The aftermath of psychological trauma in Grey's Anatomy

120 Pages·2014·0.65 MB·English

A Hard Day’s Night:
The aftermath of psychological trauma in Grey’s Anatomy

Master’s thesis
Merja Hassinen

University of Jyväskylä
Department of Languages
English
September 2014

JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO

Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department
Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten laitos
Tekijä – Author
Merja Hassinen
Työn nimi – Title
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT:
The aftermath of psychological trauma in Grey’s Anatomy
Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level
Englannin kieli Pro gradu -tutkielma
Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages
syyskuu 2014 118
Tiivistelmä – Abstract

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tunnistaa ja kuvata tapoja, joilla fiktiiviset
henkilöhahmot amerikkalaisessa sairaalasarjassa Greyn Anatomia reagoivat psykologisesti
traumaattisiin kokemuksiin, sekä sitä, millainen rooli hahmojen keskinäisellä
ystävyyssuhteella on parantumisprosessissa. Analyysin kohteena oli sarjan kaksi keskeistä
henkilöhahmoa, Meredith Grey sekä Cristina Yang. Aineisto koostui kahdesta erillisestä
tarinakaaresta: molemmat alkoivat traumaattisesta tapahtumasta ja loppuivat molempien
hahmojen ns. löydettyä ratkaisun trauman aiheuttamiin ongelmiinsa. Yhteensä analysoituja
jaksoja oli kuusitoista (16).

Laadullisen analyysin perustana käytettiin kriittistä televisiotutkimusta, hahmontutkimusta
sekä psykologisen trauman, sen vaiheiden ja traumaperäisen stressihäiriön käsitteitä.
Varsinainen analyysi koostui lähinnä hahmojen välisen dialogin tarkastelusta ja tulkinnasta:
havaintoja tehtiin traumaperäisen stressihäiriön oireenmukaisesta käyttäytymisestä ja muista
traumankäsittelystrategioista sekä hahmojen tavasta käsitellä traumaa vuorovaikutuksessa
toistensa kanssa. Myös monologeja ja hahmojen vuorovaikutusta sekä heidän
kumppaneidensa että muiden kollegojen kanssa tutkittiin.

Aineistosta tunnistettiin oireenmukaista käytöstä etenkin Cristinan hahmon osalta, ja lisäksi
molemmilla hahmoilla havaittiin toistuva tapa käsitellä trauman aiheuttamia tunteita ja
menetyksiä. Hahmojen keskinäinen ystävyyssuhde oli suuressa roolissa trauman käsittelyssä,
ja trauman myös huomattiin vaikuttavan tähän suhteeseen molemmissa tarinakaarissa.

Sarjan tapa kuvata traumaperäistä stressihäiriötä vastasi melko hyvin kyseisen häiriön
todellisia diagnosointikriteerejä. Trauman lopullinen integrointi ja hyväksyntä sen sijaan
esitettiin jokseenkin yksinkertaistettuna ja katarsisena tapahtumana. Kaiken kaikkiaan
tutkimuksen voidaan katsoa tuovan arvokasta lisätietoa Amerikkalaisen yhteiskunnan
traumakäsityksestä sekä televisiosarjojen tavasta heijastella ajankohtaisia puheenaiheita fiktion
kautta.
Asiasanat – Keywords
television series, characterization, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder
Säilytyspaikka – Depository
https://jyx.jyu.fi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................5
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.....................................................................7
2.1. TELEVISION STUDIES..........................................................................................7
2.1.1. Characterization and character identity.......................................................10
2.2. PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA................................................................................13
2.2.1. Post-traumatic stress disorder.....................................................................16
2.2.2. Trauma fiction.............................................................................................19
2.3. GREY’S ANATOMY AND THE MEDICAL DRAMA.................................................22
3. RESEARCH DESIGN.........................................................................................27
3.1. AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS.....................................................................27
3.2. DATA SELECTION..............................................................................................29
3.2.1. Introducing Grey’s Anatomy.......................................................................30
3.2.2. Story arcs.....................................................................................................34
3.3. ANALYTICAL APPROACH...................................................................................35
4. ANALYSIS............................................................................................................38
4.1. STORY ARC 1 - DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS...................................................38
4.2. THE AFTERMATH OF THE SHOOTING..................................................................43
4.2.1. Avoidance....................................................................................................43
4.2.2. Disconnection..............................................................................................55
4.2.3. Confrontation..............................................................................................61
4.2.4. Resolution...................................................................................................67
4.2.5. Summary.....................................................................................................74
4.3. STORY ARC 2 - FLIGHT......................................................................................76
4.4. THE AFTERMATH OF THE PLANE CRASH............................................................81
4.4.1. Change.........................................................................................................81
4.4.2. Shock...........................................................................................................84
4.4.3. Comradeship...............................................................................................89
4.4.4. Resolution...................................................................................................93
4.4.5. Summary.....................................................................................................96
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION..............................................................98
5.1. CRISTINA..........................................................................................................98
5.2. MEREDITH......................................................................................................101
5.3. THE TWISTED SISTERS....................................................................................103
5.4. IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS..................................................................104
5.5. LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH...............................109
5.6. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................110
BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................112
PRIMARY SOURCES.....................................................................................................112
SECONDARY SOURCES................................................................................................112

5

1. INTRODUCTION
This study describes and discusses the ways in which psychological trauma and
its aftermath affect two central characters and their relationships in the U.S.
primetime medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 2005- ). More
specifically, the thesis focuses on the analysis and description of post-traumatic
responses and symptomatic behavior of two of the show's main characters,
Meredith Grey (the title character, played by Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina Yang
(played by Sandra Oh), and the role of their friendship on their recovery from
trauma. The analysis has been conducted by closely observing and describing
the characters’ communication with each other as well as with their spouses in
the aftermath of two separate traumatic events. In addition, a few examples of
their interaction with colleagues and patients have been included whenever
relevant to the topic.

The study draws on the broad theoretical framework of television studies;
research on characterization and character identity has also been consulted for
the purpose of explaining the importance of characters and their development
in dramatic television. For the purposes of defining and analyzing traumatic
experiences, literature on psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress
disorder, in particular, has been consulted. The analysis is qualitative in nature
and employs a hermeneutic strategy: therefore, instead of strict adherence to a
single analytical method, the analysis has been conducted by doing a close
reading on the episodes of two selected story arcs, making observations on the
ways textual as well as televisual elements refer to the psychological trauma
and its effects on the characters, and describing and discussing the observations
in detail.

Although both fictional television and the portrayal of psychological trauma
have been studied extensively, there are some major gaps in both fields
justifying this study. For example, psychological trauma has mainly been
6

studied in written texts instead of television; furthermore, the research has
focused on fictional depictions of real-life traumas while less attention has been
paid to representations of fictional trauma. With regard to fictional characters,
while character identity construction and/or characterization has been the
focus of some contemporary studies on fictional television (see, for example,
Calvin 2008), most studies seem to have focused on analyzing (more or less)
static identities, such as gender or ethnic identity, instead of exploring how
significant life events can affect characters and lead to character development.
As fictional television often reflects real-world concerns and events, even more
so when talking about a medical drama series taking place in present-day U.S.,
there is more than adequate reason for studying how such topical issues are
presented and negotiated in popular primetime television through which
millions of people can safely process difficult topics as well as reflect their own
attitudes and identities to the ones of the characters.

The present study is constructed in the following way: firstly, in chapter 2, I
introduce the key theoretical concepts used in the study as well as present
previous research on television series and trauma fiction and discuss their
implications for this study. In chapter 3, I present the research design, including
spelling out the research questions and introducing the data used in the
analysis. The main body of the thesis is dedicated to the actual analysis of the
data in chapter 4: here excerpts of the dialogue between the characters under
investigation are included to illustrate my observations. Finally, the findings are
discussed on a more general level in chapter 5 and possible implications and
applications for future research are suggested.
7

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
In this chapter I introduce the core concepts and theoretical framework used in
this study and present some of the previous research conducted on television
series, characterization and fictional trauma as well as the series under
investigation, Grey’s Anatomy.

2.1. Television studies

In this section I first give a brief introduction to the field of television studies
and then narrow down to the study of fictional television series, both of which
provide the present thesis with a number of relevant theoretical orientations.
More specifically, I discuss the concepts suggested in these fields in relation to
my study by presenting previous research on television and evaluating the
implications to the study at hand. In subsection 2.1.1., the concepts of
characterization and character identity are introduced, and their relevance to
the study at hand is discussed.

Bednarek (2010: 7-11) gives a detailed account on why fictional television is
worth investigating. She starts by stating that television is a medium which we
generally use every day. Consequently, the study of television is a broad and
lively area of research, ranging from studies in newscasters’ word choices to the
social impacts of reality television. Although it might be argued that the study
of television should indeed focus on the likes of newscasts and documentaries,
with more direct implications to “real life”, the immense popularity of fictional
television in itself is reason enough for it to be studied. Not even fictional
television is born in a void; by contrast, it reflects the way “societies are
organized and how societies create meaning” (Lacey 1998: 84, as cited in
Bednarek 2010: 8).

Bednarek (2010: 8) goes on to argue that television also plays a vital part in our
identity construction, even so that watching or not watching television can be
8

seen as an aspect of one’s identity. Similarly, Hermes (2005: 103) states that as
we watch television we also engage in a “dialogue about identity and
selfhood”. Moreover, as suggested by Cohen (2001: 245-246), identification with
media characters often leads viewers to relate to the events on the television
screen as if they were happening to themselves: according to Cohen, this
process is significant for the development of our self-identity. Similarly,
borrowing from mass communication research, the uses and gratifications theory
suggests that viewers do not simply passively consume television but use it for
identity construction and personal fulfillment (Butler 2007: 421).

Particularly relevant to the study at hand, Hermes (2005: 12) drawing on Ellis
(2000) declares that “popular culture is our therapist” in that television helps us
understand the “uncertainties and anxieties of our time”. It also allows us to
seek answers to questions regarding our own capabilities and destinies by
comparing them to those of fictional characters seen on television (Mepham
1990: 60, cited in Hermes 2005: 12). This is one of the reasons why studying the
effects of psychological trauma in fictional television can be fruitful: viewers
can see the process of recovering from a traumatic experience from a safe
distance and negotiate their own attitudes and feelings by comparing and
contrasting them to the actions and difficulties experienced by fictional
characters on the TV screen.

Bednarek (2010: 14) divides the characteristics of television into four separate
categories: communicative context, multimodality, code of realism and character
identity. For the purposes of this study, the three latter concepts are relevant,
especially that of character identity which will be discussed in detail in
subsection 2.1.1. The code of realism refers to the way fictional television series
emulate reality by adhering to the conventions and attitudes of the “real world”
and thus make the reality of the series recognizable to the viewers (Hermes
2005: 107). The code of realism stretches to fictional characters, as well. As an
example, Hermes (2005: 107) mentions a study by Ien Ang in which the
audience of Dallas (CBS, 1978–1991) reported identifying intrinsically “real”