ABSTRACT
In 2016, Scandal (2012–2018) and Empire (2015–) were two of the most watched scripted dramas on network television. Both shows feature African Americans in leading roles, both are set in urban environments and both celebrate “self-made” Black entrepreneurship. This chapter takes aim at post-racial, post-feminist ideologies in Scandal and Empire, raising questions about the ways in which these narratives reify a neoliberal, meritocratic form of citizenship. Using Hill Collins’s (1991) concept of controlling images as a frame, I conduct a critical discourse analysis of two exemplary episodic arcs appearing in Scandal (season 4) and Empire (season 2). This intersectional approach aims to elucidate the interlocking nature of race, class, and sexuality in a convergent media culture where advertising and content act as forms of televisual governmentality over viewers/citizens. I also raise questions about African American progress, questioning how the neoliberal myth of self-employed, meritocratic success is naturalized on these two network television shows.
