Would everyone please lay off Katherine Heigl?
Ok, let’s begin with the obvious. Even though, for some reason, no one is stating the obvious. SHE’S RIGHT. The whole Izzie/George story line was a complete debacle–an artificial and uncomfortably forced plot twist that demonstrated a complete disregard for the very lifelike characters that the writers had taken pains to establish in the first couple of seasons of the show. It never felt natural. It never felt like something that Heigl’s character, Isobel Stevens, would do. Moreover, the characters never had chemistry together. And the fans NEVER embraced it. The whole story line was crap. Gratuitous, sensationalist crap. It was the kind of writing that writers produce when they have lost sight of what makes their characters real and sympathetic and what makes their show special. (Anyone remember the disastrous Oliver/Marissa business on The OC? It was a similar misstep.)
Grey’s isn’t special because of all the scandals and the madcap sexual hijinks. Sure, that part is fun, and we do tune in in part to be entertained by the craziness that the characters get up to and to see what scandalous behavior is going on behind the closed doors to the on-call rooms. But as with all truly exceptional television (and movies, and literature), what moves people to watch week after week, to re-watch and re-read and discuss and obsess and anticipate is character. We fall in love with these naked, vulnerable people before us on the screen or the page. We invest in them. We believe in them. We care about them. We hate them and we love them and we judge them and we forgive them. And we like to think we know them. (And only good writing can do this. Bad writing doesn’t stand a chance.) Viewers were invested in Izzie. Izzie Stevens was the moral compass on Grey’s Anatomy, the loyal one, the one who always tried to do what was right, the one who demonstrated her genuine compassion and empathy for her patients, the one who wore her heart on her sleeve. For the writers to force her character into that ridiculous relationship with George (while both Izzie and the viewers were still mourning Denny, btw, and while the viewers were still curious to see what would emerge from this George/Callie pairing) rang false, and the viewers recognized that something was off and rejected the story line.
Point is, Katherine Heigl is absolutely right. The writers gave her crap to work with last season. CRAP, people!
But you know, the thing is, it doesn’t even matter that she’s right. What matters is that she believed in something and she acted on that belief and that all kinds of people are up in arms about how “ungrateful” she is. But she actually did something really gracious! She looked at her own work, decided it didn’t meet her standards, and stepped aside to make room for another qualified, talented actress to be in the running for a prestigious award. (If that made it more likely for any BSG actress to be nominated, we should all thank her!) Heigl didn’t wait for someone else to pass judgment on her. She judged herself and the material she was given and decided she was just going to take herself out of the running. Boys and girls, where I’m coming from, we call that a pretty classy move. It also proves that she’s not just out to accumulate gold statuettes on her mantelpiece–also classy. And that she’s intelligent enough to be able to tell the difference between crap and quality. And what is more classy than intelligence?
So, supposedly the writers are pissed at her. Supposedly producer Shonda Rhimes is pissed at her. And a whole bunch of other people are pissed at her. Rumors abound that she’s going to be killed off/written off.
Wait a minute!! Hmm… Let’s think… Wasn’t there another actor on the show who said something that pissed people off, and there was some kind of scandal, and eventually he was written off? That’s right, folks! Isaiah Washington (Burke) reportedly called his costar T.R. Knight (George) a “faggot” and nearly came to blows with co-star Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy) in an on-set argument as a result. The incident more or less forced T.R. Knight to come out of the closet publicly (but don’t we all dream of sharing our most intimate, personal and private revelations with People magazine?). Producers of the show were slow to react and were criticized for not responding more strongly. But eventually Washington was written off the show.
So let’s get this straight. One guy uses a anti-gay slur against one co-star and forces him out of the closet, almost gets in a fist fight with another, initially and publicly denies using the anti-gay slur (!) and refuses to apologize, then repeats the same anti-gay slur in a later interview at the Golden Globes. He gets written off the show.
Katherine Heigl, on the other hand, said this: “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.” And now it’s rumored that she’ll be written off the show.
Well, yeah. Sure. That makes sense, because of the obvious similarities… Uh…no…wait…!
Oh, and by the way…the only Grey’s Anatomy star who had the guts to step up and publicly criticize Isaiah Washington’s behavior from the beginning? That’s right. Katherine Heigl. I say, KEEP TALKING, Katherine! I am right behind you. Solidarity, sister! WOO HOO!
Shonda? You out there? Don’t be a donkey. Keep Katherine Heigl and make sure the writers give her some good material! Izzie’s a deep and wonderful character with a great backstory to explore–the trailer park, the modeling, the adoption. The writers did a great job there. You’d be a fool to cut out all those beautiful possibilities.
Finally, a shout out to EW’s Mark Harris for his reasoned response to this tempest in the Grey’s Anatomy teapot. You can read it in Entertainment Weekly issue #1003 (July 25, 2008) and link to EW’s website here: http://www.ew.com/ew/0,,,00.html
