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Olivia Benson

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Detective Olivia Benson is a fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay.

Characterisation

Concept and creation

Series creator Dick Wolf has a daughter named Olivia and a son named Elliot[1], for whom he named the two lead detectives in the series. Wolf conceived Benson as a detective in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. She is partnered with Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). She is tough, empathetic,[2] and gets emotionally involved in cases.[3] Executive producer and head writer Neal Baer has explained that she is "the empathetic, passionate voice for these victims",[4] in contrast to Stabler, who embodies "the rage we feel, the 'How can this happen?' feeling".[4] Of their partnership, Baer assessed that: "They both represent the feelings that we feel simultaneously when we hear about these cases. That's why they work so well together."[4]

Benson's empathy for victims has roots in her personal life; she is a child of her mother's rape.[5] Her mother Serena (Elizabeth Ashley) was an abusive alcoholic. In the season two episode "Taken", Benson's mother dies falling down a flight of subway stairs outside the entrance to a bar. In a later episode, "Intoxicated", she mentions being engaged briefly when she was 16 to one of her mother's students. Benson is a graduate of Siena College.[6] While there, she held a membership in a sorority.[7] In addition to English, Benson speaks some Spanish and French and is able to read the Miranda rights in three others.[8]

Relationships

Hargitay has characterized Benson and Stabler's relationship as "very complicated".[4] Her assessment is that:

Sometimes it's very much like brother and sister, and I think the reason that they're so close is that they share a passion for their jobs and for the people. They have a mutual respect for one another. I think that the average lifespan of an SVU detective is four years because of the difficulty and stress involved. They've been doing it for longer than that, so they feel like they're in their own world almost. There's also sexual chemistry between them, it's so loaded and layered. People ask me if they'll ever get together — and people want that, and sometimes I think even Olivia wants that — but I don't think that will ever happen.[4]

Baer agrees that a romantic relationship between the two is unlikely, though commented: "You never can say never".[4]

Hargitay has stated that her favorite SVU scene occurs in season 7 episode "Fault", when Benson is faced with the possibility of losing Stabler: "Lou Diamond Phillips [who played a child killer] has a gun to Elliot's head. I'm negotiating [with him to drop the gun]. It was a painful, high-stakes scene. Elliot and I have to admit what we mean to each other... He is everything that [my character] Olivia has. So this was where we really got that to pay off."[9]

In the show's first season, Benson has a brief affair with one of her SVU colleagues, Detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters). It is implied that she ends it in the episode "Disrobed" when he gets too close. Cassidy leaves the precinct at the end of the episode. In the season nine episode "Closet", the SVU squad are surprised to find out that Benson has been in a relationship with journalist Kurt Moss (Bill Pullman) for three or four months. It only comes out because Internal Affairs are investigating Benson and Stabler in a case in which the department accidentally outed a professional football player. By the end of the episode, she breaks up with Moss.

While Benson has only been portrayed in relationships with men, she has, according to lesbian entertainment website AfterEllen.com, "attracted a large lesbian following".[10] Fan speculation exists over alleged sexual tension between Benson and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), which Baer admits to indulging: "We read the fan sites. We know that people are into the Alex-Olivia thing. All the codes are in there."[11]

Development

Hargitay has deemed the storyline which saw Benson find her paternal family: "probably the biggest thing that's ever happened to Olivia."[12] She feels her character is a role model for young girls, revealing:

I get letters saying, 'I want to do the right thing like Olivia. I want to be strong like Olivia. My friend did this, but I didn't do it because of Olivia.' For me, when a television show has that kind of positive effect on young people, it is great. I think it is a good thing that we are shedding light on darkness. I think it is a good thing to make young girls aware.[13]

Reception

Hargitay has won a number of awards for her role as Benson: 'Individual Achievement for Best Female Lead' and 'Outstanding Female Lead' Gracie Awards in 2004 and 2009 respectively, an Emmy for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series' in 2006, a Prism Award for 'Performance in a Drama Series Episode' in 2006, and a Golden Globe for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series' in 2005. Of her Emmy win, Hargitay commented: "It makes me only want to be better. Now I'm an Emmy winner. I have to step it up."[12]

The San Francisco Chronicle's John Carman has called Hargitay "the show's weakest performer".[3] Fellow San Francisco Chronicle writer Jean Gonick, however, has deemed Benson a suitable role model for teenage girls, calling her "courageous and strong, and unspeakably gorgeous",[14] and writing that "Olivia Benson is our own special hero. She battles evil, avenges her mother, faces her demons but refuses to date them."[14] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker criticized Benson and Stabler as "the most naive, bleeding-heart molester busters in America."[15]

References

  1. ^ "Dick Wolf: Biography". TVGuide.com.
  2. ^ Kukoff, David (2006). Vault Guide to Television Writing Careers. Vault, Inc. p. 71. ISBN 1581313713.
  3. ^ a b Carman, John (September 20, 1999). "Cops, Lawyers Ready to Roll Into Fall Season". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  4. ^ a b c d e f David, Greg (February 19, 2007). "Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay speaks!". MSN. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  5. ^ The New York Times Television Reviews 2000. Routledge. 2001. p. 230. ISBN 1579580602.
  6. ^ In the Season 1 episode "Stalked"
  7. ^ In the Season 2 episode "Consent"
  8. ^ In the Season 3 episode "Prodigy"
  9. ^ "My favorite scene: Mariska Hargitay". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. March 2, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  10. ^ B, Angie (May 2004). "SVU's Detective Benson Attracts Lesbian Fans". AfterEllen.com. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  11. ^ Chonin, Neva (March 23, 2005). "With hot 'Law & Order' squad's focus on sex crime, suddenly everybody's watching the detectives". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  12. ^ a b Freydkin, Donna (November 27, 2006). "Hargitay has reasons to smile". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  13. ^ "Mariska Hargitay on the positive effect of 'Law & Order'". Entertainment Tonight. October 14, 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  14. ^ a b Gonick, Jean (September 2, 2006). "'Law & Order' could do much for teen abstinence". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  15. ^ Tucker, Ken (December 10, 2001). "Review - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-05-12.

External links

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