*Shonda Rhimes’ influence on television over the last few years is one that has brought different kinds of stories to viewers.
As the person behind the shows comprising ABC’s popular Thursday night line-up (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder”), Rhimes is credited with bringing to light diversity to roles that were previously overlooked as well as issues pertaining to women, people of color and the LGBT community.
After accepting the Ally for Equality award at this year’s Human Rights Campaign Gala in Los Angeles, Rhimes touched on how the path she’s laid out with her shows goes deeper than bringing diversity to the small screen.
“I really hate the word ‘diversity,’ it suggests something…other. As if it is something…special. Or rare,” Rhimes said Saturday at the event, which honored her for her contributions to TV. “As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV.”
In finding a different way to describe what she’s doing. Rhimes summed it up with one description.
“I have a different word: NORMALIZING. I’m normalizing TV,” she stated while stating how ‘normalizing’ television plays into a bigger objective, which is, “Making TV look like the world looks.”
“Women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal WAY more than 50% of the population. Which means it ain’t out of the ordinary. I am making the world of television look NORMAL,” Rhimes said.
“The goal is that everyone should get to turn on the TV and see someone who looks like them and loves like them. And just as important, everyone should turn on the TV and see someone who doesn’t look like them and love like them. Because, perhaps then, they will learn from them.”
For more of Rhimes’ speech, click here.
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