In a recent episode of Collider Ladies Night, actress Shabana Azeez delved into her journey to the hit HBO series "The Pitt" and offered an in-depth look at her character, Dr. Victoria Javadi, particularly her Season 2 storyline. Azeez discussed Dr. Javadi’s complex relationships, including her contentious dynamic with her mother and a rivalry with Ogilvie, but most notably, her unexpected emergence as a TikTok sensation.

Dr. Javadi, who is still finding her footing at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center ER, is revealed to have a significant online presence. In "The Pitt" Season 2, Episode 4, titled “10:00 A.M.,” a patient (Elysia Roorbach) who used superglue for her lashes insists on seeing the "best doctor in Pittsburgh," known as Dr. J on TikTok. This revelation unveils Dr. Javadi as a megastar on MedTok, a medical TikTok community. This seemingly lighthearted plot point carries substantial weight, offering insights into Dr. Javadi’s character, the nature of social media, and the pervasive issue of inaccessibility within academia.

Shabana Azeez emphasized her commitment to ensuring Dr. Javadi maintains her "girlhood" throughout her character arc. Azeez explained that Dr. Javadi's comfort with the internet stems from her generation, particularly having been raised during the COVID-19 pandemic, making online spaces authentic to her. Azeez seeks to challenge common assumptions about young women and TikTok, stating, "I think particularly with young women, we can go, ‘Oh, she's on TikTok probably sharing her outfits and other such things that we've decided are insignificant or vapid or shallow or whatever.’" She aims to subvert this expectation, portraying Javadi as "exactly like the other girls" – someone who loves purple, Olivia Rodrigo, pop music, and glossy American teen shows – and is incredibly smart. This approach aims to counter the need for women in authority to perform masculinity to be taken seriously, a historical form of sexism that maligns femininity. Azeez believes that for Gen Z, it is possible to be feminine, girly, smart, and deserving of respect.

Regarding Dr. Javadi’s primary goal for her TikTok presence, Azeez highlighted her character's desire to use technology for good, not just entertainment. Dr. Javadi is using her "tiny amount of power as an individual person" to address the gatekeeping prevalent in academia. Azeez pointed out that academia has historically been inaccessible to people of color, women, and many others. Social media, conversely, offers accessibility, allowing for the democratization of information. While acknowledging the significant problem of misinformation on these platforms, Dr. Javadi’s objective is to leverage social media to share expertise and make knowledge more widely available, directly confronting traditional gatekeepers. Her philosophy is that technology is neither inherently evil nor good; its impact depends on how it is utilized.