Has The Good Doctor become too political?
By Callum Gunn
Has The Good Doctor gone too far in raising awareness?
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TV and politics. Go back a few years and you rarely came across a TV show that raised awareness towards a political agenda. Before, either no show raised awareness at all, or so little did that it went unnoticed. Fast forward to today and pretty much every TV show is raising awareness for something. Not a week goes by that some episode contained a particular scene or moment that was intended to highlight a point that is currently ongoing in the world.
Grey’s Anatomy has been doing it, Orange is the New Black has been doing it. Lots of TV shows do it now. And they do it because TV audiences have grown so much and the majority of people get their information from their TV.
So when The Good Doctor started highlighting particular topics, it was not really that surprising. But with the most recent episode, “She,” did they go a little bit too far?
What happened?
In the most recent episode, “She,” The Good Doctor raised not one, but several topics that have been at the forefront of political agendas, media stories, etc.
They had a dad who had self-medicated so heavily that he had become immune to any antibiotic treatment. This links to the current debate on over-prescribing, the growing concern over the resistance to antibiotics and the prescription drug trade in general.
A young boy who identifies as a girl required an operation to remove a cancerous testicle. Her medication to suppress her hormones also needed to be stopped. This led to fears of her voice deepening, hair growing, etc. A suggestion of removing both testicles was then made to potentially counter this. Next thing you know, both grandmothers and parents are arguing over her identifying as a girl and what they should do.
All of this raises the awareness of transgender, acceptance of being trans, what they go through, and if a minor should be allowed to have this type of surgery or not.
Then we have Dr. Andrews and his wife wanting to have children. Fears of them leaving it for so long as they both focused on their careers led them to seek professional help and advice. The news is not good and an argument breaks out between them. During this argument, Mrs. Andrews makes the point of how it was much more difficult for her, that becoming pregnant and a parent can be a career ender.
Another big point in the world right now: How a woman in the workplace is treated if they become pregnant and have kids.
That point was then brought up again in a different light towards the end of the episode — what is the need to have a biological child, why not just adopt? Therefore, bringing attention to the growing number of children not being adopted.
Was it too much?
All of that, in just one episode.
The Good Doctor has raised other significant points in previous episodes. Claire being sexually harassed at work, Jared playing the race card in order to get his job back when the race had nothing to do with him being fired, how hospital policies can be downright stupid, and of course, Shaun, an autistic surgeon.
A lot has been going on in The Good Doctor and yes, it has become a bit too much. It runs the risk of doing more damage than actual good. They risk alienating their audience by becoming almost too preachy and not very entertaining, which is the primary purpose of TV. This would lead to losing viewers and therefore fewer people to raise awareness to.
A bigger risk is they do it so often they lose any effect they might achieve. If it happens again and again, it becomes the norm. You then lose focus and don’t actually pay much attention to the messages they are trying to send. Making people then ignore the actual problems, therefore, making it worse.
TV shows taking the opportunity to raise awareness is fine. It is part of 21st century viewing. But too much is no good. Like almost everything in life, you need to do things in moderation.
Next: The Good Doctor, Episode 14 Recap, 'She'
What do you think? Has The Good Doctor become political? Leave a comment below with your thoughts?
The Good Doctor returns, Monday, February 26, 10/9c on ABC