Some television viewers feel compassion for her, while others want to strangle her.
But there’s one thing upon which they can agree: It isn’t easy to cozy up to Meredith Grey, the love-starved surgical intern played by Ellen Pompeo on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m. Sundays on KMGH-Channel 7)
Moody, self-centered, rude and whiny, she also tends to make terrible life choices and sleep around. On the Internet, where each soapy element of the show is rigorously analyzed, detractors call her a “major downer,” “tramp” and far uglier words. But despite all this enmity, “Grey’s Anatomy” is a Sunday-night sensation – and that makes the complex Ms. Grey an intriguing case study.
“She defies all the norms of network television,” says Lee Goldberg, a veteran producer. “Traditionally, your lead character in a drama – especially a woman – isn’t riddled with flaws. She’s someone you like, someone you look up to. But Meredith? Oh man, she’s a mess.”
For that mess, give credit (or blame) to Shonda Rhimes, the writer-producer who brought life to Meredith and her various foibles.
“She’s a little screwed-up. She’s not always nice. She doesn’t always do or say the perfect thing,” Rhimes acknowledges. “She is somebody without a home, without a family, without ties. And she’s a woman who, on many a bad day, goes to a bar, gets drunk, picks up a boy and brings him home.
“I remember thinking (while creating her), ‘She’s every woman I know – maybe a little heightened – but that makes her more interesting.”
Things got especially interesting during a recent episode in which Meredith crushed the heart of her genial roommate George, a beloved character played by T.R. Knight. First, she impulsively had sex with him and then, realizing it was a horrendous mistake, spurned his affections. Meanwhile, much to the dismay of some fans, she continues to pine – sometimes annoyingly – for Dr. Derek Shepherd, (Patrick Dempsey), a man with whom she had a fling before the revelation came that he was married.
After Meredith’s interlude with George, Rhimes’ writers’ blog was pelted with protests.
Rich Heldenfels, TV critic for the Akron Beacon Journal, spewed forth a scornful entry in his own blog under the headline “I Hate Meredith Grey.” In doing so, he not only found fault with the drama’s writers and the wispy Pompeo’s acting, but also suggested that Meredith should be axed and the show’s title be changed to “Anatomy.”
But Meredith has her supporters among the show’s predominantly female fan base, some of whom point out that the character’s deficiencies are a product of her background.
Since she was a young girl, Meredith has been estranged from her father, who split after his wife cheated on him.
Meredith’s mother, once a gifted surgeon, is now afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
This intern isn’t the first female television lead with emotional troubles and guy issues, but like such predecessors as Ally McBeal, Grey has a gift for polarizing fans.
And that can make for compelling television.
