The Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy creator has a new pilot for ABC that happens to be about a female character. Why is the entertainment industry so stuck on that point?
Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters
Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and the executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder, could have a fourth show on ABC. On Monday, the network ordered a pilot for the The Catch, the writer-producer's latest pilot with producing partner Betsy Beers, as first reported by Variety . The Catch centers on a forensic accountant who works to expose fraud. And, oh, the lead character is a woman.
While Rhimes is known for writing fantastic female characters — no need to denigrate the female gender by saying they're "strong," thus implying that women aren't as a rule — the sex of her characters isn't the main reason her many shows are so successful.
However, when Variety tweeted about the pilot order yesterday, their social media account emphasized that the show is somehow female-centric, stating that the show was a "female-driven drama." Rhimes immediately replied on Twitter with a great question about the convention of defining dramas by the gender of their lead actor:
Here's the exchange, which went down on Jan. 27:
It's unclear why Rhimes deleted the statement, since it raised an interesting and thought-provoking question about how Hollywood operates and the way in which these shows are positioned by the media. Rhimes' rep did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment about the matter.
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