Can I Live?????

There has been a lot said about Scandal and the representation of black women in media. It's absurd to me to think that one show, one character, has that power to define all black women.  Wow. And then there are these reality shows, but guess what... they do not represent all black women either. Because I'm sure Mob wives, or Jersey Shore, or Housewives do do not represent white women...Or Hone Boo Boo, for that matter. We are a selfish society, and apparently we like to watch others make a fool of themselves for entertainment, and then we go back to our own miserable fuck of a life...End of story...
I know it may be hard for many to believe, but black women are not a monolith. Gasp! I think I speak for many black women when I say, I'm tired of being put in a box. One side, from greater society ( read white) and the other side, from Black America..( and in my case Somali too!) I am tired of representing people that I don't share anything with but the color of my skin(or country of origin.) I only represent myself, and I should be judged according to my own actions...And hey, as long as I'm pleasing myself...At least someone will be happy :)
Alright,back to Scandal..I enjoy watching Scandal. I like the complexities of the characters, I like the story line, I like the (often) beautiful people in it, I am a huge fan of Kerry Washington, and most importantly I LOVE fiction. Yeah, sure, art does have power, and it does impact and influence society... But are you saying, women...black women like Olivia Pope cannot exist? All black women are the same? We all have the same ideas, same behaviors, same aspirations, same thoughts, same....No, human beings are complex. When I see Olivia Pope, I just see a complicated, at times selfish, misguided at times, emotional, highly intelligent and passionate character, and then some...Traits that we all can encompass as human beings. The fact of the matter is, you have a myriad of white actresses playing complicated, and sometimes unlikable characters...but instead of them getting flack for it, they get critical and rave reviews...Case in point, my favorite gal Cate Blanchett, who played a boozing,gold digging, sometimes psychotic woman in Blue Jasmine...and she gets an Oscar nomination...
I am probably one of the most outspoken and opinionated people you'll ever meet, and also a feminist. I detest the fact, that my integrity and character is questioned by watching a TV show. "Oh, black women, is that you think of yourself?" What? ....Again...What????!!! And this usually comes from other black people, unfortunately..
I think Black America is much more critical of black women than anyone else. Is it because you're putting us on a pedastal, or are you denying us our humanity? You're not doing us a favor. Despite what you heard, or want to believe, human beings, including black women, are FLAWED. IMPERFECT.   If I'm an actress, I want to play interesting, complex....most importantly, human ( sometimes alien lol) character. The fact of the matter is real life is not pretty...Bad things happen...Bad people exist in all colors..and some circumstances do not discriminate...We're not gonna tell those stories, because we only want one version? Isn't that what we have been complaining about?
Anyways, my entire point here is, stop reading so much into it. Art is supposed to be beautifully complicated. But beautiful nonetheless.
One more thing,about the race of the male actor...Does it really matter? Why can't black women fall in love with white men? Aren't all human? And haven't you seen SO MANY black male characters with white women..but now all of sudden...oh, this is wrong? Maybe, its because I don't really pay attention to things like that, as someone who has and will continue date interracially, but I have never thought that of the race of her love interest as a point of discussion or importance... Call me an idealist, but it wouldn't have any difference to me if Fitz was black.
Finally, on behalf of all black women ( yep, I said it!)," Can we live?"