{OnDa Cover & In Between} In Merely 52 Words, Writer SHONDA RHIMES Points Out “Odd (Female) Misogyny” in NYT Writer’s Article + Being Tied and (Literally) ‘Type-Cast’ to ABC

Oh…

*shrugs*

…besides the condescending-veiled, New York Times article scandal published [a couple weeks ago–written under the guise of a kind of critically-acclaimed “praise” of sorts], and having written Britney Spears’ dramedy: Crossroads (which earned her her house), the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (which earned Halle Berry a Golden Globe Award, there’s more to 44 year-old screenwriter/director/producer Shonda Rhimes, than ABC, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, and Grey’s Anatomy. And in The Hollywood Reporter’s November issue, the shy, mother of 3 opens the pages of her profession and person with the magazine—as a teaser for what’s to come when she drops her book in 2015, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few highlights from the magazine article:

About the New York Times article:

Although friends, concerned friends, colleagues and others that wanted Shonda to have the article retracted, in just 52 words, writer Shonda had a better strategy for shedding light on such a piece from:

• a) a well-respected/liberal paper
• b) such a person that typically remains, subtle, hidden, often swept under the rug [or discounted altogether as being possible coming from a woman]:

“In this world in which we all feel we’re so full of gender equality and we’re a postracial society and Obama is president, it’s a very good reminder to see the casual racial bias and odd misogyny from a woman written in a paper that we all think of as being so liberal.”

On the fact that she [just so happens] to be black/African American, why that dangling modifier has to always come into view, be necessary, or relevant when speaking about “Shonda Rhimes” of Shondaland being a top show runner in Hollywood:

“They wouldn’t say that someone is ‘the most powerful white male showrunner in Hollywood….I find race and gender to be terribly important; they’re terribly important to who I am. But there’s something about the need for everybody else to spend time talking about it … that pisses me off.”

Despite the fact that many of her actors [that play “assholes”] so well on Greys, Scandal, and Murder, that it must be true-to-life, what Shonda has to say about Scandal, the close-knit cast, and her “no assholes” policy: 

“We’re always behind. There are no Heigls in this situation. I don’t put up with bullshit or nasty people. I don’t have time for it.”

 

Although Shonda has worked and earned her way into having her way into “yes” and plenty of open doors, still, she wants the option of being ‘rejected.’ Here’s what she has to say on being tied to [or “type-casted,” if you will] to a single network [like ABC] and reaching out to other networks:

“It wasn’t really about money, though don’t get me wrong, it’s very important in a world in which women are paid 77 cents on the dollar to be paid in a way that felt correct. I wanted more control. I wanted the autonomy. And I wanted to feel like if I was making shows,
I could sell them anywhere. I’m in a lovely position that whenever we pitch something, ABC buys it, which is great, but I also wanted the ability to say, ‘This is not for you’ ” -[them].

Although Rhimes wasn’t consulted and ABC’s multicultural push and inclusion efforts, she was relieved to see that efforts were being made to do so. All too often, especially since the success of what having done what is doing for tv right now, she is often asked why few nonwhite actors fronting network shows are so few, she simply has this to say to that question:

“I don’t think you’re asking the right person…You should ask the people who aren’t doing it, why is it so hard for them?”

 

On the importance of being a doer rather than a dreamer:

“I wanted to be Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. That was my dream. Then I read an article (in The New York Times) that said it was harder to get into USC Film School than it was to get into Harvard Law School, and I thought: ‘I could dream about being Toni Morrison or I could do.’

 

As the story goes, (as per the The Hollywood Reporter): “She ditched her entry-level advertising gig at McCann Erickson and was accepted at USC.”

…And as we all know: The rest is not just “history”…Both unfortunately (and fortunately) it’s making history, too.