Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Resolved: Write Isaiah Washington's Character Gay



(image via graysanatomyinsider)

Some respectable netizens want Isaiah Washington fired; some want him to keep his job. This can't be an easy one for the show's creator and Executive Producer, Shonda Rhimes. One thing is for certain, By having Isaiah Washington making the obligatory rounds to GLAAD, the situation is not changing beyond the cosmetic surface. Sure, Washington may hear -- up close and personal -- how offensive it was to particular people use the F word in the context in which he used it, but does that really change the contents of his heart? Quite the contrary. It's like making racist cops attend PC-ish bullshit like "racial sensitivity training." Nothing changes, they only learn how to smile and eat shit for a half a dozen Saturday afternoons while silently abhoring the experience. It only drives the bigotry deeper, beneath the prying eyes of their superiors.

No, to really affect a change in Isaiah Washington's reptilian heart conditions would have to be such that he would have to walk a mile in the moccasins of, say, a gay man. So, why don't the writers of the show do so?

This is a win-win from so many angles. For one, it is a learning experience for Washington. Also, it would be a compelling "Reality" show of sorts. Third, it cannot fail to recuscitate the flagging ratings.

It is not an incommensurable plot line. One, Dr. Preston Burke -- the character played by Washington -- is a great cook. Two, he is, inarguably, metrosexual. And three, his volatile "romance" with Dr. Christina Yang could be explained by his growing attraction to men and his inability to articulate it .. until now.

Write Isaiah Washington gay,a nd let's see what he does with it. Otherwise, The Corsair can't see any other rational course of action other than firing him.

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