When Mary Richards burst out laughing at Chuckles the Clown's funeral, I could totally understand that. She's mortified, of course, and when the minister says it's ok, that laughter is what Chuckles would have wanted, Mary starts sobbing. It seemed both funny and realistic. I was trying to decide if the laughing scene at George's funeral in this week's Grey's Anatomy was realistic, and I guess it is. No one really knows how grief will affect someone, and laughter is as good as any method of handling grief.
I mean, the whole thing was sort of crazy -- that George would be hit by a bus while saving someone. And then that "someone" would be crying more than anyone else at the funeral. No doubt, she was filled with guilt and grief over the whole thing.
And for us viewers, it was a nice relief from the sadness of George's death. After five seasons, I'm sort of grieving for him, too. Do you think the scene was realistic?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-26-2009 @ 1:47PM
Paige said...
If you remember, in either season 1 or season 2 there was an episode where Izzy explained she had inappropriate responses to sad? (can't remember if it was death, grief or just stressful situations). So this was right in keeping with her character! I loved it.
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9-28-2009 @ 5:51AM
Pj said...
they did cover it in season two in the bomb epi code black i think when she could stop laughing n sleeping with alex
9-26-2009 @ 1:55PM
dkaarma said...
That's the scene your questioning if it's realistic? What about everything else that's gone on in the last few seasons?
All TV shows require that you don't question what's going on too much. The stories on TV are about as robust as the sets, they look ok as long as you don't look at the back of them and see all the gaffer tape holding them up...
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9-26-2009 @ 2:14PM
ianisthmole said...
The strange thing is that this was already covered in the previous review of the episode.
It makes total sense that she'd cry and that everyone else would join in... and it created some much needed comedic relief as the episode had been ridiculously heavy up until that point.
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9-26-2009 @ 2:15PM
Sancty said...
The strange thing is that this was already covered in the previous review of the episode.
It makes total sense that she'd cry and that everyone else would join in... and it created some much needed comedic relief as the episode had been ridiculously heavy up until that point.
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9-26-2009 @ 2:16PM
Sancty said...
Furthermore... do you guys even read each other's posts?
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9-26-2009 @ 3:36PM
Joel Keller said...
Sure we do, but we encourage our writers to give their own opinions on shows, even if it's their spin on something that was covered in the review.
9-26-2009 @ 4:55PM
Alex said...
Yes, Paige, is Season 2 (the bomb episode) Izzie starts laughing while sitting in the locker room with Alex and George. She laughs at the thought of Merideth dying and says she has inappropriate reactions in stressful situtations.
A scene later she is in the linen closet, Alex comes in and she tells him "I laugh at funerals" and he says "I don't go to funerals"
So yes, Izzie laughing is very realistic, it's her character, and her bringing the realization of everyhting to everyone, and them starting laughing was as well.
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9-26-2009 @ 4:55PM
Alicia R. said...
I think so. I mean, they are all so screwed up. It gave them what they needed at that point.
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9-26-2009 @ 5:05PM
jacqi said...
Absolutely..
Not only with following the aformentioned situations..
but in my own life's experiences at funerals..
laughter is appropriate at certain points in the grieving process.
I loved this...
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9-26-2009 @ 5:03PM
jboursaw said...
Oh, right, Paige. I remember that about Izzie now.
Well, hey, I'd rather laugh at a funeral than cry. I think that may have actually happened to me at some point. I go to a lot of funerals, and you can either spend your life crying or find a way to work with it.
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9-26-2009 @ 5:11PM
patrick said...
actually, i thought it was kind of a distraction. a weird recap of last season in an awkward moment. the laughing i could kind of see, but then they started running down all the major moments of last season and it threw me out of focus. and then the device was used again in the second hour. so, it could have been in character, but i think it might have been a little bit of bad writing. just my opinion.
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9-26-2009 @ 6:10PM
Jan said...
At my 12 year old son's wake, after several days of being in a cloud, we all got in a circle and just started laughing. It was such a relief of emotions, I know how they felt. Things can be so tragic that laughing is just another way of crying. Both are high emotional outlets.
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9-26-2009 @ 10:35PM
sophy said...
Wow, you know, I made it all summer without spoiling myself for the Grey's season premiere. I worked HARD at it. I skimmed over anything Grey's related quickly so as not to catch a glimpse of anything. I shut friends up super fast when they brought the subject up. The episode is sitting on my DVR and I was probably going to watch it tonight. And then I happen to be going by reading this blog, and I see the title, scroll by quickly, but because THERE WAS A SPOILER IN THE BIG SUBJECT LINE OF THE POST I got spoiled for George dying. Thanks enormously for not just putting a simple subject line up like you did for other shows premieres with the show and episode title. Seriously. I wanted to wait all summer long avoiding everything about the subject just to be spoiled for the biggest plot point ever mere hours before sitting down to watch the episode. MRRRR.
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9-30-2009 @ 1:17AM
Alex said...
you don't have to go looking for grey's news. there is no way u saw this on accident, unless u were looking for something grey's related. if you didnt want to be spoiled dont go online and look at stuff and then blame this author for posting thier opinions and throw a fit how u were avoiding it, cuz u werent!
9-26-2009 @ 11:09PM
Jane Boursaw said...
Sophy - The show aired Thursday night. It's been a couple of days. At that point, it's open season on what happens on any particular show. If you really don't want to be spoiled, then you shouldn't even be on the computer until you've watched the episode.
This comes up all the time, and 36 to 48 hours is plenty of time. We need to include key words in the post titles, not just to attract readers, but also for SEO purposes. "My thoughts on this week's Grey's Anatomy" wouldn't cut it.
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9-27-2009 @ 9:30AM
Katers said...
I remember a point at which I cried so much at my grandpa's funeral that it then turned to laughter. For me, this scene was insanely realistic, and was such a relief. We all know this show can mourn. We've had so many dead people to cry over that this seemed like such a breath of fresh air.
So many people are up in arms over the funeral laughter. I was one of the early George-lovers, so believe me, it was bittersweet to see him go. But, frankly, I can't imagine a BETTER way to remember someone-- with a smile rather than tears.
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9-27-2009 @ 5:01PM
Jake said...
Growing up I never really knew how to deal with grief, so I usually ended up laughing when people had died. This was especially embarrassing at my aunts wake as I started laughing in the middle of the ceremony. I think laughing is as good way of dealing with stuff as crying, we all deal with grief in different ways. The scene in Grey's reminded me of the scene in the 6th season finale of Buffy when Giles and Buffy spontanously starts laughing while talking about all the absurd and sad things that had happened the past year.
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9-28-2009 @ 9:49AM
grumpiestoldman said...
Have you never been to an Irish families wake? OMG..we cry, we drink, and then we laugh.
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10-01-2009 @ 11:36AM
lcdd said...
I don't know about everyone else but I thought it was realistic. But only because whenever I hear something shocking (like the death of someone) I begin to laugh uncontrollably. Which sucks because other people around me usually don't get that I am honestly sad and that I'm not finding it funny.
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