So, this is super off-topic from my usual self-help, existentialist type of deal. But I just finished my fall Gilmore Girls binging season. And now I am on to Scandal.  Emotional to the core with both of them in different ways. Very, very different shows, pulling very different heartstrings.

Side note: I was in the Scandal Fandom, and it was crazy on Twitter back in 2014 and 2015. Good times! Live tweeting with Tony and Kerry and producers and directors and met real-life friends because of it. But that is a whole other post or series of them!

As I watched GG for the 10th time, I realized that despite Emily’s snobbery and out of touch persona, she was the good guy. Not Lorelai. Of course it is Lorelai and Rory’s show. But Lorelai was wishy, washy and flaky, and bounced back between loving one guy and not loving him and loving another, etc.  Her mom and dad, for that matter, only wanted what was best for her. Yes, her parents were rigid and maybe elitist, but that was all they knew. They knew their daughter was beautiful and talented and bright and wanted what was best for her. Always. She shut them out when she had her baby as a teen and didn’t give them a chance to know her daughter until she was already 16.

Her mom was heartbroken because of it. And I think her cold indifference was the result of being let down, hurt, and shut out. She wasn’t the bad guy in this scenario. There was no bad guy. Just a free spirited girl who wanted different than her parents and parents who misunderstood her and were misunderstood in turn. Meaning that Emily wasn’t this evil or terrible person that she was portrayed as by her daughter. The more you watch it, and if you have raised a child who is now a young adult, you will probably realize Emily is a well-meaning gem of the bunch. She may not have the best delivery. But Emily was right!

Scandal is a whole different animal. Not a feel-good family dynamics kind of watch. It is about the head honcho Olivia Pope (based on Judy Smith, a real DC “fixer”) and her rag tag team of deviants, some way more scary than others, who fix political scandals to either destroy or save a person’s reputation. It depends on the client. The main deal is Liv and the President of the United States and their on again/off again adulterous relationship. The whole term “shipping” a couple became famous during Scandal, and many, many people “shipped” Olitz (Olivia and Fitz). But, but, but- like most presidents, Fitz is married! So people, including me, cheered on the cheaters!

So, for many, many episodes, people are so caught up in the love and romance of Olitz that we forget adultery and how wrong it is. We forget his wife Mellie is the victim, not the villain. The love story makes one want to detest the scorned and sad wife. She comes off as crazy and annoying, but who wouldn’t be if they were in a very public marriage, with kids and they were college sweethearts, and this political hottie comes along. It is crazy, but Mellie is who we were kind of pushed to hate. Mellie is the good guy! She is begging for crumbs of affection from her husband while he dpeaks to her with vitriol but dotes on his lover. I saw a scene with her today and thought, what a jerk I was to paint her as evil. Liv is the bad person here! And of course Fitz. Mellie is scorned, embarrassed, and degraded. Yet she is written off as a nuisance who is not in control of her emotions. Mellie is the good guy! Say it with me- Mellie is Good!!

Are these shows designed to lead us towards immorality? Or, to long for passion and love that hurts and damages? These are just questions that ran through my boggled mind this week. Maybe a show is just a show. Or maybe I, in my spirit, notice what is wrong more easily because of God. Or maybe there are folks who write these shows who do not like the traditional family unit. The kind of folks who celebrate sin and infidelity and the lack of loyalty because they know it is exciting and it sells. Or maybe people like to watch drama and uneasiness. It takes attention away from what is happening in their lives. Maybe it is all of the above.

Anyway, what are your thoughts about the good guy being bad and the bad guy actually being good at times. Would love to know!

~simply

Dee