Friday, July 27, 2018

Orange is the New Black-From Hell to Hell-er.


Afternoon, Fam…

So, today, the new season of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black dropped.

Based on the autobiography by Piper Kerman, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison 15 months in federal prison for smuggling drugs overseas with a girlfriend.

In ’13, Netflix debuted the show.  I wasn’t 100% on that first season, because it came off as a dramedy, which I’ve no problem with, but they leaned more towards the comedy to make me want to believe this was based on a true account.  I stuck with it, though, to see if they were going to continuing glorifying and mocking the severity of the crimes they were saying these women did.  I understand satire and social commentary, but…

Anyway, they corrected course and lightened the comedy and gave weight to the meaning of being in prison, which I think they should always do in these series.  Jail shouldn’t be a rite of passage like your driver’s license or your first drink at 21.

Of course, being 6 seasons in, we’ve gone waaaay past Piper’s (Taylor Schilling) 15 months; however, the powers that be’ve kept the show relevant with every facet of prison life and the issues in and out that come with it as far as prisoners and staff and their loved ones on the outside go.

I’ll admit, going into the show, I cared nothing for any of the characters…after all they were convicts…they made their own bed.  Orange’s angle shows both sides, those that’re supposed to be there (Natasha Lyonne’s Nicky), and those that’re there by circumstance (Uzo Aduba’s Suzanne "Crazy Eyes"), covering everything from suicide to basic rights of prisoners to police brutality as well as relationships in and out of prison.

This season, we’re coming out of the fallout from a prison riot that’d been building up since Poussey was killed by a rogue cop.  Now, the girls’re in a new prison that made theirs look like a five-star hotel with the real meaning of brutality from officers and prisoners alike while they get grilled about the riot from lawyers that have no clue how to deal with inmates, because they don’t know their backgrounds…and, frankly, don’t give an f.

I’m a couple episodes in, so I’ll get back to you when I’m finished.

Until then, be good to each other.

-J- 

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