You may already know what this article is about from the title. I am, of course, referring to the tragic death of fan-favorite Poussey Washington.
Throughout this season of Orange is the New Black (OITNB), we have seen the budding relationship between Poussey and her girlfriend, Brook Soso. The love I saw between those two was real, inspirational, and frankly gosh darn adorable. Seeing this romance unfold just made Poussey’s murder so much harder to bear.
A lot of fans have praised the writers for bringing up the topics of police brutality, privatizing prisons, gay rights, and institutional racism. I am all for using media to highlight these issues within our country, but I must say how disappointed I am with how these writers chose to do so. Here are a few reasons why.
1. Poussey was probably the most innocent woman in that prison.
She was serving time in Litchfield for dealing marijuana. Not exactly legal, but a less serious crime than what other inmates are in for (including kidnapping, armed robbery, and...well, murder).
As for her personality, she was one of the more easygoing inmates. The majority of my favorite moments with her were when she was providing much-needed truths.
2. Really, though, I have a whole list of people they could have killed off instead.
At the top of the list is Piper. Well, the first 10 characters on that list are Piper. I’m sure the real Piper Kerman is a lovely individual, but her fictionalized self leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, she became the leader of a white supremacist group this season.
Nope. Still don’t feel bad for her.
Now look at Poussey describe what love is and tell me she didn’t deserve a happy ending.
3. Poussey was one of the few LGBT characters on television that was relatable.
On a more serious note, all I wanted for the series finale was to see Poussey and Brook outside of Litchfield and happily in love. Instead, we see Brook grieving her love over a bag of hooch. I’m sure the fans that were drawn to this show for its LGBT representation were not at all happy with this outcome, either.
The problem isn’t that an LGBT character is dead. The problem is that LGBT characters are killed off more than heterosexual characters are, and their deaths are too often used to advance the storyline of a heterosexual main character. Heather Hogan talks about this phenomenon often on Autostraddle, and I would encourage you to look at this infographic. It only focuses on lesbian and bisexual representation, but the information is relevant nonetheless.
4. The message is that POC are killed in prison because of police brutality. So if the writers wanted her death to represent that, it shouldn’t have been an accident.
We were introduced to several new correctional officers in season four. I will mention only two. The first is CO Humphrey. Wow. We thought Mendez was bad but Humphrey is the most sadistic character we’ve seen yet. So far he has forced inmates to fight each other, made another inmate go through a terrifying IRL round of Would You Rather, and brought a gun into a prison. If you had to guess which CO most likely murdered Poussey, you would pick him. Right?
Unfortunately, the writers of OITNB chose CO Bayley to be her killer. Bayley is almost the exact opposite of Humphrey. He’s the youngest and most inexperienced one on the staff. He treated the inmates with respect and stood up to the cruelties of his fellow guards, but ironically, Bayley was the one who took the life of one of those inmates. Although he did suffocate Poussey, it was not intentional. He was fighting off Suzanne, another inmate who has never been the most emotionally stable. He didn’t notice his actions were cutting off Poussey’s air supply. He didn’t intend for her to die.
Sandra Bland. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. These are people who have been murdered because of police brutality. None of these deaths were accidental. Of course, fans of OITNB have pointed out that CO Bayley was not really punished for his actions, and how this is unfortunately the reality in most cases. But I truly believe the message the writers were aiming for would have made a bigger impact if it matched reality.
