Written by Ben Carter
I do my best to avoid getting sucked into network television series. I understand great TV to be one of the number one time sucks we Americans have available to us after fast-food and Instagram. It's not that I have a distaste for TV. I love TV and the art of film. I just recognize that great story lines have a way of sucking you in, in such a way where you can lose an entire day to watching a Netflix show or a WE tv marathon of the "Braxton Family". (The latter has actually happened to me... It was light outside, then dark and Tamar still hadn't gotten her life).
I digress. Despite this fact there is one TV show that has its claws dug into my sides and won't let me go. It's name is "Olivia Pope"... Excuse me,... No. The show is called "Scandal". The main character's name is Olivia Pope, but it might as well be called Olivia Pope the same way people used to call "Family Matters", "Steve Urkel". Olivia Pope, who probably needs no introduction to you or anyone not living under a rock, is played by Ms. Kerry Washington. Ms. Washington does an incredible job playing the reluctant (but willing) mistress of a President Fitzgerald who doesn't seem to do much presidenting that's not associated with managing his romantic relationships. But Ms Washington does an even better job in a new public service announcement publicizing PurplePurse.com, an initiative by a well-known insurance company to bring awareness to "financial abuse". As a lover of all things money, I found the PSA to be striking mainly because I had never considered or even heard of the idea of financial abuse. Even with all the inglorious news of physical abuse flowing from the National Football League, the idea of a significant-other utilizing finances to control a spouse was something that had not explicitly occurred to me. I was thankful for the ad (shown above) for having opened my eyes to yet another way people in abusive relationships can be controlled and for starting a dialogue about a very specific type of spousal abuse. Bravo Ms. Washington and to PurplePurse.com for empowering those in need of inspiration.