Hashtag OMG Hashtag Shondaland

Posted on by Courtney Inbody

Along with the flurry of debate around Planned Parenthood and whether or not it deserves funding, one of the largest television shows during what is now called #TGIT commented on the subject as well. “Scandal” is one of Shonda Rhimes’ three shows that appears on Thursday night ABC television, and is at the forefront of commenting about social issues. The winter finally, entitled “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” received stunning reviews as it took the issues of abortion and women’s reproductive rights head-on with the show’s two female frontrunners: fan favorite Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and rising star Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young). It was a harsh split for the fans, as some praised the episode for being bold, and some shunned it altogether.

In the episode, two major plot points came about, and social media blew up using #Scandal:

1. Mellie Grant, Virginia’s junior senator, confronts the three white, male senators in charge of the budget bill because Planned Parenthood’s funding moved to the “discretionary” column. This basically means the funding can be taken away at any time. So while the bill is on the Senate floor, Mellie decides to filibuster to get that funding back. Permanently.

2. Olivia, sacred Olivia Pope, having an abortion on primetime television. Without telling a soul. Not like it’s her own decision, or anything.

The show took a risk by bringing up some of the most debated conversations during our political atmosphere right now, especially with the recent Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado and the presidential debates. One side saw this episode as a win for women’s rights, and one side saw it as disgusting “whitewashed” entertainment that never happens in real life.

What did you think? Did you #StandwithMellie and #StandwithPP? Or did you shun the show and vow to never watch #Scandal again?

C

3 thoughts on “Hashtag OMG Hashtag Shondaland”

  1. I am so happy that somebody wrote a blog post on this topic! As a day one Scandal fan, I knew right away that there would be much back and forth in terms of opinions on the episode. Checking the hashtag “#Scandal” after an episode never seems to disappoint when I want to see other people’s opinions on all of Shonda’s genius and controversial topics.

  2. As a non-scandal watcher but a definite Shonda Fan, I originally clicked on this post because I thought it was referencing Billy Eichners Billy on the Street Episode where he literally creates a “Shondaland” obstacle course (Highly recommended if you haven’t seen it yet) But I was pleasantly surprised to find our this article was tackling much more relevant and larger human issues like a Women’s Right to Choose and the vitality of Planned Parenthood. I think that this episode of Scandal, which I am now going to watch, is probably going to be looked back on as groundbreaking as Dawson’s Creek when they showed the first Gay Kiss on Primetime TV, and I applaud the entire creative teams decision to tackle an abortion and a PP Bill in the same episode. Snaps for Shonda.

  3. I am a HUGE Scandal fan and I love how Shonda uses the show as a vehicle to not only express her talents as a TV writer, but also to keep in touch with popular issues in today’s society. I think it’s really awesome that you mentioned the risks that the show has taken to stand against issues and become a voice for people within a lot of different issues, specifically women and abortion rights in this case. This was an awesome hashtag to write about and I’m glad you did!

Leave a Reply