The primary goal of most television shows is to entertain their audience. But television shows also often influence social expectations and understandings of the occupations they depict.
While in real life people can choose from a huge range of career options, there are certain occupations that dominate movies and television series. Television series featuring doctors are a perennial favorite. Some popular TV shows starring doctor protagonists that have aired in recent years include: The Good Doctor, House M.D. and Grey's Anatomy.
Doctors are usually represented on screen in a heroic fashion. This reflects the fact that such medical professions are highly valued socially. But it is also true that television series and films can perpetuate stereotypes.
Doctors are commonly represented on television as heroic mavericks who are justified in breaking the rules as their actions nearly always result in success. In an editorial published on The Conversation (2011), Roslyn Weaver and Ian Wilson noted a potentially harmful example of this stereotype that appeared in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In the episode, two doctors perform an autopsy on a patient without gaining informed consent from the deceased person's family.
The protagonist of another medical series, House M.D., is a brilliant doctor, but he is also addicted to drugs and routinely violates serious hospital policies and procedures. Television series like House M.D. have a tendency to present such behavior as acceptable (or even admirable), as long as the doctor is effective in treating a patient's maladies.
Such stereotypical screen depictions of doctors have the potential to make the work of real life doctors harder. For example, they can encourage members of the public to think doctors should be willing to break all rules necessary to achieve a positive outcome. Such depictions can also present a misleading view of what doctors should be able to accomplish. While doctors can (and often do) achieve great feats, they are not superheroes. As such, it's unfair to burden them with these types of expectations.
Television shows rely on drama, and occupations in the medical field offer juicy, powerful plot lines involving life and death. Shows such as M*A*S*H and Grey's Anatomy makes the lives of doctors seem more dramatic and eventful than everyday medicine for most physicians. Doctors are portrayed as saviors and heroes, as these roles make for good drama; in actuality, though, doctors in many ways are humbled by the practice of medicine and cannot always act as saviors. Instead, they marshall their knowledge and experience to provide the best care for patients that they can, but they do not have superhuman qualities and their work is not always dramatic.
One could argue that while the view of doctors is often heroic on television, this type of portrayal is not always positive for doctors. These shows make doctors appear capable of carrying out superhuman feats, and these dramas might make people expect near-miracles from their doctors. Therefore, such shows give the public an unrealistic attitude and perception of the medical practice.
One could also argue that television shows portray the legal field in similarly unrealistic terms. Shows such as Perry Mason and Law & Order make it seem like lawyers have a great deal of power, while in actuality, the practice of law is often far less dramatic. Perhaps you can think of other professions that are portrayed inaccurately on television.
No comments:
Post a Comment