Scandal canceled?
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| Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington photo from ABC.com |
No. Scandal is not canceled. It is as hot as ever. Every Thursday it blazes up my Twitter Timeline and Facebook Feed. Yet, I have never watched the show. My sister implores me to catch up by watching online.
My Twitter Followers try to lure me in with their exasperated tweets. I even watch Funky Dineva Ross go in and let have with videos on YouTube. But I have not gotten into it.
The Scandal craze reminds me of the 24 craze. I did not get into it either. Not since I lost my love for The Game have I been enthralled in a series that requires me to see every episode to know what's going on.
I hear Scandal is great. It has everything I love... passion, scandal, politics, power...hahahaha
But even with all of that, I cannot get into it. Neither can a few folks I've talked to about the show. They dislike it for many reasons...
I have heard a couple of men say, "Oh, if it were a brotha as president banging down some buxom blonde that show would not last five minutes." "Why does the show celebrate being the side chick?" "Who is Olivia Pope in the show? Seems like she is the comfort girl like on Django Unchained."
One person has even gone the length of starting a petition to get Scandal off the air:
The TV Show "Scandal" is a negative portrayal of black women. In the show a black woman plays the role of mistress to the president and uses her access, gained by way of her affair, to manage or fix other crises. This sub-plot is disguised as a love story when it fact it subliminally infers to young black women that being a mistress to a man with power is acceptable if it helps your career.
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| Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington as Django and Broomhelda, husband and wife |
I have not seen Django Unchained, but my homeboy says in the film, the pretty slave women who are threats to run away are kept as "comfort girls". Basically they are raped by the White men on the plantations.
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| Kerry Washington as Broomhelda in Django Unchained |
I know, I know... Olivia Pope is dope and she is voluntarily in this affair...but I'm just saying! Anyway, Django has enough controversy of its own. So that's the only comparison I will make.
The flip side of this is...heroes and heroines always have flawed personas. They are never perfect and their characters are endearing even when scorned. If you're an old school watcher of soaps you know that Reva Shayne, from CBS Soaps' The Guiding Light, was nothing but an ol' nasty gutter bucket trollop...but you could not get enough of her and yearned for her to be with Josh Lewis. (Or maybe it was just me...I watched those soaps starting at the tender age of 5 lol)
If Scandal did not add an element of passion and controversy, would anyone watch it? Would Kerry Washington have a lead role in a fiery series? Would Shonda Rhimes have another hit like she did with Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy? Ms. Rhimes is one talented chica!
Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Rhimes is an American screenwriter, director and producer. Rhimes is best known as the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice. Wikipedia
Oh and she's a fellow Capricorn! I cannot get into the show, but I cannot knock the hustle.
What do you think? Is Scandal yet another negative portrayal of Black women? Or should it be heralded as a come up for Black women in the entertainment industry?
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