Racial Representations in Grey's Anatomy

I’m writing my final paper for my Race Theory in Media course on racial and gender representations in contemporary mainstream television, with a focus on Grey’s Anatomy. Since I know it’s a popular show, it’s interesting for me to hear people’s opinions about the representations. So, if you love the interracial relationship between Burke and Cristina or are intrigued by the fact that the show has women in power, I’d love to hear input.

The show is particularly intriguing in how it interconnects all of the elements of race, class, gender, and sexuality and while it is praised for all of these various representations, the program upholds many ideologies that have negative affects on various groups. The show appeals to a large variety of people because it presents an assortment of races and genders in significant roles. Grey’s Anatomy successfully integrates genders and races into a mainstream, popular show. However, it is interesting that despite the vast representations, the cast’s gender and racial differences are not a central focus. This is acceptable because the characters and the relationships attract audiences and their races are incidental. The cast’s race is not directly addressed and it is embraced by many people who can relate to the various cast members.

I haven’t done a lot of research yet, so any articles anyone has seen or anything like that would also be helpful in addition to comments. Thanks!