Shonda Rhimes is responding to a New York Times critic who called her an “angry black woman” in a review for “How to Get Away With Murder,” the new ABC drama Rhimes is executive producing.
“Wait. I’m ‘angry’ and a romance writer?!” Rhimes exclaimed Friday morning on Twitter. “I’m going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. [Stuff is] getting real.”
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Rhimes is perhaps best known for creating “Scandal,” which stars Kerry Washington as the fashionable, fiery political consultant Olivia Pope, and Times’ critic Alessandra Stanley centers her piece around the evolution of black female characters on television.
“When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called ‘How to Get Away With Being an Angry Black Woman,’” writes Stanley. “Rhimes, who wrought Olivia Pope on ‘Scandal’ and Dr. Miranda Bailey on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ has done more to reset the image of African-American women on television than anyone since Oprah Winfrey.”
“Ms. Rhimes has embraced the trite but persistent caricature of the Angry Black Woman, recast it in her own image and made it enviable. She has almost single-handedly trampled a taboo even Michelle Obama couldn’t break,” Stanley adds.
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The review itself was titled “Wrought in Their Creator’s Image” and in it Stanley repeatedly credits Rhimes with “constructing” elements of the series, but as Rhimes pointed out in one of her tweets, she only serves as an executive producer on the show. “How to Get Away With Murder’s” creator is actually Peter Nowalk.
Here are all of Rhimes tweets on the subject, each has already been favorited and retweeted hundreds of times.
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”?
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014
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Apparently we can be “angry black women” together, because I didn’t know I was one either! @petenowa #LearnSomethingNewEveryday
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014
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
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014
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.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014
“How to Get Away With Murder” debuts Thursday, Sept. 25 at 10:00 pm ET on ABC.