In the
article Diagnosing Drama: Grey’s Anatomy,
Blind Casting, and the Politics of Representation the author attempts to
describe why the use of blind casting can possibly distort the flaws associated
with looking for a specific type of race for a particular role. The creator of the show is Shonda Rhimes and
she chose to not have a particular idea of a character when casting took place. Instead she viewed the individuals to see if
they would be a good match for the character she designed.
Also, the
show is structured around the typical fairy tale romance involving a man saving
a woman.
Two main characters that
portray this dynamic are Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd.
Their characters evolve into a loving
relationship throughout the show with multiple challenges to overcome.
Some of these challenges are overcome
together while others are accomplished with Meredith and Christina Yang, her
best friend.
This is another area where
they are attempting to show that a fairy tale relationship does not always mean
that a man will come in a rescue the woman in distress.
Meredith and Christina’s relationship
develops into a fairy tale story with their dynamic of being each other’s
“person.”
This relationship is another
example of how Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the show, is attempting to get
away from the typical idea of a fairy tale using a color-blind sisterhood.
Another
relationship is the opposite of a fairy tale; this is the relationship between
Christina Yang and Preston Burke.
The
dynamic of their relationship is that of an African-American male and
Korean-American female whom each do not need saving.
As their relationship evolves they find
themselves at a passing to get married in which Christina originally opposes
this idea.
After an episode passes she
agrees to the marriage and finally finds herself needing saving or a fairy tale
experience.
Burke decides that he does
not want to marry Christina because he feels that he is forcing her to become
the woman he desires.
The truth why the
marriage couldn’t work is because outside of the show Isaiah Washington,
playing Burke, made statements that caused him to be fired from the show.
Ultimately Christina turns to her friend
Meredith for assistance through this hurtful period which is not the typical
fairy tale story.
The dilemma
involving the removal of Isaiah Washington from the show is another area that
the author presented as a different role of how to deal with the color-blind
racism.
He made racial remarks and was
fired as a result.
His firing was
disputed whether it was racism or homophobia.
The show’s production team was scrutinized for choosing between firing
for racism or for homophobia.
Regardless, Isaiah Washington was casted using the race-blind technique.
Another
area that Shonda Rhimes has attempted to tackle is the gender role is
society.
Typically people have viewed a
model as a white woman who can do nothing but model.
In Grey’s Anatomy Shonda casts a model who is
a doctor with the character of Izzy Stevens.
She steps outside of the normal way of thinking and shows the audience a
new way to view individuals.
Also, with the character Dr. Bailey Shonda is
tackling the typical idea of the use of the term “Nazi.” In the show prior to meeting Dr. Bailey the
interns believe that this character will be “a guy or a Nazi” (Long). Instead the character is played by a “short, somewhat
heavyset African American woman. The
term “Nazi” is this television show is used to describe her demeanor and
expectations of the new interns.
I agree with the author’s points that gender does not
have to play a role in the fairy tale story.
Also, I agree with the race-blind casting methods. This allows producers to keep an open mind
for the character and an opportunity for the best individual to play the
role. I do watch Grey’s Anatomy, and
have since the show started. Reading
this article has provided me more insight behind the show that I was not aware
of before. Also, this article gave me
the opportunity to evaluate the past episodes in a new light with the
understanding of the characters and not the individuals playing those
characters.
I do
believe that this article is important because being race blind keeps us all
with an open mind and forces us to see people for who they are instead of what
they are. Also, racism has taken on a
new transition in the twenty-first century which evolved from the twentieth
century. In today’s society we have
racism against a race of people rather than against color of people.
In conclusion, Shonda Rhimes may not see characters
and individuals in color, however the rest of the world apparently still
does. Shonda has attempted to give
society a television show to open the eyes of others to race-blind
casting. Also, she has shown the
differences of a fairy tale story through the use of different characters
saving each other. Shonda show that it
does not have to be a man saving a woman to have a fairy tale experience. Also, she has written a television show that
has proven that race-blind casting does work, at least in this instance. Rhimes has “had to actively point out and
work against industrial assumptions that a racially unmarked character calls
for a white actor” (Long). Finally, she
shows that gender roles are changing in society today. The typical idea of a poor underprivileged
white woman can be just as successful as an African-American has been proven to
be inaccurate.
References
Assignment 1-4-2. Franklin
University. Humanities 240.
Browne, R. B. (2005). Profiles
of popular culture: A reader. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin
press. ISBN: 0-87972-869-8.
"Diagnosing Drama: Grey's
Anatomy, Blind Casting and the Politics of Representation" by Amy Long.
Volume 44, Issue 5. ISSN: 0022-3840. Blackwell Publishing Inc. Pg 1067-1084.
Petracca, Michael and Sorapure,
Madeleine (2012) Common Culture: Reading
and Writing About American Popular Culture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Pearson. ISBN: 0-205-17178-8.
