Extra Credit Post 5 - Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes is not only a female director and screenwriter- she’s a widely successful feminist female director and screenwriter. She has revolutionized the way black woman are portrayed on television and in the roles they play. She has changed the stereotypical ‘angry black woman’ role, to one of a woman who is strong and successful.

Rhimes has produced several shows with female protagonists, which not only pass the Bechdel Test but also serve as strong feminist works. Focusing on the show Scandal, it is clear how the show propels positive representations of women in the media. The main character, Olivia Pope, is the epitome of what women should be on television. She is strong, independent, and doesn’t shy away from challenging her male counterparts. It is apparent that Rhimes does more than successfully portray gender and racial equality. The show is most productive at breaking down the societal barriers for womankind, and liberating women. Bell Hook argues that feminism is “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” Equality is not synonymous with liberation.

Rhime’s approach to portrayals of women on television shows is one that should be reoccurring on all of the shows we watch. However, Rhimes does more than chip away at the negative representations of women in the media, she also challenges racial stereotypes in Scandal and other works. Her approach to directing and producing her shows stems from a place of personal experience, in an interview with O Magazine she says, “Most of the women I saw on TV didn’t seem like people I actually knew. They felt like ideas of what women are.” She speaks about her process, as a way of breaking the glass ceiling that “exists in the face of being a woman and being black in this very male, very white town." Her shows are received extensively well by viewers, Scandal in particular has upwards to 8 millions viewers per episode. The popularity of her shows alone discredits the argument that we don’t have feminist works in media more often because people don’t want to see them. Men and women alike enjoy Scandal and are frankly obsessed.  

“I’m a black woman every day, and I’m not confused about that. I’m not worried about that. I don’t need to have a discussion with you about how I feel as a black woman, because I don’t feel disempowered as a black woman.”

Olivia Pope’s sense of self-empowerment emanates from Rhime’s personal writing and directing styles. She is a workaholic and her efforts have paid off well in the successes of her television shows. The positive messages for women and women of color transcend those in most other television shows that pass the Bechdel Test, which is why I consider Scandal to be a feminist work. The importance of the story line behind Scandal lie in the way Shonda has written Olivia Pope to be a successful black woman in a place of power. She has eliminated the one-dimensional black female character on television and made Olivia as a more realistic representation of women- as strong, independent and most importantly unique.