"You're Not God" the Cliche

But Morgan Freeman should be God!

"You're not God!" is one of those cliche lines that gets really old really fast. It almost inevitably shows up in medical shows:

"You shouldn't have risked that procedure. You don't have the right to play God."

 

"It's not your fault the patient croaked. We're not God."

 

It may have its origins in jokes about doctors and God (What's the difference between God and a doctor? God doesn't think he's a doctor.)

 

Cliches are not automatically bad, but this one is fairly meaningless. "You're not God" seems to be shorthand for "How dare you make life and death decisions about people!"

 

Presumably anyone who makes decisions about people's health & safety is acting like a god: homecare workers, DMV driving test examiners, insurance agents...

 

And since such decisions these days are hemmed about with dozens of regulations, the ability to actually carry out those decisions (as people who make decisions for elderly parents can attest) is less godlike and more bureaucratic rabbit-hole-like.

 

The accusation has more meaning when it focuses on crimes committed by doctors. But even there, it pales. The Closer's Season 6 episode "Heart Attack," which leads up to a confrontation with a criminal doctor, is a tad less complex in terms of its understanding of human nature than most of its episodes.

 

However, it does have one good pay-off for the cliche:

 

"Where's the line?" Brenda demands of the death-dealing/organ-stealing doctor. "Who gave you the right to play God?"

 

"The position was vacant," the doctor replies after a pause.

 

He later chides Brenda, "Well, well, look who is playing God now."

 

It's better than the usual dialog that contains this accusation (and the actors do as well with it as they can). 

 

But still...