Don't mess
with Shonda Rhimes!
The Grey's
Anatomy and Scandal
creator, who premiered her latest ABC series How
to Get Away With Murder on Thursday, fired back at a New
York Times critic who called her an "angry black woman"
via Twitter on Friday, Sept. 19.
While reviewing Rhimes' new series -- which stars
Oscar nominee Viola Davis as a law professor who gets entwined in a
murder plot -- critic Alessandra Stanley
wrote "when Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called How
to Get Away With Being an Angry Black Woman." Stanley then
argued that Grey's Anatomy character Dr. Miranda
Bailey (Chandra Wilson)
and Scandal
character Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) "get angry," stating that the
producer "has embraced the trite but persistent caricature of the Angry
Black Woman."
Stanley continues that producer Rhimes
"almost single-handedly trampled a taboo even Michelle Obama couldn't break," and that "six
years into the Obama presidency, race remains a sensitive, incendiary
issue…just about everywhere except ShondaLand, as [Rhimes'] production company
is called."
Critiquing the new drama, Stanley called Rhimes a
"romance writer," whose "heroines are … extravagantly
flawed…they struggle with everything except their own identities, so
unconcerned about race that it is barely ever mentioned."
Snapping back at the piece, Rhimes shouted out Pete Nowalk, who is the actual creator of How
to Get Away With Murder, and just so happens to be an openly gay
white man.
"Confused why @nytimes critic doesn't know
identity of CREATOR of show she's reviewing. @petenowa did u know u were 'an
angry black woman?'" the showrunner tweeted at Nowalk. "Apparently we
can be 'angry black women' together, because I didn't know I was one either!
@petenowa #LearnSomethingNewEveryday" she added, before going on to write,
"Final thing: (then I am gonna do some yoga): how come I am not 'an angry
black woman' the many times Meredith (or Addison!) rants? @nytimes."
Rhimes
apparently hadn't finished reading Stanley's article, as she then tweeted:
"Wait. I'm 'angry' AND a ROMANCE WRITER?!! I'm going to need to put down
the internet and go dance this one out. Because ish is getting real."
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