After
listening to last week’s presentation on “Mad Women”, I started to watch the
series Scandal, which immediately became my new favorite TV show. Olivia Pope’s
character embodies a strong female in the political world. However, after the
presentation I began to realize that all “strong” women represented in TV are
not as strong as we think. After researching I came across an interesting
article, “Olivia Pope and the Scandal of Representation” on The Feminist Wire. The article states
that instead of the series focusing on the strength and power of a female
protagonist it “actually centers on the seemingly salvific
protagonist of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy and the
lengths to which all people – women and men, black/brown and white, gay and
straight, etc. – will go to preserve it.” It’s interesting to see that all of
Shanda Rhyme’s shows express the ideals that all can survive in a patriarchal
society as long as they “play the role demanded for them.” While Pope’s
character is one of the first African American protagonist, which seems very
progressive, the entire story plot is her obsession with the President, an extremely
powerful and white character. What is also interesting is the lack of
background information given about Pope’s character. The article states:
“The type of information
we are allowed to know about Olivia is quite reminiscent of the ways black
actors and actresses accent the story lines of white folks in television shows
that do not claim to place them at the center of the drama. As a result of this
sacrifice of significant character development, the character of Olivia Pope
must rely on stale media representations of black women for the semblance of
substance.”
I also watched every episode of Scandal after being intrigued by the presentation in class, and was really disappointed to see a show far less progressive than I had heard described by various people. I watched all thirty episodes, unable to look away out of the desperate hope that if I watched long enough there would be a plot resolution. I did not allow myself to believe until the very end that the plot had not been frustrating for most audiences, and when it hit me that we were supposed to be rooting for Olivia and the president's "love" to win out, I was horrified. There had been no tension, I was watching it wrong, and many of my facebook friends enjoy the characters! What??!!
ReplyDeleteOlivia Pope is a woman who consistently puts her prestigious and one-of-a-kind career at risk to be consistently belittled, strung along, and taken advantage of by the president. Worse still, every single one of the president's circle makes similar sacrifices. The show revolves around the various misdeeds this group does to put and keep Fitz in office for the elusive reason that he is a "once in a century man." Fitz is a petty child, violent alcoholic, and abusive womanizer who is so comfortable of his status in the world that he is capable of killing an old woman rather than have his hands be caught in a cookie jar. Yet the adoration the characters have for him is literally ASSUMED TO BE OBVIOUS.
I was equally disappointed to see that Olivia is only excused from the "angry black woman" trope because it has been recast as the "angry hormonal woman" in the first lady. Melly is a woman who has forfeited her rights to her own body, mental health, and career for a man who treats her like a tax collector. She overlooks not only his affair with Olivia, but even his cheating on Olivia with yet another girl! She carries a child for the sake of his reputation and is met with abuse and neglect! Yet even the smallest expressions of her autonomy are met with a ruthless depiction of her as a heartless shrew. The single instance in which her thoughts are taken seriously occurs only when her leaving the president could possibly hurt his own reputation. The proposed solution? If Melly will agree to return, she will be "allowed to take one issue, talk about it and make it her own."
Disappointing all around.