Caps Blog Five - Erikson

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            As I was at the grocery store last night, I saw a variety of magazines while standing in line that spilled the latest gossip about Hollywood’s latest break ups, make ups, and fashion faux pas.  Personally, I feed into this category of popular culture by purchasing more magazines than I would like to admit.  Martin and Nakayama define popular culture as a new name for low culture, referring to those cultural products that most people share and know about, including television, music videos, and popular magazines.  It is impossible for one to not be influenced in some way, shape, or form by popular culture.  For instance, my obsession with Jesse Williams began when he started acting in Grey’s Anatomy a number of years ago; therefore, as I skimmed through People last night I saw his face and immediately threw the magazine into my cart.  That is an embarrassing five dollars I won’t ever get back! 

            In regards to Grey’s Anatomy, which is a medical drama that has been playing on the American Broadcasting Company since 2005, tells the stories of medical professionals and interns involving their personal relations inside and outside of the Seattle Grace Hospital.  Since I have watched this show for the past eight seasons I have picked up on different themes that characters in this television series have shown.  Sexuality in the workplace, women looking desperate, and diversity are the three themes I would like to discuss. 

·         Sexuality in the workplace.  It is rare that there be an episode that doesn’t involve couples and even random co-workers engaging in sexual encounters in the hospital break rooms or wherever they can find privacy.  Most recently April Kepner and Jackson Avery have realized that they may have feelings for one another and they go off alone as often as they have time.  They don’t call this a drama for no reason!  

       Women looking desperate.  This is one theme that continuously bugs me.  This series consistently shows women as the inferior partner of relationships.  In early seasons, Meredith Grey, a lead actress, is head over heals for Derek Shepherd and is constantly graveling for his love. 

·      Diversity.  One of the things I love most about this show is the diversity it provides for its viewers.  This is an easy theme to see throughout the hospital staff at Seattle Grace and when looking at the multiple interracial and non-heterosexual relationships.  An example would be Christina Yang who is an Asian doctor who (almost) marries Preston Burke who is an African American.  Also, Callie Torres who is a Hispanic became pregnant with Caucasian Mark Sloan’s child, who now lives with her Caucasian girlfriend, Arizona Robbins.  These are two clear examples of diversity.  

            Through these themes you can see that Grey’s Anatomy is racially diverse, but still stereotypical.  It portrays real life demographics with twists of drama, which include women looking desperate and sexuality in the workplace.  Some people may not be able to look past the “drama” of this television to realize that there isn’t that much sexual tension constantly surrounding hospitals and that not all women are desperate.  Drama and stereotypes drive today’s popular culture society and Grey’s Anatomy is a good example of this. 

 References:

Martin, J. N. & Nakayama, T. K. (2012). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed.).    Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.