Olivia Pope Essay

The Evolution of Olivia Pope

Olivia Pope, leading character from the Shonda Rhimes television series “Scandal” started as a “gladiator” in a suit. She wore a white hat and was a lover of the “republic”. She did the right things, for the right people, with the right attitude. Her only goal was to stand for freedom in her country and eliminate anyone who stood in the way. She was the fixer, the problem solver, and the one that people called when they needed someone to save them. Olivia Pope was the female superhero of Washington, DC. At some point, scandals began to appear and create volatility in the world of the white hat. With every fix Olivia thought she was making, generally, she was breaking something, somewhere else. The republic she

once stood for was now just a blurred line masked by a pursuit for power. Fans watched as Olivia “the gladiator” leaves her white hat behind for a life of murder, cover-ups, and deceit: eventually realizing the mistakes she has made she works to correct the wrongs and make the people who deserve it most, pay for their crimes.
Olivia’s story begins as she is volunteering on the campaign trail for a rising politician, Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant. Olivia is one of the sharpest members on the team and quickly draws the attention of Fitz and his team. She comes with new ideas and strategies which eventually help to catapult his career to the White House. With Olivia on his team, Fitz’s team seems stronger than ever and his solid numbers at the election polls reflect all of the hard work they have done to get there.
Olivia always felt her talent was helping others. She believed in being a fixer. Now that Fitz has been elected into the Oval Office, Olivia needs something to do with her time. With this time, “Olivia Pope & Associates” affectionately known as “OPA” was born. People who made mistakes came to Olivia and her team. Olivia then uses her intuition, what she called “her gut” to determine whether the case was legitimate and if she and her team should fix the mess created by the client. Early cases for OPA started small, helping to clean up an aspiring politician’s image, fighting for a pilot against an airline to prove he did the right thing, and even hiring people on her team after helping to rescue them from traumatic events or dangerous situations. She was the fixer of all things and had the interest of others at the forefront of her objectives.
The white hat of Olivia Pope was quickly tarnished when she began having an affair with the now President Fitzgerald Grant.

Olivia had now wiggled her way into the good graces of the White House and gained remarkable influence. Her influence catapulted her all of the way to press secretary. She was now speaking for the White House and the president. She quite literally made the rules now and walked the halls and corridors of the White House as if she was the one in charge.

Quickly, Olivia did become the one in charge. She was soon chosen as the commander for a super-secret intelligence agency called B-613. B-613 claimed responsibility for keeping the “republic” in order. It was an organization of spies and assassins trained to eliminate anyone considered a threat to the peace of the nation. Olivia’s desire for power led her to order hits on people close to her, keep secrets, and play both sides of the field to get ahead.

After having her affair exposed, Olivia began to rethink her role and her hunger for power. Olivia decided to take a backseat as being the one in control and agreed to help get the former first lady elected as president. She was trying to make amends with the woman that she hurt so badly. She realized that some of the decisions made during her pursuit for power caused her to lose who she really was as a person and wanted to do something to right the wrongs from

before.
The journey back to helping her feel like herself was a tough one that required sacrifice of her power, secrets and her pride. Olivia had to cross the people who crossed her in order to make right the evil things that she had been forced to do. Olivia humbled herself to the extreme, apologized to the people that deserved it, fought with courts systems and the United States government to make things right. Eventually she created the republic she always envisioned and again, earned her white hat.