MEREDITH GREY AS GOD IN GREY'S ANATOMY

Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy has essentially become Meredith Grey’s hero’s journey. She navigates life’s ups and downs while dealing with her inner demons. Throughout the seasons, she has dealt with many forms of loss and has suffered through painful feats of life. Rhimes epitomizes female strength, capability and determination in Grey’s character. Grey’s character narrates the show; she remains the dominant in every scene she’s present in and the camera follows her in admiration. Grey is a vision of strength, whose rational logical mind doesn’t cloud her instincts and her faith in her abilities. Throughout the fourteenth season, the audience sees Grey as the embodiment of the unassuming hero, succeeding in almost impossible feats of medicine, and transcending her suffering (translating it productively in her work and in her relationships). The use of non-diegetic sound and the mise en scene (to enforce continuity) shows the power that Meredith Grey’s character has over the show, in order to communicate a form of omniscience and “Godliness” to portray female empowerment. 

Grey’s voice over throughout the show emphasizes the centrality of her character. She usually introduces the episode with a dilemma or part of a story, then concludes the episode with a moral for the audience. The use of non-diegetic sound solely through the voice of Grey puts the character in an omniscient position. She is wise and knows the story before its audience, yet the audience does not see her speak it. The character transcends the show and its audience through the use of voice over acting with omniscience mimicking the figure of God. (Keep in mind, she’s a surgeon as well and thus “plays God” by healing her patients.) The connection to faith is further reinforced in the scene used in season 14 episode 7 on the ferry with Karev when she refers to having a conversation with her dead husband, Dr.Derek Shepherd. In a way, Grey speaking to the audience and presenting us with morals of life alludes to Meredith’s association with the image of God. Here we see the feminization of the image of God, which is further reinforced by the transcendence of her suffering into an array of accomplishments (such as winning the Harper-Avery award). “Seeing is” in fact not “believing”; where one’s faith and instincts are validated. This emphasized the development of a show through the female lens, since the overarching “deity” over the show is an accomplished woman of immense strength. 

While non-diegetic sound acts as a device for Rhimes to exercise Grey’s feminine power over the show, the mise en scene aids in the continuity and the fluidity of the sequence of shots to further the representation of a Grey’s female gaze. In episode 7 of the 14th season, the scene commences with a 180 degree tracking shot of Grey on a ferry, as she overlooks the river. This glorified representation of Grey can be reflected as a representation of omniscience; she is on the top deck of the boat looking onto the river and the city ahead, detached. She is beyond the city where she works, where her life is. She’s looking out onto it as an objective being. Because the episode starts with a shot of her in a seemingly power pose, as the camera follows her from her looking over the river, to her walking to Karev reinforces the power that she has over the narrative. She introduces him; she has the power to allow his presence in her world. 

The mise en scene itself with the repetition of the diversity of shots that Grey’s involved in as well as her position as the dominant in multiple frames (strengthened by her dress in a contrast red coat) implies that she has the most power over this story. She is the unassuming hero, who is proud to have won such a prestigious award, and yet feels guilt without doubting the strength in her capabilities. The scene ends with a two shot of Grey and Karev looking out onto Seattle, followed by a bird’s eye view shot of the ferry and the city, reinforcing this notion of clairvoyance and omniscience. The types of shots associated with her power are explications and representation of the female gaze. She is the one who introduces Karev into the frame; thus the world of Grey’s Anatomy (as indicated in the show’s name itself) belongs to Grey. 

The association of “womanhood” to God through the character of Meredith Grey using non-diegetic sound and mise en scene reflects Rhimes’ focus on female empowerment in the show. Why can’t a woman be the mistress of her own world? The answer: she can; and this is seen through Grey’s voice over and the way the camera tracks her movement and documents how she introduces different characters into the shot. A woman, as per Rhime’s character Grey, is capable of handling explosive amounts of suffering and still succeed and thrive as a surgeon. Her powers transcend her gender; Grey doesn’t back down no matter how many curve balls life throws at her; she survives because she knows she will succeed because in Grey’s Anatomy, Grey is the master of all fates.