'The Resident' brings awareness to black mothers dying during childbirth
Kira Dixon Johnson and Charles Johnson's experience at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center became inspiration for Netflix doctor series
How could viewers possibly go wrong watching any show with Morris Chestnut and Malcolm Jamal Warner bickering? And not only are they arguing, but they’re complaining about who is a better surgeon. Black women and black men are everywhere in the Netflix series “The Resident.” And unlike shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” which has dragged on for 12 too many seasons (after Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan died), “The Resident” doesn’t rely on one character to save the day at all times.
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The first episode initially made me believe Dr. Conrad Hawkins (played by Matt Czuchry) or Devon Pravesh (played by Manish Dayal) would be in every single scene, but I was wrong. Dr. Mina Okafor (played by Shaunette Renée Wilson) — a black woman medical professional — is just as significant and gets just as many scenes as these white and Asian male heartthrobs.
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I started off watching the show solely to see Warner, because he’s in quite a few promo shots for the show, but within a couple episodes, I was as hooked on this show as I was with “House.” I loved Omar Epps as Eric Foreman on the latter show as much as Hugh Laurie, but it always felt like Foreman was going to get fired on every episode — sorta like the way black people always die in horror movies (including “The Blackening”). On “The Resident,” this diverse group of doctors all seem to be equally important.
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And if that wasn’t intriguing enough, Season 2, Episode 20 “If Not Now, When?” took on the topic of black women being ignored by non-black nurses and doctors. I shook my head and stared at the screen while one black mother complained of pain after a C-section and was ignored over and over and over again.
And while some viewers may have dismissed the episode as just for entertainment, the final scene between Warner, Daval and the guy playing the new father left me wiping my own eyes in horror. To make sure “The Resident” drilled their point home, viewers were reminded of what happened to Charles Johnson, the husband of Kira Dixon Johnson. And that story was not made for TV.