McDowell-Grey's Final Project

## Introduction

The term literature can be used when describing a wide variety of things. According to an article titled “Interpretation of Literature”, literature dates back all the way to the cavemen era where the cave paintings on the wall were considered to be literature. Then, they transformed into William Shakespeare’s famous novels. And now, they have evolved into much more. Literature now takes many forms in this age of technology. From books, to comics, to movies, and television shows, literature is apparent in today’s culture. In “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr discusses the idea that “as people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of internet media, traditional media have to adapt to the audience’s new expectations.” As the internet and other technologies become more prominent in our society, the old media has to change to fit this mold. New technology and forms of literature must be created.

Technology has changed the way society works. It has opened up society to a whole new world. According to Walter Ong, television has brought attention to public figures and ideas to a larger public than was ever possible before modern electronic developments. With the developments in technology, television has increased media awareness. Technology has made it easy for people to access different literature and to interact with it as well. It has become easy for people to discuss the literature amongst groups of people with similar interests. This has lead into the creation of communities of fans for different sports teams, movies, and TV shows. This creation of communities is how shows have become so successful or hit rock bottom. This fan
base obsession is seen in famous shows such as *the Office, Friends,* and *Grey’s Anatomy.*

Making its debut in 2005, *Grey’s Anatomy* is “still one of the highest rated shows among the 14- 49 demographic, and the number 3 drama on all of broadcast television”. Showing the wide age range of viewers, *Grey’s Anatomy* appeals to many different people. People that grew up watching the show now are able to watch it with their kids. This causing Grey’s to never grow old and make it to its 15th season. Grey’s Anatomy has this way of attracting its followers, getting them emotionally involved in every episode. This group of followers has had a lasting impact on the show and on society. Later on, we will discuss this lasting impact the show has on its followers and the impact its followers has on the show.

## Knowledge Communities

A show like *Grey’s Anatomy* does not get renewed for a fifteenth season just by chance, but because of a great amount of support behind the show. This support comes from fans. And not just any fans, but the ones that are dedicated followers. These followers come together to form communities dedicated to everything *Grey’s Anatomy*.

### Interpretive Disputes

Among these communities, comes many discussions and disputes. Fans become emotionally involved in the show and feel like they are a part of it all. So, when *Grey’s Anatomy* creator and producer, Shonda Rhimes, does something the fans disagree with, the conversation can get heated, even leading to fans wanting to quit watching the show. Here are a few examples of some controversial moments within the show.

#### Plane Crash

Season 8, episode 24, “Flight” was a very emotional episode for the *Grey’s Anatomy* community. This season finally stirred up some controversy between the dedicated fans. One fan writes, “I’ll admit: I haven’t been a fan of *Grey’s* since the beginning. I binge-watched the first eight seasons in about two weeks. So for me, the plane crash was very emotional. I just spent the last two weeks falling in love with Dr. Sloan (or McSteamy) and watching him fall in love with Lexie. I watched them break up, then get back together, then break up again. To see their relationship then end with Lexie dying in the plane crash was heartbreaking. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to jump into *Grey’s* in the fall, knowing she would never really get to be with Sloan ever again. It was hard, but I pushed through the pain and came back. *—ZJ”.* The fan community was furious after Shonda Rhimes killed off and injured several main characters during this episode. As the fan above explained, many fans were furious with the show, some even contemplating to quit watching the show all together. Many things happened in this episode to cause the enraged fans. Chyler Leigh, who played Lexie in the hit drama, died in the plane crash after fans had spent the whole season falling in love her and her romance with Mark Sloan (“McSteamy”). An hour later, Mark Sloan is killed off the show, causing more outrage amongst fans. But this was not the only reason fans were enraged. The emotional rollercoaster continues as many of the other doctors were severely injured. Dr. Arizona Robbins lost her left leg in the crash. This causing trauma throughout the next season between Arizona and her wife Callie, when Callie had to make the decision to cut off Arizona’s leg. Main character, Meredith Grey also was affected throughout the rest of the seasons as she continues to deal with post-traumatic stress. A lot went on in this episode to leave fans heartbroken, but the true fans kept on watching.

#### McDreamy's Death

As fans begin to heal from the traumatic plane crash incident, the show creates another traumatic event, leaving the fans even more enraged than before. Many fans consider Season 11, Episode 21, the most traumatic and enraging episode of all. The death of Patrick Dempsey, most famously known as Derek Shepherd, also known as “McDreamy”, left fans speechless. Fans were in awe of how Rhimes could kill off such a main character as McDreamy. From the Pilot episode, fans have fallen in love with Derek and Meredith. From the love to the heartbreaks to marriage to forming a family, fans have followed Meredith and Derek’s relationship as if it was their own. Their relationship was central to the show, leaving fans wondering how could the show possibly go on after his death.

Some fans tweeting “I’m so done with this show. I’m not watching it anymore. #GreysAnatomy” and “I am NOT watching another episode of #GreysAnatomy I am DONE… WHY OH WHY #McDreamy”. The death of Derek Shepherd was a make or break moment for some followers of the show. Others upset at Rhimes herself, tweeting “Shonda! What were you thinking? I cannot stop crying. Take it back. Please! I really don’t think I’ll be okay. #Makeitbeadream #GreysAnatomy”. Fans were enraged not only his death, but the family he left behind. With his wife Meredith and their kids in the hospital room watching their husband and father die, Derek left behind his family and Grey’s faithful followers were left sobbing in front of their televisions.

## Authorial Intentions

Grey’s Anatomy was created and produced by a woman named Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes became the first African American woman to create and executive produce a Top 10 network series. To many people, Rhimes would be considered a woman with quite a bit of power and influence. While Rhimes became most famous for her hit drama Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes’ brilliance did not end there. She has created and produced several more hit shows such as; Private Practice, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, For the People, and Station 19.

### Powerful Message Behind the Shows

All these shows just mentioned have one major detail in common and a reason why fans are in love with Rhimes’ work. Rhimes has a reputation of writing hit dramas that have women as the main character. But not just any women, confident, powerful women. Most people would say all her works have a “strong female lead”, but Shonda Rhimes does not like this terminology. She is against the phrase “strong female lead” and wants it banned for good. On February 1, 2018 she tweeted, “Okay. Entertainment industry, time to stop using the phrases “Smart Strong Women” and “Strong Female Leads”. There are no Dumb Weak Women. A smart strong woman is just a WOMAN. Also? “Women” are not a TV trend – we’re half the planet.” This tweet sparking conversation among fans and followers of Rhimes. Over 2000 people have joined the conversation since this tweet made its appearance in February and it has truly influenced how people have looked at female leads, especially in her work. Making women feel as if they can be the next Meredith Grey or Olivia Pope, from her hit drama Scandal.

### Shondaland

Rhimes’ influence does not end there. She has created what most people would call an empire. She has created something called “Shondaland”. Shondaland started out as her production company, producing the shows such as, Greys Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away with Murder, For the People, and Station 19. But now it has turned into much more. It is now a site for inspiration and life. The Shondaland brand that has started a revolution to empower women. Their mission statement states “Power is not power if you don’t know you have it. We know you have it. If we can leave you with one lesson, let it be this: If you don’t like your story, rewrite it. If you don’t rewrite it, someone else will rewrite it for you. Never let that happen. Because then you’ve been silenced. We are Shondaland. Storytelling is our business. Showing you the extraordinary possibilities of your story is why we exist.” Her brand is dedicated not just to tv production, but telling stories of people that want to be silent no more. Giving people a voice and a chance to inspire and be inspired.

The Shondaland website has hundreds of stories. From stories from cancer survivors to women speaking out about self-esteem, to stories about what the true definition of “girl power” is. There are articles about food, family, beauty. This website has become an icon for women around the world. But it is more than just stories, it is a community of women coming together and uniting for one another. Letting women know that it is okay to speak up, that they have power too. “Shondaland is for the warrior in all of us. Shondaland is for the mighty, the competitive, the smart, the daring, and the bold.” It goes on to encourage women reading the page to “join the tribe”, talking about the community of women behind Shondaland.

## Remediation

As stated earlier, fans have a huge role in the success of any show but especially Grey’s Anatomy. They form a community of support for the show. In these communities, there are disputes, but there are also recreations of the show, also known as remediations. These remediations take form in many ways, through fan recreations, fanfiction, and spin-offs.

### Spin-offs

Shonda Rhimes herself has created some remediations off of Grey’s Anatomy. She has taken some less significant, supporting characters from the show and created spin-offs. Station 19 and Private Practice were both spin-offs of the popular show. Private Practice took Addyson Shephard, who was just a supporting character in Grey’s and gave her her own leading role. Station 19 is another spin-off of Grey’s, taking character surgeon Ben Warren and making him into a firefighter. While Ben is still a main character, he is not in the

leading role. As Shonda Rhimes is famous for, a woman had the leading role in this spin-off. These shows have now become a hit and helped Shondaland gain followers. These spin-offs were popular because it took a show that was already very popular and characters the fans had fallen in love with over the years, and created their own stories.

### Fan Art

Another form of remediation created by the fans is through fan art. Devoted fans doing drawings and paintings capturing the moments and characters they loved most during the show. Others using specific lines from the show and creating a work of art, some funny and others meaningful. Lines like “You’re my person” is used often, this taken from the relationship between Christina and Meredith. Another quote used quite often is “it’s a beautiful day to save lives” taken from Derek’s pre-surgery ritual. These lines have been used on coffee mugs, t-shirts, posters, and true fans even getting the quotes tattooed onto their bodies.

### Fan Fiction

Fans of Grey’s Anatomy not only love the show, but are devoted to the characters. They dream of how the show might go and what would happen to the characters if certain events never happened or if they did happen. There are several websites that are devoted to fanfiction. One website actually called “Fanfiction” has 99 main topics, all having hundreds of stories underneath, all written about Grey’s Anatomy. Most of them written about the different relationships formed throughout the show, like Meredith and Derek and what would happen if Derek had not have died. Others talking about Mark and Addyson, and Mark and Lexie, and Addyson and Alex. Fans love writing the fan fiction because they get to decide how it all ends. Their stories do not have to end when the characters die on the show, but fans get to create hot romances and dramatic scenes between the characters. They are able to be involved in how the characters stories play out. They get to decide who ends up with who. They, as devoted fans, have power and control over the Grey’s Anatomy characters.

Another fanfiction website called “Wattpad” is a famous hub for all things Grey’s Anatomy. One of the most popular stories readers can find here is called “Adulteress Love Child”. Having over 58,000 views, the story is written about Meredith and Derek. And the “what if” scenario is Meredith was pregnant in season 3. Would Derek have fought for her or still tried to work things out with Addyson. This is why Fanfiction is so popular, it brings out the “what if” scenarios and allows the fans to ask the questions they have wondered about and created the ending they wanted, while also getting to hear other fans remediation of the events.

## Additional Resources

Shondaland

Grey's Anatomy Wiki

Shonda Rhimes Bio

Grey's Anatomy Fanfiction

## References

1. ↑ csoseman, "Interpretation of Literature"
2. ↑ Nicholas Carr, "is Google Making Us Stupid?". Course Packet, HUM211
3. ↑ Walter Ong, "Print, Space, and Closure". Course Packet, HUM211
4. ↑ Grey's Anatomy Facts: [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey%27s\_Anatomy
5. ↑ The Community: http://community.ew.com/2015/04/29/7-absurd-moments-greys-anatomy/
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fan Reactions: https://www.bustle.com/articles/78596-how-did-greys-anatomy-fans-react-to-dereks-death-theyre-inconsolable
7. ↑ Shonda Rhimes Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/shonda-rhimes-21292767
8. ↑ Shonda Rhimes Productions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shonda\_Rhimes#Shondaland
9. ↑ Shonda Rhimes Twitter
10. ↑ What is Shondaland: https://www.shondaland.com/about/a12258145/who-we-are/
11. ↑ Shondaland- Join the Movement: https://www.shondaland.com/about/a12770960/subscribe/
12. ↑ Grey's FanFiction, "Adulteress Love Child"