17 August, 2013

Cristina is not a cliche!

I've been a fan of Grey's Anatomy since it started.  I don't love all the characters, whiny Meredith Grey drives me nuts for example, McDreamy doesn't do it for me, and nor did McSteamy (though Owen does), and I certainly haven't loved all the episodes.  But I never miss it (except the episodes that are on now in NZ!  Argh!).  Why?  Because I love the character Cristina, and some of her story lines.  I can relate to her ectopic pregnancy story line.  And - in various ways - I can relate to her refusal to be stereotyped, in her case by not wanting to be a mother.   I'm not like her at all - perhaps I would like to be a "take no prisoners" type - but I admire her single-mindedness and her self-confidence and her convictions.

Perhaps one of the reasons I love Cristina is that I feel a connection too with the actor, Sandra Oh.  I love her too!  I also "know" (as those of us who have made internet friendships through sharing some of our heartbreaks "know") her closest friend, the friend thanked in her Golden Globe win speech, and so have followed her career more closely than I might have otherwise.  And now, I hear she is leaving Grey's.  

Her friend put on FB this article about Sandra and her feelings about her character, and also Shonda Rhimes and her feelings about Cristina, and how they will write her out.  I particularly like that Rhimes said

"I know a lot of fans just want us to end everything by giving Cristina a baby [as if that's] going to make everyone happy, which infuriates me as a woman, as a human being and as someone who loves babies -- it drives me nuts. I adamantly stand by Cristina's ability and desire to not have a baby and to be happy about that. There's something great about this struggle and what's going to make her happy and see where they go next."

I love that Rhimes refutes the suggestion that everyone will be happy if Cristina has a baby, and insists that she can live happily ever after without a baby.  I wish more women in media (I'm thinking of the very disappointing and cliched ending of the Cathy cartoon for example) were prepared to step away from this view that is so prevalent in our culture, and acknowledge that women can be happy without babies - whether it is their own choice or not.




5 comments:

  1. I've never watched Grey's Anatomy, but I know the characters & basic storylines, & of course I know Sandra Oh, who is Canadian (& actually went to theatre school with a friend of ours! -- small world, isn't it?). I hope she & Shonda Rhimes stick to their guns.

    As a longtime fan, I too was so disappointed with the way Cathy ended. Another recent example -- the comedy "Rules of Engagement," which included an infertility storyline over several seasons, and ended the season & the series not only with the birth of the main couple's baby via a surrogate, but the infertile wife announcing that (surprise!!) she was pregnant. Like one baby wasn't enough & the baby via surrogate didn't really "count." I mean, really -- talk about overkill... :p

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    1. Argh, that sounds ghastly! Talk about give young women the message that their only point in life is to reproduce.

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    2. Way to perpetuate all the myths similar to "this one couple got pregnant as soon as they adopted". Blech.

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  2. While I personally have always wanted kids (as much as I would change the feelings now), I can completely respect that Cristina & other people can have no desire to have kids. Maybe someday our society will realize that there are many valuable paths in life.

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  3. I don't watch the show, so I don't know the story or the storyline, but I've also been feeling disappointed at some endings of a movie/TV series that I think shouldn't end with a pregnancy/baby. I remember watching Chuck TV series and I was SO SO SO worried that it'd end up with a pregnancy/baby, but thankfully it didn't do it. Phew! :-)

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