Several months ago, we cut the cord to cable TV. We simply got tired of paying $200 a month
for 200 channels, of which we faithfully watched maybe a dozen. We decided that we could make do with Netflix
and Amazon Prime, thereby saving
ourselves $2200 a year (my sister pays for the Netflix) and the annoyance of
sifting through 200 channels and finding nothing decent to watch, much more frequently
than $200 a month should allow.
I've always been a re-run addict anyway, dating all the way
back to our newlywed days umpteen years ago when I used to tune in to reruns of
"Emergency" while I made dinner in our tiny one bedroom apartment
next to the airport. So
"binge-watching" entire series in a couple of months has not been a
great stretch for me. We've done
"Bones" and "Crossing Jordan" (which, it turns out, are essentially the same show,
with similar plotlines, similar characters, and similar unconsummated sexual
tension between the major male and female characters.) I confess, in the end, I liked "Jordan" better, as the
characters, while quirky, were never as caricaturized as the "Bones"
cast eventually became. Too, with
"Bones," I have a real problem with the wardrobes of the female
characters. Apparently, you just throw a
lab coat on over your body-hugging
designer sheath dress, and the stilettos make it so you don't have to pump the
autopsy table up too high. What woman
wouldn't want to display the height of fashion while sifting through gore and
rotting flesh?
Having come to the end of the series with both "Bones"
and "Jordan," I had to choose another series to keep me company while
I stay up late on puppy duty--keeping her out of trouble and making sure she
goes potty one more time before I head to bed.
After some deliberation, I decided on "Grey's Anatomy," since
everyone seems to be so hooked on it. The
OTHER things that are so wildly popular these days--like Orange is the New
Black, or Breaking Bad, or Mad Men or some of the other dark, sex-obsessed offerings
that are floating around the airwaves have no appeal for me at all. Sorry.
When I watch TV, I like to be entertained. Not titillated or grossed out or pissed off
or frightened.
So. Grey's anatomy.
I guess I was expecting something a little
more...mature? Believable? Something...
If Grey's characters are supposed to be representative
of "strong female roles,"
someone goofed. I
mean...the first scene of the first show has our main character giving the bum's rush to a
one-night-stand, flippantly ejecting him from her apartment and her life on the morning of her first day as a surgical intern at a fictitious Seattle hospital. Now...there's a strong woman! An independent woman; one who knows what she wants and goes after it with single-minded confidence! Right?
But then she goes to work and finds that the guy she just rushed out of her bed is a surgical attending at that very hospital. Basically, her teacher/boss. And of course, she proceeds to fall in love with him, and things get very messy. And hyper-sexual.
Honestly...these young people are supposed to be working 48-hour shifts, and yet they seem to have limitless energy and appetites for sex. One of these supposed brilliant young female interns is even stupid enough to get pregnant from one of these intense sexual relationships.
But then she goes to work and finds that the guy she just rushed out of her bed is a surgical attending at that very hospital. Basically, her teacher/boss. And of course, she proceeds to fall in love with him, and things get very messy. And hyper-sexual.
Honestly...these young people are supposed to be working 48-hour shifts, and yet they seem to have limitless energy and appetites for sex. One of these supposed brilliant young female interns is even stupid enough to get pregnant from one of these intense sexual relationships.
Yes, I know this is fiction and is not meant to resemble
reality. But I am a little put off by
what these characterizations say about young female professionals. About the fact that they can't seem to be
good at or serious about what they do without being in the thrall of some
man--and, incidentally, a man who is in a position of authority over them. It's the same old tired, male-dominated
garbage that we've been watching since Donna Reed, Father Knows Best and Leave
it to Beaver. These young interns might
not be wearing shirtwaists and pearls while they vacuum and wash up after
dinner, but they are clearly demonstrating Woman's inability to climb out from
under the thumb of Man, even though that
thumb rests on a higher level than it did fifty years ago.
I'm into the first couple of episodes of season 2, and so
far I haven't seen anything magical.
It's a nice little show, inoffensive enough on the surface. It's entertaining; it keeps me awake while I
wait for 11:00 and the final dog walk to roll around. But, frankly, I can't quite figure out what is exceptional
or award-winning about it.
I'll keep watching.
Maybe it will get better.
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