Scandalicious

I have to admit that when I first wrote the piece about Scandal I had only watched half of the first season. The episodes irritated me but I was even more bothered that I was unable to figure out the appeal of the show. What inspired women, especially black women, to look forward to the show so intensely? Reading the Facebook posts and Instagram memes felt like listening to people speak in a language I didn't understand. So, since I was on Spring Break and going through House of Cards withdrawl, I continued watching . . .and watching. 

As I looked at each episode I kept telling myself not to take it so seriously. Afterall, watching Scandal is like watching a soap opera (hence Fitz's miraculous recovery from being shot in the head)  However, the use of clichés such as the neurotic Jew (Rosen) and the evil Southerner (Doyle) were hard to ignore and I continued to be confounded and disturbed by Olivia and Fitz's relationship. Questions I had:

-Did Fitz really force himself on Olivia in an elevator during the campaign? Isn't that attempted sexual assault? And instead of calling the police or disappearing from his life, her response was to break the law and sacrifice her morals in order to get him elected President?

-Did Fitz really throw Olivia into a closet, have sex with her and then tell her that he couldn't control his erections and that their relationship was over?

-Was I watching Olivia Pope or Brumhilda in Django Unchained?

It also bothered me that in a show that takes place in DC and has a black female protagonist there is no explicit conversation about race. Sure there was Olivia's (accurate) reference to Sally Hemmings. Oh, and that instance when one of Olivia's clients mistakes Abby for the boss. However, neither of these issues is ever unpacked. Without any direct references to race Scandal felt like post- racialism with a black power soundtrack (what's with all of the Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan?). I just didn't get it. 

But then I saw this. And I got it. 

Much of what makes Scandal popular revolves around the politics of desire. In contemporary popular culture, white women are frequently the objects of desire, regardless of their character or personal accomplishments.  As black women, many of us have had the experience of being invisible to white men, and pushed aside by black men in favor of white women.

Scandal allows black women to live in a world in which the primary object of desire is a black woman, being desired by a (very) good looking white man. Olivia may be mistreated but she is wanted. And by The President of the United States, no less.  

Unfortunately being desired is not the same as being chosen. Or being the one to do the choosing. I was intrigued and excited by a show with a black female lead. I was ready to swoon over her fashion and root for her success.  Unfortunately, for all of Olivia Pope's intelligence-she's stupid. And she's willing to be stupid in front of an audience of her employees and peers (someone get this woman some girlfriends to snap her out of this foolishness). 

I do not expect characters to be flawless; that would be boring. However, repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result is not aspirational or inspiring- it's the most tedious form of insanity.  Furthermore, a black woman who is used for sex and then expected to be a "fixer" is nothing new. It's actually very old.  I keep watching in hopes of uncovering a deeper more progressive subtext, but I don't think there is one.