Image via a general internet search.
I believe some folks hate Scandal because the main character is a successful Black woman who defies every stereotype of who a Black woman is supposed to be. The character of Olivia Pope is smart successful, elegant, worked for a Republican administration and she is in love and sleeping with a successful powerful White man. That image is powerful.
Image via a general internet search.
The big shock is that contrary to the myth that a White man only wants her for sex (as if there aren’t any Black men like that lol) in this show a White man actually loves and adores her. Why do I think this the case? Think about the silly comparisons to Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. When I heard that comparison I was astounded because Sally Hemings was a slave who had no rights and no choice. Open a history book. The character of Olivia Pope is a working woman who answers to no one but herself. Then I realized who was complaining. Hmp!.
What scares a lot of people who are invested in the state of perpetual victimization of Black women is that this show shows that Black women can expand their dating pool. That Black women can be successful, beautiful and loved. That Black women can put their self interests first. That Black women can be powerful and that Black women can have reciprocal relationships with powerful allies and confidants beyond the confines of the Black community.
If Olivia Pope had a partner who was a struggling Black male she would be seen as a strong Black woman who was lifting a brother up. If she was habitually single and searching for a Black king the folks against Scandal would love it. Don’t talk to me about that Black love stuff because even when there was a show with a well educated Black couple like the Cosby show people were against that too. The folks against Scandal are quick to call the maid, the mammy, the poor mom, the crack head, the video vixen, the reality show star, and big momma who is struggling to make ends meet, taking care of her extended family, is stereotypical or is endlessly looking for Black love real. They are mad that a Black woman, Shonda Rimes, the person who created and writes the show, cannot be pigeon holed and hasn’t conformed to their definition of the Black womanhood. Crazy right? Well for those who benefit from the state of perpetual victimization of Black women it is a scary thought that a TV show could influence their meal ticket, meaning Black women, enough to start charging for services rendered or saying no mas to mule behavior.
In 2013, Don Cheadle won a Golden Globe for best male actor for his performance on Showtime’s sitcom House of Lies.
I have heard others say how come there aren’t any shows with Black men? I want to know where you have been. There have been many shows that have had Black male leads. Some Black male leads include Damon Waynes, D. L. Hughley, Bernie Mack (RIP), Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Taye Diggs, Bill Cosby, Ice Cube, all things Tyler Perry, Don Cheadle, Will Smith, Dennis Haysbert, and countless others. This is the first time in 40 years that a Black woman has had a lead on a major network. In fact, unlike the Black men who do not watch Scandal, Black women do support shows and movies created by and starring Black men. For those who say there are no shows for Black men I say go turn on BET. That station shows your image every single day. Your hyper masculine image dominates and sadly defines Blackness in the form of Black entertainment. In fact, female entertainers have to emulate strippers and porn stars and skin bleach because you have the keys to the industry.
Image via Wikipedia
For those complaining about the morals of Scandal let me let you in on a little secret. It’s a soap opera that is no different from any other soap opera. Not once did I hear complaints about how shows that star White women always feature an episode where the main character has a roll in the hay with a Black man. It is then that the White woman has her coming of age moment. See Sex in the City, The New Adventures of New Irene and others. On these shows the White woman never marries the Black man but she finds herself in the process. So who is being used? I guess for White women and Black men that is empowering.
Whelp if you don’t like Scandal don’t be a part of the eight million that do. I will be watching on Thursday with my red wine, robe and big fluffy slippers along with millions of others who loves seeing a Black woman who does not fit into your box.
Stay Bougie!!
NOOOOO!!!!
I agree so much with this post.
The show is entertainment to me… period. The character of Olivia Pope is not representative of me as a Black woman, and it’s unfortunate that some Black women seek to clamor so much for representatives that we can’t see the strength and accept the flaws in our own beings.
As strong, intelligent, beautiful, and successful as Olivia Pope is, she is as flawed as any other human being, Black or White, male or female alike. However you spin it, she is an adulteress who is no more at fault than the adulterer. She actively participated and covered up illegal political activities on the largest scale, and her business is to get paid big bucks to cover up the moral, illegal, and or inhibiting transgressions of the rich and powerful, by any means necessary.
She can turn on the charm, rage, and tears at the drop of a dime to get whatever way she deems required, and will use whoever, however she deems necessary. That is in NO WAY who I look up to as a representation of me… And the only way that this is any different than any other reality television program depicting women who will do whatever it takes to achieve what they want… is that the script and fashion on this program is MUCH better… it makes for good television.
This post is EVERYTHING! Olivia Pope, is my spirit animal!
It’s a soap opera for gosh sakes, and please show me any woman who do not use their wiles and I would have to think “fake”…I love Olivia’s character..it’s a show about real life…IJS…
I agree wholeheartedly. This is the most well written, superbly acted show on television. The subtle nuances that take our breaths away and the frailty of the perfection of the characters endears us to them. There is nothing in the content of this show that makes it any less appropriate for prime time than the ubiquitous death-murder-kill shows on every channel.
Olivia is our heroine because she is NOT fictional. A certain class of us ARE her, our colleagues ARE her. He recognize ourselves in her. We don’t idolize from an “only if…” point of view. We ARE Olivia and she IS us. In her case, fiction IS a reality for a great deal of us. THAT’s what the OTHER side doesn’t know. There is a great divide between the class of black women they see on the news and in hip hop, and the rest of us.
I’m a professed ScandalHolic, and I too will be found EVERY Thursday with a glass of wine in my hand, paralyzed in a state of surgeon-focused attention watching my newest and most entertaining addiction… The best show on television ANYWHERE, Scandal.
Tan Scarborough
Let the church say amen!
I agree with EVERYTHING here. But I wanted to add that as a black male, what makes Scandal so great for me is that all of the characters are HUMAN. In the beginning of the series Pope is depicted as a perfectly strong woman who shows no emotion, yet as time progressed she became unnervingly human. She struggled like HELL with her feelings on her relationship with Fitz (so much so that I as a fan don’t even know if I want the two together), she struggled with the decision to put Fitz in office, and so much more. Rhimes does this with all her characters and having the diversity that the show has really allows for a large number of stereotypes to be broken for a lot of people, though arguably most notably black women.
So I’ll DEFINITELY be watching the newest episode tomorrow because the show is so unapologetic in its flawlessness.
Woot! Woot!
Wow, I agree so much with this post. I just heard about this serie, and I am looking forward to see it. Unfortunately I have grown up, and lived, in a country where there are not many black people, and the few that are there, are not successful examples at all. So finally seeing a serie where a protagonist is a powerful black woman is really what . Even if it’s just entertainment, it’s a huge step. Usually the roles of black women in series and movies have always been marginals (like a random friend of the protagonist, or even just a background actress), and I end up liking a particular movie or a serie a lot, only because there was a relevan (more than others) character. Sorry for my English, as I am not a native speaker. But I started a blog to get together my thoughts about race from this point of view. And English is the only way to communicate. In my mother tongue nobody would care about reading it. http://oreaoreo.wordpress.com/
“Scandal” was stolen from a screenwriter in NJ, now living in Maryland. Without the resources to fight the Shonda Rhimes machine, he was left with nothing. The script was actually a feature film passed to a rep for Washington in 2010. Strangely enough, the “idea” came to Shonda Rhimes in 2011 and guess who the star is? No such thing as coincidence.
It’s unfortunate that these so-called Hollywood ‘stars’ are allowed to go unchecked like that. But it will all come out in the wash. No deed of that type goes unpunished somehow.
I was laughing so hard reading this. I agree with you 100%. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like the show, but you gave so many valid points to the ones who don’t.
Many do.
The point about her independence as a Black woman is cheap at best. It is as cheap as our collective consciousness. I unlike Michael Jordan would never marry or have sex outside my race because i know that empowerment of a people comes by way iof strong communities and strong communities by way of strong families so my choices are made in that arena. Im tired of the bland infantile coopting of independence over collective consciousness. You very seme folk sit back and complain about the negatives of those who havent made it. Individual independent thinking will never create anything but selfishness. Christianity even asks us to compromise our will for the Lord. God understands that true growth has more to do with others than you. Finally do you think Jews would watch a Jewish girl being fondled and groped by a German in the same place where decisions were made to decimate Jews. Those who disagree are not warriors for thier people period.
How in the world can you talk about Black consciousness when you worship the “slave masters” god?
” In fact, female entertainers have to emulate strippers and porn stars and skin bleach because you have the keys to the industry.”
Black men control the music industry?? Hmmmm….I don’t think so. There’s another group of people who have the “keys” to the industry. Black people don’t control the music,film or television industries. Black people are given “certain roles” to play that fit certain stereotypes. I’ve read all comments on this blog and it doesn’t seem like any of them have a full grasp on how Hollyweird really works. Most are still caught up in the matrix,so to speak.
The reality is that there seems to be many images of black men portrayed as homosexuals or just effeminized men in general. And you don’t see many black relationships on tv as much anymore. It’s obvious to me this is being done on purpose. But many black folks are to blind to see how television can alter your perception of reality.
I’ve also noticed a pattern with Shonda Rhimes. Even in Greys Anatomy and Private Practice she had an interracial relationships on both show. Then of course we have Scandal. Hmmmmm……seems like a pattern to me. What does she have against black love? It’s almost like she purposely avoids writing about functional black relationships. She decides what she writes about right? It’s not like someone is telling her what she can and can’t write…..hey wait a minute! You don’t think? Nah they don’t decide what will be allowed on the television airwaves do they? Who is “they”? Well if black folks are not in control of their own images,that means that someone else decides what’s the appropriate images for us. I think many of you maybe be starting to see the big picture.
One tribe,one people,one destiny. Thank you.
If you don’t think that Black males do not make casting decisions in their videos you are sadly mistaken.
Oh, I’m sorry…I guess Webber’s marriage to Adele, and now his romance with Catherine Avery, and Bailey’s reationship and marriage to Ben doesn’t depict Black love…
But what about the other relationships? Why are interracial couples alway present? People never want to address that reality. You just turn a blind eye.
Who’s turning a blind eye?? We KNOW it’s there…but that doesn’t discount the other relationships that you failed to mention in order to make your point. People are involved with people from other ethnic backgrounds everyday and everywhere…it IS reality.
Who controls Hollywood? Who green lights films? Who decides what images of blacks will make it on screen? The issue is much bigger than interracial couples. That’s just one example the media uses to promote disunity among black people. There are many more. So don’t get so hung up on the interracial thing. Until you understand the system you will always be confused. You have to be able to grasp the bigger picture in order to defeat your enemy in the game of survival. White folks are playing chess,while we’re busy playing checkers.
I think what’s missing here in this post and it’s comments is the realization that Olivia Pope’s character is screwing around with a married man with children, who also so happens to be the president. It matters less that he is a white man or that he is a successful white man. The controversy would still be the same if Olivia’s character was screwing around with a non-successful black man. Her actions make her the mistress (some would say even a whore). And that’s what make her so scandalous. It’s very upsetting that people glorify what she is doing. It’s wrong, whether it’s with a white or black man.