grey's anatomy's influence on society
From the recent reading, in class we were to find shows that contradicted the ideas of race, gender, and money. And in our small group, one of the major shows that stood out was Grey’s Anatomy; more specifically Cali. She is a very successful woman in the show and is a perfect example of how society is changing today.
Cali was recently married to George, and now is his boss in the hospital. That’s not usually a normal relationship portrayed in today’s society. Usually in society, people would think that the man would have a higher ranked job than the woman, and especially at the same job. She has the ability to boss him around on the job and George cannot oppose at all. In the beginning, he was bothered by the fact that his wife was giving orders to him, but Cali pointed out that they were on business and he had to deal with the fact that she was superior to him.
Two more examples that portray Cali as the not-so-typical woman, is her race and her income. Cali is Hispanic, which shows that other races are just as successful as the white community. Women of color are very capable people and should be thought of that way as well. Another example of Cali and that she’s poor, or at least portrayed as poor because she was living in the back of the hospital without anyone else knowing about it. This also goes against society because I don’t think that anyone has heard of a poor doctor who can’t afford or want to live in a house. That example wasn’t explained very well in the show, but didn’t even seem to fit into her character.
Cali not only says the opposite of the article we discussed in class, but also how society views race, gender, and judged according to how much money someone makes. She’s a minority, a woman who has a higher status than her husband at work, and doesn’t seem to have much money for herself. The character Cali of Grey’s Anatomy makes society think twice before opinionating people.
Comments
Christa,
I think you found a great example of a piece of media that goes against the "Class and Virtue" article we read, infact, I wrote about this example myself, as we concluded as a group that this was a great contradiction to the author's ideas. I wanted to point out that I think you really hit a good point when you discussed how Callie is in a position of authority over her own husband. I also mentioned this, but you took it to a new level. You mentioned that George really can't contradict or argue with his wife, Callie, while on the job. He has no say in anything because she is in a position of control. You also mentioned that he was bothered by this, which I think says a lot about society. Men typically feel like they need to have power over women, even their own wives, this has been since the beginning of time. And when they don't have power over women, they feel extremely uncomfortable and insecure with themself. Insecure and uncomfortable are the first 2 words that come to mind when I think of the character of George. I also like how you pointed out the fact that Callie appears poor. And I liked how you mentioned that this really does not fit in with the show or our idea of society. This shows that you, as a viewer, would never expect that a doctor of her status would be of the lower class and being forced to live in the back room of a hospital. Just by saying that you truly showed how media influences viewers to think about society. When we see something that contradicts our ideas about society that we have formed with the influence of the media we get confused, and are often shocked that something goes against these typical stereotypes portrayed in the media today. You did a great job of showing that although the author of "Class and Virtue" made a lot of strong arguments that people of the lower class, of different backgrounds and females are looked down upon and portrayed poorly in the media, that there are always counter arguments.
Great posting, great example!
--Landyn
Posted by: Landyn Shanks | February 28, 2007 10:03 PM
hi!!!!
Posted by: MM | July 3, 2007 12:17 PM