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Maria Perez from The Huffington Post has written an open letter to Grey’s Anatomy in reference to Isaiah Washington getting fired from the show:
…I don’t agree with what Isaiah said. It was awful — and awfully unenlightened. But it’s his personal opinion. I don’t have to agree with it to enjoy your show. I’m an adult; I can recognize that ABC, the show’s producers, its crew, etc., don’t have control over an actor’s thoughts. It doesn’t make me enjoy the show any less. You know what does? When you get rid of one of the characters in the middle of a major story arc. That maybe makes me enjoy the show just a smidge less.
And the bigger question: At what point have we stopped forgiving people? Isaiah apologized. He met with GLAAD. He filmed a public service announcement. Why can’t we forgive him and move on? Is what he said that much worse than fatally stabbing a man (Charles S. Dutton, who served seven and a half years in prison)? Or drug possession (Tim Allen, in jail for 28 months)? Or allegedly hitting your wife (Sean Connery, as quoted in Playboy: “I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong in hitting a woman…”)? We’ve forgiven them. Heck, we’ve even awarded them with Emmys and Oscars, so I know we can do it.
Bottom line: What Isaiah said was stupid, hateful, hurtful. But he’s taken steps to educate himself and to educate others so they don’t make the same mistake. Let it — not him — go. Why should we viewers have to suffer?
Oh, and also, if you could stop the whole Izzy and George storyline, that’d be great.
Sincerely,
Your Biggest Fan
I agree with Maria. I really don’t see why Isaiah Washington got fired after all of his steps toward asking forgiveness. Unless there’s more happening behind-the-scenes than we know…
i totally agree…isaiah washington is sorry enuf and deserves a second chance!!!…..afterall we are all humans and the show is definately going to be boring without him and abc needs to admit that….BRING HIM BACK!!!!
I totally agree. People need to be forgiven and to take one of the MAJOR actors in the show away it sucks! what happened to forgiveness… plus like everyone said he did what he was supposed to! I think its unfair and the writers need to rethink what they did.
I have to respectfully disagree with the opinion of Maria Perez.
In her letter she pointed to a number of instances wherein the regrettable words or conduct of others has been “forgiven.” I believe she cited these examples as a means of illustrating the fact that people are generally forgiven, in one way or another, for their indiscretions. But what she neglected to factor into her argument is that in modern society, there are certain WORDS or PHRASES, that once uttered, can have the effect of destroying the speaker’s career.
One notable example of this phenomenon is when former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott jokingly claimed that he supported the segregation of public schools. Within a couple of weeks, despite the fact that he had repeatedly apologized and attempted to explain the context in which his comment was uttered, he was forced to step down as majority leader and his reputation was in shambles. To give this point more clarity, I ask, what does one think would have been the likely result of a white cast member of “Grey’s” using the word N*****, or even worse using the word in reference to IW? Any intellectually honest person would concede the fact that this cast member would have been immediately labeled an ignorant bigot and ultimately fired, regardless of what that person did to make amends for his “unenlighted” comment.
So because it is clear that society demands that certain racially or class-based defamatory remarks be severely punished, it should require this of ALL such remarks. And there should NOT be any distinction drawn when a minority uses a bigoted phrase about or in reference to a member of another minority class. This person should be punished for the remark that he made!
I totally agree……PLEASE BRING HIM BACK!!!!!!!!
I really love Dr. Preston Burke and the Preston-Cristina relationship……….
The show will definitely…. well……not be the same as before……you know what I mean…
And please stop Izzy and George storyline………its so gross you know…..
Its much better they stay as friends…
umm…how about that ending…snippy!!!!
yes i agree!!! grey’s anatomy wont be the same again. why end the character at the peak of everything?
I agree. Grey’s Anatomy is going to suck without Preston Burke. I agree that what he said was wrong, but what was even worse was the fact that he got fired for it. Preston Burke and Christina’s relationship was so real, they had so much chemistry. And that is over because of one mistake. We are all human and we all make mistakes and they acted like he had killed somebody when he said that. I think that he should not have gotten fired. I don’t think I’m going to watch the 3rd season of Grey’s Anatomy. Its just going to be boring.
P.S. Stop trying to make George and Izzy a couple its sickening. And stop trying to give George major storylines he’s not that good of an actor.
The show is really going to suffer from the decisions that they have made.