While lots of people think Grey’s Anatomy is just a long-running medical show, there is so much more to it than that. Grey’s Anatomy has done its best to tackle hard topics and connect to all of its audience members. In today’s society, it’s hard to talk about topics like sexual assault or mental illness but Grey’s Anatomy does a great job at incorporating all different scenarios. Here are five times Grey’s Anatomy got real:
- Abortion
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While a controversial topic, Grey’s Anatomy is able to shine a light on the topic of abortion. One of the main characters, Cristina Yang, vocally expresses she doesn’t want to have kids the entire show. When she accidentally gets pregnant, she voices her right to choose. There is a back and forth between her and her husband, who didn’t support the women’s right to choose. Grey’s Anatomy lets its watchers know that getting an abortion isn’t something dirty and that all women have the proper right to choose.
- COVID-19 Pandemic
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The COVID-19 Pandemic has been hard on everyone and seeing what really was happening in hospitals was a hard picture to capture. Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 has been all about all the struggles hospitals have been going through since COVID-19 hit the world. From supply shortages, to patients dying, to their own doctors getting sick- it was very shocking to see the despair all around, but they wanted to capture what was really going on in the world. Because it is a medical show, they wanted to showcase the struggles healthcare workers are going through, and they did just that. This season has been a testiment to the amazing healthcare workers working crazy hours because of the pandemic.
- Mental Illness
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Since Episode One, Grey’s Anatomy was able to show the main characters’ struggles with depression. Jo, one of the lead general surgeons, discovers her mom was raped and that is how she was conceived, she was deeply disturbed. Jo became severely depressed and barely left her bed for three weeks. Grey’s Anatomy was able to display that getting help is the right thing to do for everyone, and not a sign of weakness. The ability to display such sensitive topics on TV shows audience members that asking for help is not a bad thing and that it’s a normal part of life.
- Racism
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One of the biggest events of 2020 was the Black Lives Matter protests. Some of these protests got violent and were broadcasted all over the news. In one of the most recent episodes, Grey’s Anatomy is set during this time and shows all the doctors raging with emotions. Grey’s Anatomy has a diverse cast, and all the characters wanted to partake in the movement. Each doctor expressed their wishes to go protest, and some of them even do. The writers made sure to make the episode about the important issues at hand rather than giving the spotlight to the main characters. The episode ended with a tribute to George Floyd.
- Sexual Assault
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The hospital has a lot of compassion when it comes to supporting domestic abuse survivors. A patient came in after being raped and was scared out of her mind. Two of the main doctors, Teddy and Jo, display care that is above and beyond hospital protocol. The patient was afraid of what her husband and others might think of her because she was at a bar, wearing a skirt but they eased her mind. The doctors give her the proper exams and tell her that the evidence will be ready when she is. There was a level of sophistication that this situation that was handled with that no other show seems to hit.