Grey's Anatomy Fans Find The Show's Military Depictions Flat-Out Embarrassing
For writers, there is a much different process between what it takes to write a TV script in comparison to a movie. For a movie, there is usually plenty of time for the writer to do the required research needed to make the story they are creating as accurate and realistic as possible, sometimes even spending significant time with people related to the topic. For writers on a weekly episodic series such as "Grey's Anatomy," time is not on their side. With installments airing only seven days apart, it is impossible to do the same type of in-depth research that would normally be dedicated to other forms of onscreen entertainment.
This lack of research time can sometimes make some TV storylines and dialogue feel unrealistic. If it's bad enough, some fans may notice the lack of accuracy when it comes to a certain character or situation, resulting in scenes feeling downright cringeworthy. Some viewers of "Grey's Anatomy" have pointed out that one of these types of unrealistic portrayals comes from how the show depicts military-related characters. This became clear when u/babyblossom410 presented the question on Reddit, "What do you think is the cringiest moment in 'Grey's?'"
U/woolfomynoggin was quick to reply with "Everything to do with the military. I'm a vet and no one acts like that. It's so embarrassing that they even think that of us." U/annalongleg agreed, "I think joining the military is a big decision that's awesome and something to be proud of, but I'll be damned if 'Grey's Anatomy' has an accurate representation of veterans." With comments like these, it's clear the creators of the long-running series haven't put enough effort into putting forth a realistic military portrayal.
Characters have even mispronounced the names of cities
When it comes to the military veteran storylines of "Grey's Anatomy," many fans pointed to the relationship between Dr. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) and Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd). Army veteran Dr. Altman, who has been featured in the series since Season 6, is the Chief of Surgery at the hospital.
Her husband, Dr. Hunt — often considered the show's most hated character — who met Altman in the military, is the Head of Trauma and was previously honorably discharged from the Army due to an accident that caused the death of his entire platoon. With the two of them not only married with kids but also working in the same medical field, there have been plenty of opportunities to show a realistic portrayal of two military veterans.
Based on Reddit comments, it's clear that many believe that the writers' efforts on this portrayal were an embarrassing failure for "Grey's Anatomy." In a separate thread, u/DaSchkoomp kicked off another discussion with the question, "Does the military-related stuff piss anyone else off?"
U/Itbutterscotch was quick to chime in with, "So much! When Teddy refers to her unborn child as 'soldier' is so ridiculous." U/DaSchkoomp agreed and replied back, "Omg I hated that!!! It's like if a teacher called her unborn child 'student.'" In the same thread, u/me-gusta-tortuga brought up an almost unforgivable production misstep, "They can't even get the pronunciations of 'Landstuhl' and 'Ramstein' right, like how hard is it to take 2 seconds to make sure you are saying names correctly?"