Page - 50 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

Anatomy of a Wedding | 49www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 39–53 Burke women have worn this [necklace] on their wedding day. It’s a way of join- ing the family, becoming a Burke” (S3, E25). Cristina replies, “… a Burke.” This exchange clearly indicates that Cristina has no intention of becoming “a Burke”. In depicting 14 marriages in which none of the women change their surnames, Grey’s Anatomy rejects the notion of compulsory heterosexuality in which a woman submits to her husband (or partner) by taking a new surname and thus assuming at least part of his identity. Rather, the program maintains women’s identities as professionals and birth names of all women in the program remain intact. The notion of compulsory heterosexuality is also challenged by brides in the program when they assert that marriage is not a fairytale but rather a contract. Meredith, for example, clearly perceives her formal wedding as planned by Izzie, her marriage via Post-it, and the City Hall ceremony as simple legalities. Meredith tells Cristina, “I’m getting married today. Mhm. City Hall. No muss, no fuss, just quick and dirty” (S5, E24). The notion of the fairytale wedding which is fussed over and planned is not part of Meredith’s desire or intention. Simi- larly, Catherine and Richard enter their engagement knowing that marriage is “a merger, it’s a contract” (S11, E22). Perhaps the most blatant rejection of the inevitability and female “need” for marriage is the union between Teddy, a car- diothoracic specialist, and Henry, a patient; the two are married with the pur- pose of ensuring Henry receives Teddy’s health insurance. This fulfills none of Teddy’s material needs and is a contract which serves only Henry. This subver- sion of the female “requirement” for marriage is a clear rejection of compul- sory heterosexuality as Rich outlines it.34 These weddings reject the notion that women need, desire, and seek heterosexual marriage for economic and social protection. CONCLUSION As a highly recognized and markedly successful television drama, Grey’s Anatomy contains a depiction of both gender performance and compulsory heterosexuality, together with the important cultural event of the wedding, that offers a significant contribution to contemporary television culture. This theoretically and methodologically synthetic study35 combined communication theories, women’s and gender studies, and grounded theory based qualitative data analysis. Grey’s Anatomy exhibits a lack of consistency in its portrayal of gender per- formance, compulsory heterosexuality, and religion – there is no singular mes- 34 Rich 1980, 631–660. 35 Lotz/Ross 2007, 185–202.