Grey's Anatomy

My final project for Mass Media and Society contains 12 existing pieces of repurposed media from Grey's Anatomy. I connect these pieces to our class through media myths, advertising/marketing, aesthetics, fandoms, and cultivation effect.

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Grey's Anatomy fills the myth of, "Someday My Prince Will Come." Every girl dreams about meeting a man, falling in love, and living the perfect life with him. Every girl holds onto to that dream. In Grey's Anatomy, Meredith Grey keeps holding onto that. The show starts off with Meredith getting involved with Derek Shepherd. It starts off as what seems to be a one night stand until they realize that they will be working together. Through some failed relationships with each other and with other people, they are eventually able to work things out. Meredith wants to be with Derek and Derek wants to be with Meredith. They are good for each other. They complete each other. And they decide that they cannot live without one another, so they get married. Meredith's dream of having the perfect man comes true when she marries her "McDreamy."

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Melodrama's make the viewer believe that good always triumphs evil - that no matter what hurdles have to be overcome and how bad things get, things will still turn out good in the end. While Grey's Anatomy does have death and situations that do not always have happy endings, the viewers still have hope. The viewer wants the relationships to succeed (some of which do), surgeries to be successful (a lot of which are), and for patients to live (a lot of who do). This show plays with emotions and deals with extreme situations. The person watching rejoices over successes and might cry over a loss because ultimately the viewer wants a happy ending. The viewer is rooting for good to triumph evil, and overall, I think good does triumph over evil in this show. The good outweighs all the bad things that occur.

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Media shifts the way people view the world. In regard to Grey's Anatomy, the viewer is more likely to have a skewed view of hospitals. Seattle Grace Hospital is always bustling. There are always some serious traumas and surgeries that need to take place. After excessively watching the show, one might expect all hospitals to look like Seattle Grace. However, the truth is that serious traumas are not constantly showing up at a hospital's doorstep, and boring moments are not suddenly filled with a bunch of ambulances showing up with patients who may or may not live. The dynamic of Seattle Grace is much different than the reality. Viewers may expect similar situations to be taking place in the hospitals around them, but Grey's Anatomy takes place in a fantasy world. It is not reality. Media has a way of making things seem a certain way to the person watching.

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This show does not just advertise merchandise. This show also does a lot of advertising other things in life. This show is not only trying to sell Grey’s Anatomy, the tv show, but also things like sex, finding happiness, and choosing things over family. This show is drenched in sex. Most of the characters are having sex all the time. They are also not just sleeping with one person. Each person on the show has slept with multiple people, and oftentimes the sex has been intertwined with the relationships of others. Friends have sex, exes have sex, surgeons have sex with interns, people are having affairs, and so forth. Casual sex is commonly seen throughout the show and rarely is any consequence seen. The show emphasizes that casual sex is great sex. You do not have to be in a relationship. You do not have to have any intentions. If sex makes you happy and makes you feel good, then go for it. Happiness is a big focus of the show, as well. Many characters have twisted backgrounds or came from hard childhoods, so their goal is to find happiness. Do whatever you want to find happiness. Drink, have sex, break the rules, abandon your family, who cares. Your happiness is the most important. The show also emphasizes that is is okay to choose things over your family. People in the show are constantly choosing things over their families - sex, drinking, their jobs, etcetera. Characters have affairs and break up their marriages. They let alcohol take over their lives and they battle alcoholism while they abandon their children or marriages. They also choose surgery over their families. Their marriages fall apart and they loose touch with their children because surgery is the most important part of their lives. This show does much more than just advertise for itself. It advertises for things that look pretty to the viewer - that entice the viewer. But they do not actually show all of the consequences of these actions. They make it look appealing, and they use those selling points to also sell their show to people.

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The surgeons in Grey’s Anatomy are a good example of the media literacy myth, “Coming of the Messiah.” That myth talks about how someone comes in and saves everyone because situations just keeping getting worse. In Grey’s Anatomy, the surgeons are continually talking about how their patients and the families of their patients view them as superheroes. They are essentially the “God figures” of the show. The surgeons have to come in and save the day. They have the ability to save lives. People come in with near death injuries and they have to rely on the surgeons to save them.

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We are more controlled by our technological usage than we are aware of. We are affected by the things we watch and the technologies that we use. The media is able to manipulate people. It is able to make people feel a certain way. A lot of things seen on tv are appealing. Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang are best friends on Grey’s Anatomy. They came up with the phrase “my person” to refer to each other. This is a phrase that many people have adopted as their own. After seeing Meredith and Cristina’s relationship, the viewer thinks of the person closest to them and they make that person, their person. This is a phrase that can be seen under Instagram posts, gifs of the friends, and in articles on websites like theodysseyonline.com. A successful tv show has a way of pulling at the heartstrings of the viewer, and this phrase is a way for viewers to connect to the show. This is a way for fans to relate to the show and to one another. It is a way of controlling to viewer in a positive way. Media creates more sameness among people.

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Cultivation effect can be seen as a result of Grey’s Anatomy. This show has hundreds of traumas seen throughout the series. Some patients come in with injuries that are clearly serious, while other patients come in with virtually no problems. However, it eventually becomes evident that all the little problems in their life add up to a big medical problem. Mean scary world syndrome can come as a result of the show. Viewers may see the world as more dangerous than it really is. They may even believe that they have a serious medical issue because of little issues that they have.

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Fandom increases community. 1. Increased understanding of deep controversy 2. Opportunities to share in value 3. Negotiate individual and collective identity tension.

Fans join together for Grey’s Anatomy. Some fans watch the show together. This in itself emphasizes community. But even if a person watched the show alone, they would be able to easily find people with the same interests online. People are able to look up pictures, gifs, videos, and quotes of their favorite scenes, characters, episodes, sayings, etc… These fans are also able to comment on the things that people post about the show. They can have conversations with people who share the same love for the show. They can reblog, retweet, or share their favorite moments and bond with people who get excited for the same things. It opens up opportunities to have conversations about important issues (in and out of the show), it allows people to share their opinions and values with others who feel similarly, and it gives those fans and identity - they are fans of Grey’s Anatomy.

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A lot of advertising comes from fans or from the stars of the show. #GreysAnatomy is a common hashtag to use on all social media. Hashtags can be used for the show as a whole, certain moments of the show, or for specific characters. Clicking on the hashtag will direct the user to other posts with the same hashtag. Just talking about Grey’s Anatomy will also put your posts in with other people who are talking about it. This is free advertising for the show. Other people are likely to see the posts of other people and begin watching the show out of interest.

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A lot of marketing and advertising go into Grey’s Anatomy. When I scroll my Facebook, Twitter, or tumblr feed, Grey’s Anatomy links pop up. They do not come from things that I follow, but are rather sponsored by Grey’s Anatomy. A lot of work goes into figuring out what the fans want, finding a way to get those products to the fans, and showcasing those products to the fans.

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Isobel Stevens is a good example of the myth, "The Possibility of Success," which is better known as "Pull Yourself up by Your Bootstraps." She grew up in a trailer park with her mom. When she was 16, she had to start waitressing, and because of her irresponsible mother, she had to pay a lot of the bills. Any extra money went toward college. When she was 18, she became a model, which further helped her pay for school. She left school debt free and started her life as a successful Doctor. She overcame her struggles and built a better life for herself.

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TV Show Aesthetics (Rules of TV Shows) 1. The audience that the show is geared toward 2. The content of the show 3. Environment that the show takes place 4. Emotions portrayed in the show This show fits all of the tv show aesthetics. This show hits a wide audience. It is appealing to people who are working in or are interested in the medical field, but it is also appealing to people who like an interesting and dramatic storyline. The content of the show deals with relationships and surgeries, learning from mistakes and building friendships. The show takes place in a hospital, the bar and in the various places that the characters live. The show hits a wide spectrum of emotions. From laughing to crying and from cheering characters on to wanting others to go away, the show is good at capturing the emotions of the audience. These rules are things that the producers, critics, and fans take into consideration. It is important that producers are aware of what will make their show a success. Critics also need to be aware of what will and will not work. It is important that the producers hear the critics and the fans. They need to feed into what the fans want. And fans need to be able to communicate that. A show is going to be successful when people communicate expectations and goals. If the producers are seeking out the wants of the viewers and they correctly deliver, they will succeed in their production.