When Season one of "Orange is the New Black" came out, it took me a few tries to get into the show. I was initially turned away by the violence, the in-your-face sex scenes and harsh reality of prison life that was being presented to me on my computer screen. But this harsh reality somehow turned from a turn-off to something that drew me in an implored me to listen. And so I did.
The much anticipated fourth season of "Orange is the New Black" starring Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman and an astonishing cast of actors was released on Netflix on June 17. In honor of season four, here is a list of the three best things about Orange is the New Black.
1. Piper isn’t the sole focus.
Yes, the story is about Piper’s time in prison, but what I love about this show is that it tells the stories of all the women in Litchfield Prison. They come from many different walks of life -- privileged families, families who live in the slums, gang life, drug addiction, etc. The world doesn’t revolve around Piper Chapman, it moves with her whether she’s ready or not. We hear from women who suffer from mental illness, were taken away from their families, were doing things that they thought was best for their situation but then got caught. We hear everything. And we start to understand these women and see them as human rather than statistics or merely prisoners.
2. There’s a focus on women’s issues.
I bring this up because there seems to be so few places that would even think about talking seriously about issues that affect predominantly women. Things like rape, birth and motherhood are treated as odd and other whereas in the show, they’re treated as a legitimate concern. The victim in situations of rape has a voice because we’re hearing their thoughts and feelings in the situation, which is more than what happens a lot of the time in real life. Moreover, the show gets into how women connect with each other, even if it only scratches the surface.
3. Light is shed on life in prison.
This seems obvious, but I include it in this list because we’re not just hearing about strip searches and how prisoners pass the time and keep sane-- these are things that we see in the movies and are dramatized. We’re hearing about the unethical business side of the prison system. We’re hearing about overcrowding, what happens after an inmate is released back into the real world after their prison sentence ends and about how the humanity is taken away from prison inmates. Things that are very serious and that we should all be concerned about as fellow human beings.
