I often unashamedly admit my love for the leading lady too many times. I just have such an affection for women who lead a show, who are the matriarchs of their own world. These women can be lawyers, mothers, teachers, TV executives, deputy directors of Park and Recreation, doctors, nurses; they can be anything they want and still be the most powerful person, the most dramatic person, the strongest person, the most vulnerable person.
Shows that feature a female lead have multiplied over the last decade, in fact for the first time ever the biggest night on American TV (Thursday) on one of the biggest networks (ABC) there are 3 shows all dedicated to the lives of women. We should take a moment to bow our heads to the Queen that is Shonda Rhimes who wrote all 3 of them (Scandal, Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder).
However I am not here to talk about all the leading ladies in my life, I am here to talk about one in particular - Olivia Pope. Played by the beautiful, talented Kerry Washington. I will stand up and say that she is the most well written female characters of all time. Olivia is what is known as a 'Fixer', she takes on people's problems and makes them go away, although these aren't any small problems - we are talking about world wide scale political scandals. She puts her neck on the line every time she takes on a client, she saves lives and reputations. However she isn't one without her own scandal - she did have an affair with the President of the United States for quite some time. We can't be mad at her for this though, at the end of the day she is still human - she has needs just like the rest of us.
What I love the most about Olivia is her humanity, yes she fixes problems for some of the worst people in politics but she doesn't do it without letting them know exactly how she feels. No one gets away scot free. She will show her disgust if she is disgusted, but she will show her sympathy if she feels for the person. She has one of the most level heads in the game, she sees what people see and what people want to see. My favourite moments of hers is when she breaks, when she shows her emotions and she shows just when it gets too much. She maybe be a hero to a lot of people but she isn't super by any means. Her weaknesses are her family, her love affairs and her fellow Gladiators.
She can be forgiven for having weaknesses, for instance she must come from one of the most disturbed, fucked up TV families of all time. Her father is the commander of a secret government division that doesn't exactly follow the law, and her mother? Well, she is cold blooded killer. It's amazing Olivia came out so strong at all. Her Gladiators (co-workers) are a weakness to her because they have become her family now, they are the people she leans on and the ones she wants to help. Her relationship with Huck pulls at my heartstrings everytime. She takes broken people and builds them up again, and the love she develops can only be compared to that of a family. Then there is her other weakness - love. She is in love with the married President of the USA. They had their affair and it ended (or has it?!) They both need each other and they can't walk away.
I made quite a bold statement to say she is one of the most well written female characters of all time, but I will stand by it unless something goes dramatically bad. She breaks all the stereotypes, she creates a new president.
A scene from the last episode - the acting ability and strength of character floored me
Olivia and Huck
And please just for a second can we applaud the amazing costume designers of the show
No comments:
Post a Comment