The Real ‘Scandal’? Olivia Pope’s Hair
Kerry Washington plays Olivia Pope on ABC’s ‘Scandal’ (Photo: ABC)
I was so worried when Olivia Pope, heroine of ABC’s Scandal got kidnapped at the beginning of the year. How would D.C.’s fictional fix-it lady survive this nefarious plot? Moreover, how would her hair survive?
Kerry Washington’s Pope has always been the beacon of fashion, in her black and white – or all-white – ensembles. And her sleek, straight hair is usually as tightly controlled as she is, the epitome of cool (save her quivering bottom lip). But what would happen to her mane in captivity?
Olivia Pope’s hair while in prison in Scandal Season 4. (Photo: ABC)
Locked up in an unknown country, her fancy clothes were of course gone, and soon too, was her fancy blowout….Or whatever is done to her hair to make it so well behaved. For a second it was frazzled, like an electric socket. But then it was curly. As in, really curly, springing up to her shoulders. But not the kind of ‘do most of us sport in such dire circumstances: it was a good kind of curly, one without frizz, one that would probably take a ton of product and quite a few stylists to achieve.
We’ve seen Pope curly before—briefly, at the beginning of the season, when she decamped to an isolated island with one of her love interests. There she had beautiful springy tresses, despite the fact that she was lying on the beach (hello, humidity!), and it was quickly tamed into submission as soon as she returned to D.C.
Olivia Pope’s hair on the beach in Scandal Season 4. (Photo: ABC)
In recent years, there have been some frank discussions about the portrayal of women in fashion and beauty. The industry has come under scrutiny for its extreme use of Photoshop, with unretouched photos of famous women like Cindy Crawford and Beyoncé surfacing to show real beauty, and more brand campaigns are focused on showing “real women.”
What about real women’s hair? Whether you’re white, black or Hispanic, and you’re not blessed with straight, silky locks, you have to spend lots of time making it tame. Listen, I’m not saying we need to see a messy mass of frizz in the media, but we need some element of realness and continuity. Just like you’d never have a character have long hair one minute and short the next (unless it was Gwyneth Paltrow playing two characters in Sliding Doors), you shouldn’t have someone going from curly to straight interchangeably like it was so easy.
Look, I know Hollywood is not realistic about most things, and you really have to suspend disbelief with Scandal in particular (she’s worth $2 billion in ransom?). But the holes in the plot don’t bother me as much as the hair myths perpetuated.
As someone who has spent half her life blowing out her curly hair, and the other half trying to find the perfect gels, crèmes and conditioners to achieve a flawless curl, it rankles me to see a character go from perfectly straight to perfectly curly at a moment’s notice without any plausible explanation. Curly hair takes an infinite amount of work and so does straightening it. And it’s time the world knows this.
Olivia Pope’s hair as she attempts to escape her prison in Scandal Season 4. (Photo: ABC)
Maybe we could see one scene of Pope coming out of the salon, her perky curls gone, her “serious” professional look in place for business. Or maybe after she was rescued from the kidnapping, now suffering from PTSD she could make a mention of her ordeal by saying, “I was so scared… and my hair was such a mess!”
Related:
The Problem With Natural Hair On TV
