head Hitter: Thank You.
Abuser: (Under his breath) Stupid git!!
The full sketch can be enjoyed here:
The technical question would be whether House is mocking Wilson with his reference or whether it is a joke from writer to spectator? Does House know his Monty Python or not? We believe that Hugh Laurie does, which is why the reference kind of works. The correspondence, the planting of classic British humor in the bearded mouth of one of its once beardless enactors reminds us of his whacky past and lets both Python and Laurie’s early work resonate through the ages. But the humorous effects are limited. The spectator doesn’t laugh out loud at the recognition, at the perception of correspondences, but he does feel a pleasurable rumbling inside: The pleasure of being in on the joke, the pleasure of ‘getting it’, of grasping the minute details. It is much the same game as the one served in Lynch’s later movies, i.a., Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire. He sets up a riddle with no answer, a game with no winning move. But they work because they unfurl a resonating web of correspondences for the spectator to play with. And each discovered correspondence is a shivering moment of pleasure.
Tags: argument sketch, Baudelaire, Correspondences, fox, House, Monty Python, Sherlock Holmes
