Hey everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and is doing their best at social distancing. Let me know if you have any good movie or TV recommendations because I am looking for suggestions.
I was introduced to the woman this week through her portrayal of a fictional character, Olivia Pope, on the show Scandal. Beyond acting and producing films and TV shows, this woman has been outspoken about justice in politics and promoted visibility and representation in Hollywood.
Our woman of the week is: Kerry Washington!
Washington has been nominated three times for the Emmy’s and two of those times has been for her role of Olivia Pope on Scandal. Olivia Pope is based off a real woman, Judy Smith, who is a crisis manager (aka a “fixer” in politics) and works to represent clients. In Smith’s case, she represented Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Many people, including myself, love Olivia Pope because she is a strong, fast-talking, intelligent woman who constantly figures out how to “out smart” people. Also, Washington’s character has a lot of notable quotes from that show that have resonated with a lot people. Specifically, there is a quote that Washington herself talks about hearing a huge response to it. The quote is embedded in a scene where Pope is talking to her father and her father makes her say what he has taught her which is you have to be “twice as good as them to get half of what they have”. In an interview, Washington speaks about how women and African-American people especially have been raised on that precedent. Washington says that until that feeling is not ingrained into these people’s bodies, there is still so much progress to be made (source).
Another awesome project Washington has been a part of is portraying Anita Hill and producing the film Confirmation. The film followed the testimonials of Hill in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations against Justice Clarence Thomas and how the media treated her during this time. What I really respected about Washington involvement in this project was the fact that she was in the writers’ room from the beginning and understood the importance of telling the story well and being aware of the multiple perspectives on this event. Washington earned an Emmy nomination for her performance.
Beyond her work, Washington has been outspoken on a plethora of issues. One of my favorite interviews of Washington is the one she did with Oprah in 2016 where they covered many topics. One thing that was brought up was that Washington did a cover with Adweek magazine and later spoke out against it because she pointed out that it was very photoshopped. In this interview with Oprah she explains that photoshop can be harmless (e.g., smoothing out a wrinkle on a dress or getting rid of a pimple) but when it changes the composition of a person entirely, it becomes a problem. Washington explains how this issue is bigger than herself because it sets a bad precedent for not only herself but consumers. Photoshopping can be dangerous because it create a mentality that one is not good enough unfiltered. A lot of the people consuming these magazines are already subconsciously, or consciously, comparing themselves to these photos and when you have intensely photoshopped covers, it creates these unrealistic beauty standards.
Also, she gives really good advice! So if you want to watch this quick lil video about what she would say to her 18 year old self, click here!
And, with that, we are all done! Have a great weekend!
Brianna Mitchell 🙂