LET’S TALK

Facebook a hotbed of Scandal

So here I am, swimming against the tide once again.

I have a large number of Facebook friends who watch ABC’s Scandal. Actress Kerry Washington portrays Olivia Pope, an attractive, smart, modern-day lady who owns a “crisis management” firm by which she fixes (and therefore prevents) scandals for other folks. Unfortunately, she’s involved in some scandalous behavior of her own with a married U.S. president.

Out of curiosity, my husband and I checked out the show when it first came on. Well, for me, curiosity as well as wonder that actor Tony Goldwyn (whom I’ll always remember as the dead guy’s sleaze-bag friend in the movie Ghost) would be appearing on TV on a steady basis. But when Olivia and the Prez (Goldwyn) came out of the woodwork on us with a romantic scene that almost shorted out our television, we fled to other pastures … namely, those oh-so wholesome vehicle-repo shows on TruTV.

But that was not the end of Scandal for me. I began to notice that if I fired up Facebook on, or near, Thursdays, I would see nothing but Scandal posts.

Sometimes, just that one word: “Scandal!”

Sometimes, something more elaborate: “Scandal tonight!”

Always, during the show: play by-play posts, usually cryptic to me and the maybe two other Facebook friends who don’t watch. (OK, I just found out that Huck, Olivia’s investigator and object of a bunch of online “Free Huck!’ outbursts a couple months ago because he’d gotten himself into some type of situation, is actually surnamed Finn. Sigh.)

Then, equally cryptic post-episode commentaries after the show.

And, for a couple of weeks: expressions of grief over a short hiatus.

You don’t play with the Scandalistas. The other day, I allowed myself to be lured into cruising the reader comments following an online Scandal commentary. As was easy to predict, there were those who thought Pope represented a negative black-woman stereotype; others argued that she wasn’t meant to be a role model - merely entertainment and a guilty pleasure for sophisticated adults. One particular fan argued tenaciously with each and every detractor, posting her points and personal attacks with a dissertation-length ferocity that made me hope that her real name didn’t end with Jong-Un.

Then I dimly decided to have a little fun with the Scandalistas.

“So while about half my ‘Facebook fam’ is watchin’ that other TV show tonight, I’ll be getting my kicks off this drama … SANDAL,” I posted. “The story of a high-powered, smart, beautiful woman who loves her open-toed shoes … The season premiere begins with our heroine, Espadrille Rope, gazing sadly down ather boot-shod feet as the cold winter winds dance about. She’s pining away for the kinder, gentler temperatures of spring.”

It did draw 17 likes. But the humor went over a couple of Scandalistas’ heads. They were not rude, they just didn’t get where I was coming from. “Oops, do you mean Scandal? That’s my show,” posted one. “Huh???? Scandal is a repeat tonight - sucks!” posted the other. A mutual friend broke in, trying to explain that my sense of humor tended “to swerve to the left.” This was followed by dead silence from the Scandalistas. Well, there was one other friend who also tried to save the day by posting about how hilarious I was. Thanks.

Meanwhile, I searched my Facebook news feed for anyone pining away over the three-month hiatus of Revolution, the one regular-network TV show in which I’d managed to get caught up and which - finally - resumes on Monday. Revolution is the unnerving science fiction thriller about electricity and all modern technology taking a mysterious powder 15 years before the show begins … and the treacherous world the former United States of America had become. Lots of grown-over former landmarks. Lots of vegetation, horses, bows and arrows. Lots of menacing militia-type guys and, well, a strongly implied total reversal of the societal strides made by women before the blackout. And yeah, lots of conflict and killin’. Again, real wholesome stuff.

I posted a couple of times about Revolution back in the fall. The sound of the crickets was deafening.

The lack of fellow Revolutioners and the show’s long break has taken its toll. I’m being dragged toward the Scandalistas’ wormhole. At the time this column went to press, the long-awaited resumption of new Scandal episodes was three days away and members of “the Fam” were already beginning to rejoice. So I faced a choice:Cave and watch the show on Thursday so I’d know what the heck everybody’s posting about? Or just swear off Facebook for the rest of the week, amuse myself with Revolution reruns online and doggedly post cries of “Revolution! We rise again!”?

I will do you, dear readers, the same way network TV does me. You’ll have to stay tuned.

Sweep me an e-mail under the rug: [email protected]

Style, Pages 45 on 03/24/2013

Upcoming Events