From the “black girl attitude,” to the “sexy Latina,” stereotypical portrayals of minorities are often the norm for many television shows and films. I’ve had countless discussions with people about this issue. Articles are written, debates raised but in all the 113 years of motion picture history- little has been done to combat the racial stereotypes of black and brown people in the media.

But you can imagine my surprise (but not really) when I stumbled upon the article, Olivia Pope and the Scandal of Misrepresentation by writer and self proclaimed male feminist, Brandon Maxwell. In it, he claims that Olivia Pope herself, perpetuates these stereotypical images of black women in her role as a professional PR fixer, on the hit ABC drama, Scandal. The writer believes that Kerry Washington’s character is the “Magical Negro,” whose overtly sexual character is nothing but a Mammy like servant for the “great white hope,” Fitzgerald Grant who is played by Tony Goldwyn.

Maxwell writes that Olivia is a “political mammy mixed with a hint of Sapphire,-a black woman with a bad attitude, who “faithfully bears the burden of the oh-so-fragile American Political System on her shoulders.” The writer also claims Olivia is the “black female flesh,” – who is solely desired sexually but not accepted in society. In this case, she is also the mistress of the President of the United States.

Nevermind, that President Grant and Olivia once worked together on the campaign trail, before the two later started an affair. Maxwell’s gripe seems to be that Fitzgerald Grant is white because if he wasn’t- Olivia’s behavior wouldn’t fall on Olivia. It would probably fall on the President. But because she is black and he is white she is somehow to blame for his extramarital affair.

I once had a media class where we studied racial and cultural stereotypes that are often used to portray minorities. We were asked to think of recent examples of stereotypical characters, and I remember mentioning Sofia Vergara’s portrayal of Gloria Pritchett, on ABC’s Modern Family.

The show is a hit— garnering three Emmys in a row for best Outstanding Comedy Series and Vergara also received three Emmy nods since the show’s premiere.But her role as a loud, often overtly sexual (I’m sorry, “passionate”) Colombian woman with a thick accent and penchant for wearing tight clothes, is something that troubles me. Her role just doesn’t seem to help the ongoing stereotypes Latina women face everyday. But hey, she did top the Forbes list as the highest paid actress last year, so I don’t think Vergara is will be complaining to the writers department anytime soon.

Last year, she told Allure magazine, “Some people ask me, ‘Are you scared that you are stereotyping Latin women?’ and I don’t even know why that is supposed to be bad. I mean, this is who we are. We’re loud. We’re passionate. We’re colorful. We’re voluptuous.” Oh.

The Colombian actress also appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show last year, and it was hard to tell where the Gloria Pritchett character stopped and the Sophia Vergara person began- a problematic crossing of two people that I don’t even think Vergara is able to combat. She has become Pritchett—acting as her to appease her audience, even when she isn’t on set. And DeGeneres had a field day. From asking Vergara “Can you get rid of the accent?” as if its a pimple, to getting Vergara to do a spoof of herself at a video store where she acts like a belligerent Latina woman needing help finding a movie- Vergara kept up her minstrel act turnt all the way up. Right down to sipping Colombian coffee; and making jokes about how people in her country pack themselves in the back of cars like sardines. But wait, they’re laughing with her right? *crickets*

But what really made me shake my head, was when Ellen decided to dress up as the actress (and not her character), for Halloween that same year. Ellen paired a long, brown wig with a tight-fitted, emerald green dress similar to the one Vergara wore to the Oscars. She topped off her costume of a culture with ridiculously large hip and butt pads; and of course, a fake Colombian accent. I can’t even believe Vergas stood on stage for her own mockery but can’t say I was surprised.

But Olivia Pope is different. She is a beautifully flawed INDIVIDUAL, not a stock character, that portrays none of the tired, racial stereotypes that the media continually portrays about minority women. Her character is first and foremost: human. So she is allowed to be imperfect and complex. She is given depth and takes full advantage of her humanistic ability to love and hurt. She isn’t perfect but she is far from a stereotype. In fact, Olivia Pope is a step in the right direction.