How 'Scandal's' Shonda Rhimes Became Disney's Primetime Savior

[ViCiouS]

but the problem is youre cherry picking.. as far as the wire dudes liked stringer, avon, marlo, chris partlow and snoop all of whom are morally bankrupt.

Hell in the movies young men identified with O dog from menace 2 society and nino brown. Shit niggas STILL get ego hard ons for Tony Montana.

Youre holding women and shonda rhimes shows to a higher standard than any man show and the slick thing you make general statements about all female fans of the show and how its detrimental to them but give a pass to men by bringing it down to what YOU think and feel about those shows..

You got blinders on for this... its 2 completely different subjects

From my POV -Omar was the only person on the Wire I remember everyone was like that is that dude! until they saw him swapping spit with his partner...
Everyone else was chopped up for the good and shady including characters in the other shows i mentioned... for the most part I didn't see dudes running around quoting these characters or emulating.
I'm coming down on Shonda's shows because there is a pattern of moral rationalization, and because the core audience is female,
and the quality of writing is less than stellar,
and I'm seeing alot of females identifying emotionally with Olivia Pope, just like Shonda's other central female characters before her.

Recently I've heard too many Olivia Pope references or quotes thrown around - and when I get the females in question to really apply the reference or quote to the situation at hand - they end up flustered...
In Legacy's case -if you read her take on the character, she can't stop rationalizing... And its the same for all of the other ladies that I've run across that are fans, almost none can see the compromise of morals because they are caught up in the end result or the intention.

The shows you say I'm giving a pass to - are superior to Scandal in writing- (except 24) morals aren't hidden and there is obvious unintended consequences and blowback made very clear in every story for violations of moral law and the laws of power.

 

[ViCiouS]

I look at it very critically though. And i judge it along with the bigger picture. I personally have said many times and i understand that MANY times you have to break some eggs to make an omelette. When it comes down to it was it the right decision and did good things happen because of it even at personal cost. Everyone does this. Everyone does it. You're trying to find something to hate about her it seems. Which i guess is fine. I just don't see it the same way you do.

In life people often make decisions based on pure self interest. The character is 1 of those who isn't.

The thing is I see Olivia with the same complex Mother Teresa had... her hubris is her suffering and how much good she accomplishes, while ignoring the amount of pain or damaged caused... She's really no different form the other sharks - she's just on a different diet...

 

[WhenTheGoingGetsTtuff]

The thing is I see Olivia with the same complex Mother Teresa had... her hubris is her suffering and how much good she accomplishes, while ignoring the amount of pain or damaged caused... She's really no different form the other sharks - she's just on a different diet...

This explains alot. I see her as capable of being a shark. I see it like this, she had Huck. She knew what Huck was and what Huck could do, and curtailed him instead of letting Huck off the leash, like she SHOULD'VE done i feel in a few situations. That kind of means alot to me. That shows alot about her character to me.

She doesn't use what she can at her disposal to cause the greatest effect. And she doesn't do it because of her morality. And even maybe her concern for Huck. I think it may be a mix of both. As for women seeing themselves in her. Identifying with her. You don't seem to understand the level of which women can fantasize and then put the genie back in the box. This is a better soap opera for most of us. This is a better romance novel for most of us. When we're done with those? We put that shit down and get back to the reality of life.

 

[ViCiouS]

WTGGT its pointless to debate because your on the defensive. No matter what you say he'll find fault even tho there are plenty of examples of male characters who behave in the same manner.

This is the same tactic CACs use in race debates..they point out percieved faults in blacks... generalise it as something pervasive in all blacks ten you spend all your time refuting their claims. If you bring up their faults they either pretend its not as bad for whites as blacks or bring it down to the singular (I never did blah blah..I never seen blah blah)..meanwhile the problem with BLACKS is...

we got 2 very different debates...
Legacy is defending Olivia's morals... its entirely subjective - neither of us can "win" because of differing POV

You and I are debating - because you think i'm giving guy shows a pass but coming down excessively hard on Shonda's shows - thing is if the writing was tighter I wouldn't have a problem with Scandal. I would put it right next to Shield - Vic is a much dirtier character than Olivia, but the way the show was written they never hid it, the beauty of the writing was to get you to root for him anyway! Shonda constructs situations and relationships that if you aren't paying attention obscures the moral compass in story... What 24 did with urgency and nuclear bomb consequences, Shonda does the same with good intentions and helping people in need... with few real reactions or evolution and neat wrapups.

Every story you think I'm giving a pass to all of them have very clear consequences and reactions and often crazy permutations - there is always a price to pay even on Shonda's shows, but for her characters the price is often discounted. And the initial cost is usually hidden behind a sincere good intention of some type

 

[RunawaySlave]

Been watching the last 6 episodes. They say season one was much better...

I am one that says that. Seaon 1 was much more intriguing in every sense
Once they had that "Free Huck" shit in season 2 I was ghost and haven't watched since.
Huck should either be dead or still held captive like Bradley Manning but this mofo got out in 1 episode

 

[veritech]

You're inaccurate. The character makes very hard moral decisions each episode seems like. She saved all the people she worked with. Where's the lacking of morality there? She found a deranged mentally disturbed homeless man a purpose. She found a woman who was being beaten by her husband and saved her from that situation as well. Jefferson(Flutter) she kept him from prison. She could've had the president anytime she wanted. And instead kept herself from him on many occasions. She kept herself from attaining love because of a moral decision that was for the BEST of all. You're totally missing the real issue of the show. But instead you want to attack a black woman.

That stuffs just weird man. The character shows a moral struggle every episode and has dealt with the consequences just like everyone else has who she helps "fix". You guys STILL won't tell me why you're so lenient and just non existent when it comes to black men with white women though.

That's just perfectly the fuck fine.

I don't know of any shows with a black man as a lead fucking multiple white women. Especially on network tv. That shit would never get green lit.

 

[Lucky7s]

Icb.

 

[cocobeauty]

So u hate white people but u celebrate a show where the lead character is a "Strong" black woman that rejects the black dude who wants her to get smutted by two white dudes... friends... in the same season.

Y'all funny as fuck. Good for Shonda tho. Decent show.

^^^
I like Scandal but I have a huge issue with this very thing as well as this being a married man. And it pisses me off that she gets that weak behind him and people glorify it.

 

[capitalq]

Ol girl is making BANK for some jews at ABC/Disney and the CAC-owned advertisers.

Fuck the show, how about we discuss how we can generate that type of money for Black owned businesses.

 

[tampabay904]

I don't care. The show entertains me. I like the situations i loved the season finale. Shit was a BANGER!!! I want her to be with Columbus Short. Because i luh heem. But black women have been shit on pissed on kicked at by YOU fellas for a long ass time. That's part of the reason the show draws like it does. Black women feel this is a come up. They feel like "yay we're FINALLY not getting fucked over!"

I understand why they like it. I understand why i like it. And it's great that you don't ask me who my favorite characters are and their storylines. lol just make the assumption.

AND i'm glad this black woman is doing her thug thizzle out there. Hopefully when it comes to success and how to handle business, how to write compelling shows, some black girls will be inspired. Ask questions instead of make assumptions.

black women are damn near worthless. shes such a fucking whore. white men would never allow a black man to treat a white woman like that on tv. yet the white man wipes his ass with our "best" and black bitches rave about it. but again, rather a white mans dirty whore than a black mans wife is what is encoded in the DNA of the american black bed wench.

 

[playahaitian]

“I'm going to be totally honest with you, I completely deserve this,” Shonda Rhimes said after receiving the Producer Guild Association’s Norman Lear Award for Achievement in Television Saturday night. “I have against the odds, courageously pioneered the art of writing for people of color as if they were human beings. I’ve bravely gone around just casting parts for actors who were the best ones. I fearlessly faced down ABC when they completely agreed with me that Olivia Pope should be black. And I raised my sword heroically and then put it down again when Paul Lee never fought me about any of my storytelling choices.” The delivery of her speech may have been tongue-in-cheek, but as the solo female recipient of the award, Rhimes had good reason to leave self-deprecation at the door.

Rhimes went on to make the larger point that she had not created a new vision for television, but simply insisted on depicting the world as she sees it. “There was no blazing and no trails,” said Rhimes. “It’s not trailblazing to write the world as it actually is. Women are smart and strong. They are not sex toys or damsels in distress. People of color are not sassy or dangerous or wise. And, believe me, people of color are never anybody’s sidekick in real life.”

Here are a few more highlights from her speech:

Taking other producers to task for not making more diverse shows:

See, the thing about all this trailblazing that everyone says I’ve been doing, it’s not like I did things and then the studio or the network gasped with horror and fought me. It was 2004. Norman Lear had already done a bunch of trailblazing 40 years earlier. When I came along, nobody was saying no. They were perfectly happy to say yes. You know what the problem was? I don’t think anyone else was asking them. I think it had been a very long time since anybody asked or even tried. Maybe content creators were afraid, maybe they had been hitting brick walls, maybe they had had their spirits broken. Maybe their privilege had made them oblivious. Maybe. But for me, I was just being normal. Maybe their privilege had made them oblivious.

On being disappointed that we still have to talk about diversity on television:

I created the content that I wanted to see and I created what I know is normal. So basically, you are just giving me an award for being me, in which case I totally deserve it. Really, I am honored to receive it. The respect of this award does mean the world. It just makes me a little bit sad. First of all, strong women and three-dimensional people of color is something Norman was doing 40-something years ago. So how come it has to be done all over again? What are we waiting for? I mean, I know this is a room full of producers, so probably you’re waiting for money.

Thanking the super producer in her life, Betsy Beers:

I can’t name everyone. So I’m going to be rude and I’m going to just name one person. Betsy Beers. She has stuck in the trenches with me day in and day out on these shows from day one of the pilot of Grey’s Anatomy. She is amazing to work with, and along way she has become a great friend. More importantly, we have over the years grown into a weird match set, and when our scary wonder twin powers activate, we become a single, terrifyingly amazing problem solving machine. Together we have seen things and heard things and done things that would make Olivia Pope run for the hills. That is called producing.