If you’re like me then you definitely spend your days submerging yourself into TV shows, trying to live vicariously through the characters’ adventures. You watch shows like Scandal and Quantico, which feature strong female leads-leads that we all aspire to be in one form or another-and you hope to achieve the things that they do.
Coming home from a long day at school-a long day where I was working hard to be successful in the years to come-all I look forward to is to prop myself in bed, cover myself with my sheets, and open up Netflix. You see, these shows are what motivate me. They motivate me to be strong, to always keep my expectations for myself high, and most importantly to never render my ambitions to society. A society that tells me that as a female I can accomplish little to nothing. A society that is male-dominated-despite how much they love to deny it. As Scandal‘s Rowan (Eli) Pope tells his daughter multiple times, “you have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they get”.
Despite which show I choose to watch that particular day, there is always a lesson for me to learn. There is always something to motivate me to be better. For example, in Quantico, Alex and Ryan’s relationship is complicated. It’s not complicated because of the stereotypical problems that modern-day TV presents, but rather because they are both so loyal to their job as FBI agents that they have no room left to commit themselves to anything other than that. No matter how many times Ryan asks Alex to step down from her job in order for them to be together, she never does. She always puts herself first. This is a circumstance that all young girls should grow up being exposed to. It’s crucial for girls to recognize their own self-worth beginning at a young age and it’s essential that they never knock themselves down in order to elevate a man.
As one can assume from its title, Scandal is overflowing with drama. The main character, Olivia Pope, constantly goes through hell and high water in order to make sure that her clients and those surrounding her live comfortably-although that much too often means that she has to sacrifice her own inner peace. As “the fixer” she takes care of a broad range of issues spanning from missing persons to terrorism to White House affairs and anything in between. In taking care of the White House, or specifically in the first presidential campaigning period for President Fitzgerald Grant III-whom she calls Fitz-she and Fitz fell for each other. However, with him being married and running for president of the free world and all, their relationship soon got complicated. With the words of her father ringing in her head, Olivia never failed to put herself first-even if that meant never having her happily ever after with Fitz. Even when he was hell-bent on destroying his presidency if it so much as meant being able to finally be with her, she never gave in. She knew that letting go of the presidency was not what he truly wanted; she believed that if she let him do that, he would eventually resent her. With her gut feeling that she is so famous for, she determined that because it wasn’t what he truly wanted, he would not give her his all-and she recognized that she deserved nothing less than his all.
Women like these are all that I aspire to be. I want to be so focused on my job and on my successes that I refuse to let my personal feelings get in the way of my ambition. However, I would never have come to this realization had I not been so invested in television. Sure, one might consider me-and those like me-“lazy” for spending all day watching Netflix in bed, but little do they know I’m just nourishing my brain for the future. Little do they know that while they’re so busy judging me, I’m planning my moves. Little do they know that in a few years they will be calling me “boss” and submitting to my every command, while I get to be powerful. And why is that? Oh, because of strong female characters demonstrating that no matter what comes my way, I am capable of whatever I put my mind to.
