If you fall in the majority of seriously anyone with (or without) a Netflix subscription, you have probably finished season four of “Orange is the New Black” already. The new season was released June 17th, a mere two weeks ago. After waiting for a whole year in between seasons as usual, anticipation was high among avid OITNB fans. Countdowns began as soon as the release date was announced. Teasers and trailers were carefully dissected to try and figure out what was to come.
This year’s season brought a lot to the table, and certainly did not disappoint. The most interesting thing to note about this season, was the fact that it was so politically current, despite being filmed a year or so earlier. The overarching theme to season four was “black lives matter.”
The first way we see this theme played out is through Laverne Cox’s character, Sophia Burset. As most probably already know, Sophia is a black transgender woman, who at the end of season three was placed in the SHU (Special Housing Unit) after facing transphobic rumors spread through Litchfield, she threatens to sue the prison due to their low security. In season four, we see Sophia and her wife stripped of their rights in order for the prison (now owned by a private corporation) to keep their hands clean. While our nation is making a slow progression in acceptance, transgenders still face extremely harsh realities. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 41% of transgenders have at one point attempted suicide. We see this issue come to light directly through Sophia in this season when she comes in contact with a magazine, which she uses to cut herself, causing her to bleed excessively. Cox did an excellent job this season portraying how difficult life is for black transgender women.
In the penultimate episode of the season, we faced a scene no one was ready for. Amid the chaos following an act of protest demonstrated by the prisoners, the beloved character Poussey (Samira Wiley) was accidentally killed. Prison guard Baxter Bayley restrained Poussey by placing her face down on the ground with his knee on her back, restricting her airways. The scene, and those that follow, mirror real life events that happened involving Eric Garner and Michael Brown. In the season finale, prison warden Joe Caputo gives a press conference pertaining to the death of Poussey. In the briefing, he does not mention her name and declares he is not firing Bayley for his actions, making him seem like the victim of the situation. This is met with a response from Taystee, and the rest of Poussey’s prison family by shouting through the halls “they didn’t even say her name” and “there’s no justice.”
“Orange is the New Black” is a series followed closely by more than six million people. Our nation has faced many injustices in the past few years. “Orange is the New Black” took issues we see almost weekly on the news; issues that we have become numb to due to their multitude, and spun it in a way that would actually engage us again. I can only hope that people have been revived through this past season, and will demand justice in future similar situations to Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Poussey Washingon.
