Who is Olivia Pope?: An Analysis of Contingent Agency via Representation of 'Scandal's' Lead Black Female Character

• In Event: Scandalous Representations: Across Four Decades of Black Women in Primetime Television

Abstract

In its season three premiere, Shonda Rhimes’ ‘Scandal,’ generated 10.5 million viewers and 712, 877 tweets, and was ranked the second most watched television drama among adults, ages 18-49. In January 2013, Nielsen reported ‘Scandal’ as the highest rated scripted drama among African-American households. While it is necessary to recognize the progressive representations in the evolution of the Black female character in primetime television, this paper also calls for a critical analysis of the politics of representation of Olivia Pope. Drawing from Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams, and Patricia Hill Collins, this paper will examine Olivia Pope’s character as a practice of resistance, restricted by crippling structures of race, class and gender. It investigates Olivia Pope as a conditioned form of agency, which in practice helps liberate Black women from some structures of oppression, and simultaneously perpetuates and reinforces hegemonic cultures that demean and marginalize Black women.

Author

• Loren B Saxton, Bowie State U