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Why the Firing of Brooke Smith is Bigger Than ABC Wants Us to Think
I have loved Grey's Anatomy since it started, but things have not been going well lately at Seattle Grace. Things need to get back on track because the competition on Thursdays at 9 is fierce. CSI is still going strong on CBS, and on NBC, 30 Rock with Tina Fey is so rocking good and timely that it has risen to the top of my must-see list.
So here's my gripe, and it still focuses on the firing of Brooke Smith. The episode last week which was Smith's last was a big disappointment and while ABC wants this story to go away, I'm not yet quite ready to let it go.
If you haven't watched the episode and still want to -- stop reading here.
Dr. Hahn, played by Smith, was right about calling UNOS (the national organ donor bank) to report the shady behavior of Seattle Grace regarding the heart transplant of Denny Duckett two seasons ago. The fact that her lover, Callie Torres, (Sara Ramirez) defended Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) who by the way, she hates because Izzie slept with her husband, is just pathetic.
It just seems to me that the folks at ABC got skittish about Brooke Smith playing a strong, normal-looking woman who happened to be a lesbian (who you made a full time cast member last season to great fanfare. Also, didn't you know that Smith is a fantastic character actress and not a bimbette?) Her exit was so disappointing (first time writer Bill Harper got the credit according to the Grey writers' blog which did not touch on the controversy at all.) The timing of her departure really sucked since she was kicked out the week that California and three other states voted against gay marriage. Timing is everything and you blew it here.
The forced statement that Shonda Rhimes released last week mentioned that Smith was not fired because she played a lesbian and that the show still has lesbian on it -- Callie Torres -- rings false. On the episode, Callie denied she was a lesbian which is what led to Dr. Hahn walking away into TV nowhereland. And her constant on the job sexual exploits with Dr. McSteamy proves her sexual confusion. It's like she needs to prove she's not gay. For a show that prides itself on diversity, this doesn't cut it.
So was Smith fired because she is not "pretty enough" to play gay on TV? On mainstream TV girl on girl sex is seen as hot; yet a relationship between two normal looking women is what, scary?
I remember clearly two years ago the big controversy when Isiah Washington called T.R. Knight a "fag" and he was ultimately fired for uttering that slur. The cast mostly united behind Knight, yet I see no one stepping up to talk about this issue except for Patrick Dempsey who when he appeared on Ellen last week hysterically read ABC's talking points (which he actually pulled out of his pocket to show how pathetic it was)
We've had a great time working with her and that the conclusion of her [role] has been orgasmic' -- I'm sorry, I'm dyslexic -- 'organic ending to the storyline.
Dempsey's statement:
After watching Dempsey I am more convinced that this is gaywashing and that ABC just got really nervous that the show was becoming too gay. But, how can ABC have this reaction to Grey's when Kevin on Brothers & Sisters is so gay all the time. He is even got married on the show. Is it that we are more accepting of gay men in normal relationships than gay women?
And where is the rest of the Grey's cast? Where's T.R. Knight? Couldn't this be a great time for them to stand up for tolerance? I'm waiting.
Originally published on Women & Hollywood
Follow Melissa Silverstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/melsil
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I am having trouble understanding why a normal person like Brooke would be booted instead of people like Katherine Heigl who is obviously there only for her looks. There was a lot more to Erica that potentially could be revealed with time. And don't talk about being mean. What about Alex, he has been mean forever yet he was tolerated and now we understand him more. ABC needs to grow up and everyone needs to stand up for Brooke Smith. She is awesome. And Erica was right about the chief hiding things about the hospital. He is obviously more interested in fame than in caring for patients.
I am disappointed beyond measure, frankly I will not be watching Grey's anatomy anymore. Or ABC for that matter.
You are so right kristmas. It certainly makes no sense that such a good actress as Brooke was booted. Erica was a complex character and her story would have unfolded eventually...at least that's what I thought. I believed it was only appropriate and deserving of us as Grey's fans to have seen her charater played out in a meaningful way. I am standing up for Brooke Smith...she's brilliant, talented and beautiful. I have tuned out. Grey's is dead for me!
I thought last season the flirtation between Callie and Erica seemed natural and well scripted. This season it turned forced and unappealing. Last season you could see the warmth under Erica's cold exterior and why Callie was attracted to her, this season, she was always nasty and mean and I couldn't see what Callie saw in her to begin with. Then when they had Callie sleeping with McSteamy - that all seemed so phony and just plain stupid. I'm glad they got rid of this storyline because it was heading nowhere - this show seems to be going down the tubes.
I'm so glad this slap isn't being ignored. Brooke Smith is a great actress. And as you pointed out, people don't want to see 'real' women as lesbians, just sex kittens. The rest of the characters on this show are BORING and their storylines are tired. Now we all know why the show has fallen from No. 1 to No. 9. ....This is one more viewer they have lost.
Her character was awful .. People did not like her....She was more likeable in the cellar in Silence of the Lambs.
Yup, Ms. Smith was hosed and treated badly. But at $450,000 a minute the producers blinked.
Timing could not have worse with Prop 8 but I don't think anyone connected with the show has ever shown any bias at all. Taken in total, exactly the opposite.
Part 5
in the end, a story that needed to be told (and with better writing probably could have been rehabilitated) has been awkwardly and nonsensically abandoned and a terrific actor has been sent packing undeservedly...what a waste...
Part 4
about the chemistry cont'd - why didn't ABC, the creaters, writers, etc., understand this? well, sometimes you don't know where you're going until you get there --- it's been stated in other articles about the show and i agree that it's one thing to have what is so far a familiar, accepted image of lesbianism on television and by that i mean young, very attractive, very slender women experimenting with one another, etc., -- that's hot, as they say, and non threatening --- afterall, it is really a caricature of gay women and caricature is what we see on SNL every saturday night and makes us laugh and not bat an eye ... but it's another thing entirely to have two women in their 30-40's, not so slender, and at least one not "conventionally" beautiful going at each other on network television -- these two women look like the average american woman and the story's emphasis on all the heavy duty sex talk and hanky panky was too real, too lesbian, too scary for some...in other words, not hot....again, the writers should have taken their time, let the viewer get invested in the coming out story, let the viewer embrace the new dimensions of these characters and the deepening emotional connections....instead, i think the viewers felt like they were hit upside the head with a gay story ratings grabbing gimmick...
Part 3
as for mean erica -- well, i liked her character! in fact it is what brought me back to the show last season...the character erica brought a different energy to the cast and wasn't the typical cutesy girly girl character...she was unrelenting driven, uber confident, brassy, and uncivil --- there was clearly a story to tell about the character, layers to be explored and ABC blew it first by firing brooke smith because she had the mega talent that lends itself to artfully depicting such a complex character and second by writing her too much like a rabid dog... i'm not surprised some viewers balked at mean old erica hooking up with the much more palatable and sweet callie...and making erica the unrelentingly mean and bitter lesbian just played into people's ugly sterotypes about gay women...
as for the chemistry -- the producers raved about the chemistry between the actresses and for that very reason they chose to pursue the lesbian storyline between them and for me they had great chemistry....i think so long as they were friends, the viewers had no problem with the chemistry, but once the ill written storyline began, that's when the trouble began... the problems with the storyline overwhelmed everything good about the couple for some viewers...in addition, there is the matter of the physical appearance of the actresses...because of the heavy emphasis on the sex, so too was there a heightened awareness about how these actresses look...
Part 2
as for the story arc -- they moved too quickly, so quickly most viewers, in particular straight viewers, missed the coming out aspect of the storyline...folks, not everyone who is gay readily understands this part of themselves...you can attribute this lack of understanding to denial, lack of point of reference in one's life, cultural and religious practices, whatever.... but that is what the coming out process is about -- recognizing first for yourself that you are gay, then sharing this understanding with your family and friends, etc... for many people this understanding can come in your 30's, 40's, 50's, even later in life...the writers didn't take the time to illustrate this process well or at all really, so of course many viewers thought WTF?? -- especially about callie, given her history with men on the show AND the fact that they had her sleeping with mcsteamy during her relationship with erica... the audience felt manipulated & confused ...it's no wonder the story seemed forced and some viewers didn't buy it....beyond that, callie is a popular character for viewers -- the audience themselves needed time to deal with this new part of the character, much like in real life when someone you know comes out to you, it takes some getting used to, so to speak...
Part I
some thoughts - first of all, this wasn't simply a lesbian relationship between the characters erica & callie...rather, it was a coming out story in which two women, with their new-found awareness about themselves, decide to pursue their attraction for one another, physically and emotionally...unfortunately, the storyline was poorly written in terms of the speed of the story arc & how the writers chose to tackle the s e x u a l issues involved...
about the s e x -- it offended some in the straight audience & believe it or not caused controversy even among lesbians & gays themselves... for instance, the notion that callie would sleep with a man so that she could learn how to please a woman was beyond icky, it was insulting...i can't imagine the writers doing something similar for a hetero couple on the show, so why do it for the lesbian couple? grey's is a fun and quirky show, but that little tutorial was a bit much & certainly too much for the average straight person, never mind how that violated the proverbial lesbian code... bottom line, the writers focused too much & too soon on the s e x and should have kept it to simple, universal themes that every viewer could relate to without the discomfort that often accompanies s e x u a l depictions on television -- they should have focused on the developing emotional & connection between the characters - the falling in love aspect,
Very well said Siney. I'm so glad you took the time to post that. Maybe it will help some people understand.
thanks. yeah, i am so dismayed by the whole thing, as are so many others. i'm particularly disappointed in shondra rhimes, the producer, for lacking the capacity to take on this story in the first place and then unable to control the reins once she got in there -- kinda like our soon to be former prez. it just seems so obvious to me and others what the pitfalls would have been, then again monday morning quarterbacking isn't brain surgery! LOL.....and people keep saying this couple had no chemistry, no passion, but the reality is they had plenty of chemistry...the problem is that rather than focusing on the real passion illustrated by the emotional connection - the falling in love - the writers focused on prurient s e x, offputting for many viewers even when it's just hetero hanky panky...it was a coming out story and a love story and except for the "glasses and leaves speech" (the one bright spot by the writers and smith nailed it), they failed to tell either of these stories....
Calie Torres character also boring me to bits. Sorry, the parts were just badly written, had nothing to do with looks or orientation. I suspect ratings drops caused them to jump gun.
As a faithful fan, I gotta say...I don't care why she's gone, I'm just glad she's gone. Her character was awful, she had no chemistry with *anyone,* and especially not with Callie. Besides, it's illogical to conclude that they wrote her off because she was gay. "They" made her gay to begin with. "They" have a history of standing up for gay rights and "they" could have easily written the end to the Callie/Hahn story and moved Hahn's romances off-screen.
I think this has a lot more to do with her character or something else that we all don't know about, rather than the gay storyline. Just MHO.
Actually, I was a fan of the show for a long time, altho it had lost it's glitter in the last season or two. So I was intrigued when they introduced this Callica storyline. I thought the evolution of Erica and Callie's relationship was spot on, and disarming. All this talk of about "lack of chemistry" between the two is so much hogwash.
That speech about glasses a couple of weeks ago, got me genuinely tearful.
Whatever is behind the firing, its not lack of chemistry. I think Brooke Smith is one of the better actors on the show. In fact , all the best actors seem to be on the margins of the show - like Sandra Oh, Chandra Wilson and Sara Ramirez.
In fact, if they took away the tedious Meredith/ Derek storyline, I'd find the show way more interesting. Its played out, but the writers keep chewing on it like a dog with a bone. Ugh!
So I guess this is it. I'm switching channels and watching 30 Rock instead.
You go, Kalapa. Excellent post. I thought that scene was fantastic too. Very realistic.
no kidding - agree wholeheartedly....the best actors on the show are indeed oh, wilson, ramirez and of course smith...i even thought washington, despite his bad acts offscreen, was great...i will continue to watch just to see how the writers spin the departure of erica and how ramierez plays callie's grief/reaction to it....how much you wanna bet they stick to their original plan afterall in bringing on this new actress, melissa george, for a callie love interest? and why not? she's young, very pretty in tv land terms, skinny, no doubt sufficiently coquettish -- just what the straight male audience, advertisers and those who do not wish to be confronted by reality prefer...
I am a big fan of Grey's Anatomy and I've got to say I thought the gay scene of Brooke and Callie was
simply awful. It looked terribly imposed on viewers from out of nowhere. Pure tokenism. I felt very uncomfortable by such a brazen "throw in a gay bit".
Maybe the ratings just weren't there? A lot of straight women watch this show, no? Maybe they aren't that interested in watching this storyline. Nothing against lesbians -- it was interesting to watch Callie struggle with figuring it all out and for them to explore their relationship. But frankly, I have trouble seeing someone like Callie first with someone like George and then with someone who is the complete opposite personality-wise. Let's face it, Hahn wasn't exactly the nicest person on the show. Why does she need to be an angry lesbian? Couldn't they have had a really nice person as Callie's love interest? I'm guessing, though Smith is a good actress, most viewers just didn't like her character. She just wasn't that fun to watch. She lacked the subtle nuance of humor that makes the other characters endearing.
Other characters endearing? Izzie? Meredith? Lexie???
YOU . MUST. BE. JOKING.
And Erica was almost always nice to Callie. They hit it off from the beginning. Nice to know you hardcore fans are paying such "close" attention.
Clearly, this is an article looking for an issue. To get down to discussing whether Smith is pretty enough to play a lesbian... your call, apparently... and call it homophobia... on a cast full of notoreiously good-looking people...
odd conclusions...
It's TV, not life.
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