Twitter Controversy over Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder

So apparently People magazine tweeted a controversial comment about How to Get Away with Murder. The magazine tweeted "Waiting for Viola to break into 'You is kind. You is smart. You is important.' #HowToGetAwayWithMurder" and people responded with claims of racism. Am I the only person who realizes that the comment was in reference to the movie The Help? You know, that movie about black maids in the south. The one that Viola Davis starred in and said that iconic line? Yeah, that one. How does connecting her with her biggest role to date constitute a racist statement? Does that mean that I'm racist when I see Denzel Washington and think "King Kong aint got *nothing on me!" or Arnold Schwarzenegger and think "I'll be back?" I didn't know associating actors with their past roles was racist. Why didn't anyone tell me? I think I know why: because it's not racist. Calling racism over a comment like that is the reason why some people don't take real racism seriously. You can't just throw around the term. 

People magazine also tweeted a comment about Scandal. The tweet read: "Olivia's back to straight hair so you KNOW she means business. #Scandal" and was met with accusations of being offensive. Do people actually watch the show? If so, they would know that Olivia Pope rocks the straight hair when she's being the hardcore, don't f*** with me, Olivia Pope. Seeing her with curly hair while she was thousands of miles away was a sign that she was completely relaxed and able to literally let her hair down. She didn't have to be hard and inflexible, she could be soft and bending.  I like that she had her "at peace" hair style and her "at work" style. I don't understand why it was an issue. The real question is, was she or was she not more serious with the straight hair than she was with the curly hair? She clearly behaved like a different person once her hair was straight. Publicly acknowledging that does not make the person who acknowledged it a racist or insinuate that there were racial undertones. 

I'm not saying that people don't have a right to be offended, but I am saying that people need to have thicker skin. If you want to be offended, then you will be. Most statements can be taken many different ways. Instead of choosing to sweat the petty stuff, how about channeling that energy towards finding ways to bring people together?

*The line in the movie is actually "King Kong aint got shit on me," but I prefer the censored line.