How Ellen Pompeo wants Grey’s Anatomy to change the way it approaches social issues

Ellen Pompeo may have a minor role in Grey’s Anatomy season 19 when it comes to her role as Meredith Gray, but she’s still an executive producer on the show and has shown she cares about the stories they tell. To that end, ABC’s hit medical drama addressed a number of social issues, including sexual assault, racism, substance abuse, and the COVID pandemic, to name a few. As far as Pompeo knows, you have spoken of the change you would like to see in the treatment of such sensitive topics in the coming seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.

The Meredith Gray actress spoke on her podcast Tell me (opens in a new tab) How? “Or what Grey’s Anatomy handled select episodes for the show’s first 18 seasons. She acknowledged that they were able to cover a lot of important topics and keep talking about the sequel. Speaking about what she would like to see in the future, rather than picking a specific topic, Ellen Pompeo said she would like to change the way these issues are presented. She said:

Ellen Pompeo spoke specifically of the Season 18 Episode “Stronger Than Hate” aired on May 19, during Heritage Month of Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands. The episode featured two of the hospital’s Asian doctors, Michelle Lin (Lynn Chen) and Nico Kim (Alex Landi), and nurse BokHee (Kathy C. An), treating a victim of hate crime. The characters share experiences where they have been treated as “strangers” and have been unfairly accused of COVID and other injustices. Check out the heartwarming scene below:

another of Grey’s Anatomy the best episodes of – Season 15’s “Silent All These Years” discussed the rape reporting process, including a detailed explanation of a rape kit. Although it was a scene that Shonda Rhimes had to fight to include in the 2019 episode, a similar scene was recreated Grey’s Anatomy excision of post 19 in his final season, after Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz) was attacked.

While Ellen Pompeo’s vision of letting things happen in a more subtle way can be seen in several episodes, the show has already done so with a number of issues. Richard Webber’s (James Pickens Jr.) alcoholism is something we’ve seen him live with throughout the series, as is Owen Hunt’s (Kevin McKidd) PTSD.

All of Season 17 was devoted to COVID and social issues arose from that. Season 18 featured Grey’s Anatomy Kai Bartley’s first non-binary character and actor ER Fightmaster has spoken how important it was to play an entire character who was a lover and a scientist, and whose entire identity didn’t revolve around being non-binary.

It’s hard to tell Grey’s Anatomy It’s not well on its way to shedding light on a number of different storylines, but it’s also nice to know that star and executive producer Ellen Pompeo continues to research how to evolve the series through the seasons that remain. Grey’s Anatomy will return at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct.6 on ABC. The first 18 seasons can be streamed with a netflix subscription and take a look at our TV program 2022 to stay up to date with all upcoming TV and streaming previews.