We need to ask every patient about their family history. Genetics should be part of the armamentarium of every practicing ophthalmologist. Genetics is relevant, not just for Inherited Retinal Diseases and congenital abnormalities but also for the leading causes of blindness: age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, myopia, diabetic retinopathy and cataract. As the explosion of data from genomics, big data and artificial intelligence transforms medicine, ophthalmologists need to be genetically literate. These themes in popular culture can be leveraged as tools to teach and engage everyone in genetics, which is now a key component in all eye diseases. Television shows such as Game of Thrones focused attention on the eye colour of characters, as well as their Dire-wolves and Dragons. Beyond genetics, colour perception touches on concepts involving optics, physics, physiology and psychology and can capture the imagination of the population, as we saw with social media trend of “#the dress”. How sad and untrue! Future television writers could learn tremendous lessons from Peggy Chantler, who wrote this episode.Eye colour and colour perception are excellent examples to use when teaching genetics as they encompass not simply the basic Mendelian genetics of dominant, recessive and X-linked disorders, but also many of the new concepts such as non-allelic diseases, polygenic disease, phenocopies, genome-wide association study (GWAS), founder effects, gene-environment interaction, evolutionary drivers for variations, copy number variation, insertions deletions, methylation and gene inactivation. It seems that the more shocking and controversial a show's content is, the better the quality, which believes the honest, warm sentiment displayed in this episode of "Hazel" as a relic from the Victorian Era and is not realistic for today's audiences. How sad that displaying honest, non-four letter word sentiment seems to be ridiculed, unknown, and shunned by comedy writers on American television today. While it could be argued that Hazel might've married Gus in real life, leaving an emotional vacuum for the Baxters, particularly, Harold, the logic used by Hazel to turn down Gus' marriage proposal showed an insight and maturity that sitcoms don't display and seem to, categorically, run away from. The way in which the expectations that old flames or "the one that got away" returning to one's life and promising a second chance at love really displays how far both former lovers have changed in their lives was also accurately and sensitively displayed by Hazel and the one man who she almost married and returned to her life, Gus. I was surprised by the honesty in which Harold's fear of losing Hazel to an old beau was honestly and sensitively portrayed, as it would happen in real life, not in any contrived way. This is part of what makes a sitcom a classic sitcom, as "Hazel" is. While many sitcoms and dramas today believe snarkiness and "pushing the envelope" sexually and verbally makes for great television, what really can make great television appears lost: writing that displays "great heart"., wherein the main characters express their feelings for each other in an honest, heartfelt way that cuts across all times. This episode has laughs but it also has what "Hazel" and the best pre-2000 sitcoms had: lots of heart. ![]() This is one of those episodes of television shows that one says, "They don't make them like they used to!".
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |