The End Of An Era: ‘Scandal’ Changed The Way The World Watched Television, And How The World Viewed Black Women

By CANDICE BENBOW via https://www.essence.com

Last night was the end of an era.

After seven seasons, Olivia Pope donned the white hat for the last time and we said goodbye to Scandal. When it premiered, Shonda Rhimes gave us a high paced, political drama with more twists and turns that should have been legal for an hour-long program. The world fell in love with Scandal; ratings and reviews quickly proved that it would be a cult favorite. But, while everyone fell in love with Liv, there was so much more to Scandal that showed Rhimes created it with us in mind.

Kerry Washington amazed us weekly as Olivia. The first Black female lead in a primetime show in over 40 years, we were introduced to a Black woman who was a force. She takes no prisoners and wields a power that we don’t get to see many Black women have. Though the character is modeled after real-life “fixer” Judy Smith, Rhimes was able to take Olivia in directions that allowed us to imagine what it would be like to see a Black woman as the most powerful …

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