TV hospital drama Scrubs tells young men that it’s OK to lean on other people for support.
Everyone feels overwhelmed every now and then. Whether it’s the rigours of the job, the family or just the daily business of living, everyone recognises that life is not always easy. So we need other people to help get us through it. This is the premise of Scrubs, a hospital drama from the States, that has been running since October 2001 and which is now gaining in popularity this side of the Atlantic, particularly among young men.
How to cope?
The use of a hospital as the arena for this study of the male psyche is perfect. The subject in question is J.D., for whom each episode acts as a kind of journal that he keeps on his way through his medical career. He shares with the viewer his experiences of a job that can be unpredictably tragic and of relationships that can get unpredictably complicated. We see the crushing need that he feels to live up to the high professional standards required of him and then watch as his actions reveal his limitations. He is confident with patients but unsure of his decisions inside, clever in his academic understanding during Q and A’s with the consultants but needing emotional maturity in his understanding of relationships. How does J.D. cope? Well, he makes the most of his friends.
