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.
