Derailed

Rachel Chambers
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

“Grey’s Anatomy” is an extremely popular show that highlights medical miracles and follows the lives of several surgeons that perform them. The show focuses on a lot of important topics such as mental illness, suicide, murder, sexual orientation and drug addiction and gives the audience an idea of how real these issues can be. The topic of sexuality is greatly discussed in an episode named “Sledgehammer” which aired in season twelve of the show. This episode focuses on the case of two young females, Aliyah and Jess, who are rushed to the Emergency Room with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a train. Upon further inspection, an orthopedic surgeon named Callie discovers matching hearts on the forearms of both of the fifteen year old girls. Callie is bisexual herself and confronts Jess who goes on to tell her that she’s in love with Aliyah. Jess’s parents discovered their relationship and have decided to send her to camp in order to cleanse her of her feelings towards girls. To avoid this, Jess and Aliyah decide that they need to be together whether they were dead or alive.

Throughout this episode, the surgeons must deal with Jess’s homophobic parents who continue to bash their daughter’s sexuality. Eventually near the end, Jess’s dad realizes how terrible their decision is and the effects that sending her away would have on their daughter’s life. He finally musters the courage to stand up to his wife and yells, “I don’t care if she’s gay, I care if she’s loved, I care if she’s happy and that’s what you should care about too”. He continues to threaten to leave the wife for her behavior and continues to talk about how they should focus more on loving and supporting their daughter during this time in her life. This is a huge turning point of the episode as it completely changes the tone. It sends the message of acceptance and love towards those who are homosexual and I feel that many can relate to this episode.

I would highly recommend “Sledgehammer” to anyone struggling with either gaining or giving acceptance of sexual orientation. The writers did a phenomenal job highlighting this topic and addressing several issues surrounding homosexuality. Coming out, especially to family, can be extremely difficult and Grey’s was able to show the range of reactions that the person coming out can receive. In the end, Jess’s dad was able to accept her and stand up for her against her bully of a mother. Homosexuality is a huge topic in popular culture and I’m glad that there are TV series out there that incorporate these topics in a positive and educational way.

Picture Source: http://screenertv.com/television/greys-anatomy-season-12-premiere-suicide-lesbian-teens/

    Rachel Chambers

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