29th
What does popular media say about how we feel about health care?
After ER turned in its final episode and “Grey’s Anatomy” turned from dissecting disease to dissecting the ebbs and flows of Meredith and McDreamy’s relationship, there’s been a slew of new medical dramas. First, there was “Private Practice,” a spin-off of “Grey’s” that subtly draws contrast between the settings. More recently, there’s “Mental,” which follows a young psychaitrist as he works to transform a hospital ward into a more humanistic one (all with an indefatigable smile). There’s “Hawthorne,” where it’s effectively ER meets tough LA inner-city. “Royal Pains” tells of a doctor who begrudgingly takes up practice among the rich & famous in the Hamptons but still struggles to practice ethical medicine.
Not only has there been an increasing interest in the medical drama in popular media, what these dramas say also seems to be shifting. Here’s what Dr. Hank in “Royal Pains” says to win over one of his skeptical, working-class patients:
“Hospitals are bureaucracies. Bureaucracies screw people. They overcharge you if you’re insured, and they really do it if you’re not, just because they can. You get zero leverage and no alternatives, so you get screwed. The system sucks.”
Hmm, interesting. Such a message would have seemed artificial even a few years ago, but today, the idea that our current system is inhumane and broken seems not at all out of place. Its existence actually suggests that it’s supposed to elicit sympathy and identification, as popular dramas are meant to do. Perhaps we’re on the cusp of a tide that has been turning and building. Are we really ready for change to happen this time?
