31 TV Characters Trumps America Needs Right Now

Still from How to Get Away with Murder 3×06. Image via ABC.

4. Annalise Keating- HTGAWM

Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), the strong, poised, and smart as hell professor, attorney, and lead on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder is the character we all need right now. I could write essays of why this character is paving the way towards better representation but I’ll bore you the analysis and leave with a few main points.

Let’s start with the obvious ones- she’s a woman, she’s black, and she’s not straight. She owns exactly who she is. She never lets a man tell her what to do. And she sleeps with whoever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants. Annalise Keating is singlehandedly, changing representation on screen- representation for women, for people of color, and for people of varying sexualities.

Her character is so complex and has so many layers. Each episode truly holds a new story. Although she is strong and resilient, we’re also introduced to her insecurities and vulnerabilities. Not everyone is perfect, and Annalise Keating is the example of that.

Viola Davis is thankful for having this career and the experience playing this character, but she wants to see more from other stations and TV shows. In her 2016 Emmy speech, she made that clear: “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” and with more representation comes more opportunity. We’re getting there, Davis.