The overall purpose and message that medical dramas represent has changed throughout time. The first medical dramas started in the 1950s and meant to show the amazing progress of the medical field and the expertise of the professionals within it. These shows such as Medic and Emergency- Ward 10 served to “augment public trust in the medical profession” as “it was important… that these shows did not encourage anxiety and hypochondria, but instead reassured the public” (Creeber, 43-44). These early medical dramas focused on realism in their medical procedures and often starred a paternal-like doctor who never made mistakes; he had the answers to medical mysteries and knew how to solve everyone’s problems.
As time progressed, so too did the representation of the medical drama. Medical dramas began to represent realism less in the sense of procedural correctness, but more in the sense that doctors are human and humans make mistakes. The character of a doctor being an infallible character who knows the answer to any medical anomaly dwindled and transformed into the character of a doctor who was “not only more fragile, but more introspective about their failing potency” (Creeber, 44). A team of medical staff (doctors, interns, and nurses) who worked hard to figure out how to best help patients became the new star in medical dramas, but these teams, just like the doctors themselves, were “less potent than ever, neither heroic nor cool under pressure” (Creeber, 44).
ER’s “Love’s Labor Lost” shows this change in ideology when Dr. Greene falsely diagnoses a pregnant woman with only a bladder infection. When she tries to leave the hospital, she ends up having a seizure and, shortly after, has to be induced to give birth. After complications in childbirth, the woman ends up dying though Dr. Greene and his team try their hardest to save her (ER, 00:09:12-00:10:49…00:26:58-00:42:58).
Medical dramas also morphed to display a sense of greater cultural understanding, using “patients (and their illnesses) [as] vehicles for the exploration of particular issues and topics” (Creeber, 44). In St. Elsewhere’s “Cora and Arnie,” there is a stark contrast between the two patients in the episode. On one hand, there is a homeless woman, Cora, while on the other, is a wealthy woman, Mrs. Rogers.
Through the episode, both Cora and Mrs. Rogers have tests done to figure out what exactly is wrong with them while on screen, a visual representation of their bills increases with each test. As the episode comes to a close, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are confronted with their quite large bill though nothing was discovered awry with Mrs. Rogers; they are shocked by the amount but agree nonetheless to pay. In contrast to this, Cora’s stint ends with her refusing a much-needed surgery. She needs both of her feet amputated as an infection is spreading from her feet to the rest of her body; she chooses not to have the procedure because she needs to take care of her husband, Arnie, though she knows it means sure death for herself. Though a confrontation is never seen between Cora and her bill, the financial disparity between Mrs. Rogers and Cora is surely felt. Mrs. Rogers recalls her time in the hospital as “an adventure” while Cora hobbles away saying her inevitable death would be “no big loss” (St. Elsewhere, 00:43:25-00:47:16).
These new representations of the medical field may possess a strong focus on realistic and accurate procedures and perfect doctors, but they do portray a realness in the sense that the outcome in emergency (and non-emergency) medical situations are not always what is desired. Sometimes doctors fail and sometimes people die- but sometimes they don’t. Medical dramas such as ER and St. Elsewhere bring this concept to the forefront and show that doctors and other professionals working in the medical field may not be perfect, but they do try and they do care. In this sense, these new representations have the same goal as their earliest predecessors: to discourage anxiety and reassure the public.
Works Cited
“Cora and Arnie.” St. Elsewhere, created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, CBS, 1982.
Creeber, Glen. (2015). The Television Genre Book (3rd Edition). British Film Institute.
“Love’s Labor Lost.” ER, created by Michael Crichton, NBC, 1995.
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