Dawn Jacob

Television Critique

COM 327

May 1, 2020

Shondaland: A Not so Black and White World

Grey’s Anatomy, televisions longest running medical drama, is known for its ability to

portray contemporary issues that many people can resonate with. Season 15, episode 23 “What I

did for Love” exemplifies the shows ability to dive into complex issues that aren’t often

portrayed on television and how the series stays current with what’s going on in society. By

portraying how messed up our healthcare system is, especially for immigrants, this episode will

rattle your cage as this series opens your eyes to the many issues people face today.

Grey’s Anatomy, a medical series created by Shonda Rhimes airing on ABC network

since 2005, follows the life of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) as a surgical intern, resident, and

eventual surgeon. The 16-season series portrays Grey and fellow doctors as they navigate their

personal and professional lives at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (previously Seattle Grace

Hospital). Rhimes often uses Grey’s Anatomy as a platform to raise awareness to the current

political climate in America that many people may be ignorant to previous to watching certain

episodes.

Ever since the show began in 2005, it’s always followed along with the current times and

societal norms. For many seasons, Grey was awe struck by fellow neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd

(Patrick Dempsey) and often found her love life effecting her professional work life. In 2005,

this was pretty normal for women, as societal norms reflected the traditional value of finding a

man, settling down and starting a family. Grey was an excellent doctor, but it wasn’t until the
show in season 11 decided to kill of Derek, Grey’s one true love, that you get to see a woman

thrive outside a man. Rhimes decision to kill of his character came in 2015 when societal norms

were very different from those of 2005, especially in the eyes of women valuing having

successful careers over the traditional marriage and family.

Although the times were much different in 2005, the series has always been progressive.

Rhimes used a blind casting method to hire most of the characters, including that of Chandra

Wilson—who plays Dr. Miranda Bailey, a black, female chief of surgery. The show is a

forefront for breaking common tropes in demographics and job titles. Women, especially of

color, are often put into job titles that only men are commonly seen as having, like chief of

surgery and head of different surgical departments. Cali Torres (Sarah Ramirez), a bi-sexual,

Hispanic woman is head of Orthopedic Surgery and Maggie Pierce (Kelley McCreary), an

African American woman, is head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, to name a few.

Season 15, taking place in 2018-2019, is a prime example of how the show reflects the

current political climate our country is facing. In May of 2018, Donald Trump, our President of

the United States, made a declaration of what he thought of Mexicans, many other Hispanic

cultures, and people of color—referring to Mexicans as “animals”. Trump has never been afraid

to express his disgust for the Hispanic population, going as far as putting policies in place to

keep immigrants out, and working to remove certain policies that protect immigrants, such as

DACA—his way of “making America great again”.

Episode 23, “What I Did for Love”, directed by Jesse Williams, portrays an immigrant

family from Honduras, who’s come to America to seek asylum. The husband, Luis Rivera (Omar

Leyva), is able to get in while the rest of his family was held captive at the border—this being a

tale all too true for many Hispanic families during this time with immigrants being held in cages
at the border. Luis comes to the hospital seeking help for his daughter, Gaby (Allyson Juliette),

who is only able to come due to being very sick. Luis states that his family has been held in

cages and that her daughter was only given antacid for her stomach pain, that turns out to be

cancer. Because of Luis’ immigrant status, he does not qualify for health insurance—despite

working two jobs and paying taxes like every other American citizen. The doctors tell him that

he can apply for state coverage, only to find out that he makes too much money to qualify, but

not enough money to cover his daughters’ medical bills. Dr. Grey puts her own life and medical

career on the line by putting her daughter’s name down on the forms, as she is willing to commit

fraud to correct a system that is continuously failing people.

This is not the first time that the show has taken a major issue that our country is facing

and turned it into an episode. In 2018, there was a rise in police brutality and many people of

color were being shot. The show tackles this issue in season 14, when a young black boy is

wrongfully shot and killed by a police officer. The boy locks himself out of his house in his

affluent neighborhood and the police claim they believed he was robbing the place—a sad, but

common tale that many people of color can resonate with, as they live in fear of police brutality.

Overall, by displaying current flaws and faults in our political system, Grey’s Anatomy is

able to help shape the way people make sense of the world. Many people don’t stay current with

the news or just choose to ignore the many issues being faced daily. Taking this popular medical

drama and tying these problems into it help viewers of all ages to understand that the world isn’t

so black and white—thus tapping into the human condition that helps us to navigate the meaning

of our lives and what is right and wrong.

Word Count: 946

Sources

1. Fogel, Matthew. “'Grey's Anatomy' Goes Colorblind.” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 8 May 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/arts/television/greys-anatomy-

goes-colorblind.html.

2. Korte, Gregory, and Alan Gomez. “Trump Ramps up Rhetoric on Undocumented

Immigrants: 'These Aren't People. These Are Animals.'.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite

Information Network, 17 May 2018,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/16/trump-immigrants-animals-mexico-

democrats-sanctuary-cities/617252002/.

3. Vorrasi-Banis, Lacey. “'Grey's Anatomy' Recap: Jo Gets to Decide Paul's Fate.” EW.com,

ew.com/recap/greys-anatomy-season-14-episode-10/.

4. “‘Grey's Anatomy’ How to Save a Life.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 23 Apr. 2015,

www.imdb.com/title/tt4599534/.

5. “‘Grey's Anatomy’ What I Did For Love.” IMDb, IMDb.com,

www.imdb.com/title/tt9729144/fullcredits.