This article provides a critical analysis of the Olivia/Fitz relationship in Scandal, exploring their interactions and the program’s treatment of sexual and relational abuse in the context of the popular feminism in U.S. television. Scandal follows Olivia Pope, a political fixer who solves problems for D.C. elites while navigating a tumultuous personal life including an on-again/off-again affair with Fitzgerald Grant, the U.S. President. Olivia and Fitz join other TV couples that normalize abusive romantic relationships by failing to meaningfully problematize them despite Scandal’s feminist discourses. After reframing their relationship to demonstrate how this abusive relationship illustrates the continuum of sexual violence, I theorize a narrative strategy of “romantic refraction” which narratively privileges a romantic interpretation of this relationship through distinct representational patterns.

中文翻译：

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可耻的浪漫折射：重塑电视上的强奸文化和强制控制


本文对《丑闻》中奥利维亚/菲茨的关系进行了批判性分析，探讨了他们的互动以及该节目在美国电视流行的女权主义背景下对性虐待和关系虐待的处理。《丑闻》讲述了奥利维亚·波普 （Olivia Pope） 的故事，她是一名政治斡旋者，她为华盛顿特区的精英们解决问题，同时度过了动荡的个人生活，包括与美国总统菲茨杰拉德·格兰特 （Fitzgerald Grant） 断断续续的恋情。奥利维亚和菲茨加入了其他电视情侣的行列，尽管《丑闻》的女权主义话语未能有意义地问题化虐待性恋爱关系。在重构了他们的关系以证明这种虐待关系如何说明了性暴力的连续性之后，我提出了一种“浪漫折射”的叙事策略，通过不同的表现模式对这种关系进行叙事性的浪漫解释。