Now, we all know that pretty much every sitcom from the 2000s had issues, especially as society has become more accepting and progressive over the last few decades.
Scrubs is no exception, and despite how adored and cherished it is by fans, there’s a new wave of Gen-Z viewers that have been slamming the show online.
There were several obvious prejudices hidden beneath the surface of the programme, and it is very dated at times.
The show’s errors were evident even while it was on the air, however, it may not be fair to judge it today because it ended more than ten years ago. At the time, fans overlooked the issues due to the show’s captivating, creative, and original premise.
Although there aren’t many transgender-related plots on the show, there are a few cases where the medical sitcom portrayed transgender individuals unfavourably.
J.D. made light of the fact that Turk “groped a transsexual” when he was on a night flight; it was an entirely unrelated joke, with the transgender person getting the short end of the stick due to their identity. The way Scrubs casually used terminology like “hermaphrodite” as an insult is horrific, despite the fact that the show was ahead of its time in many other instances.
The programme had a tonne of fantastic female characters, but as the seasons progressed, the characters grew more centred on the preconceived notions that men stereotypically have of women.
Throughout the series, Dr. Cox’s wife Jordan became a “ball buster,” and Elliot grew considerably less independent and a lot more insecure. To make matters worse, all the female characters were victims of s*xual harassment in one way or another, which was condoned on a frequent basis by Dr. Kelso.
To add to this, although they are never really seen, a number of LGBT characters are referenced by name in the show, and have only one purpose: to serve as the punchline of jokes. One running joke is that the reason Dr. Kelso’s gay son has the oddest jobs, like making meth or working as a “man-whore,” is because of his sexual orientation.
Then there’s J.D. and Turk, whose bromance is one of the best on television, but despite their enviable friendship, the two of them are always conscious of coming across as a gay couple.
It’s understandable why all this has resulted in dozens of teens branding the show “deeply problematic.”
One tweeted: “Yikes. Scrubs is sooo problematic. Like I know it was the early 2000s but… It was the early 2000s!”
While another commented: “Scrubs had as many problematic elements as friends did.”
what do you think?
