An insight into a show with one of the greatest portrayals of women in modern television. [no spoilers]
1. It’s good entertainment
If you’re looking for a tv series that fulfills your binge watching needs and keeps you entertained enough for upto 7 seasons, Orange Is The New Black is your ticket. Each season ends with an engulfing cliffhanger than only leaves you wanting for more. The story is captivating and it has a way of unfolding that makes you want to befriend the characters.
2. It’s unapologetically inclusive
A rather problematic issue about most tv shows is how they seem to “diversify” their cast after a season or two to be inclusive and sometimes, as a plot device. In OITNB, however, the story revolves around women of color (black, asian, white, latina, native americans), lesbians, and transwomen, and helps us empathize with their lives and difficulties.
3. You learn about life in prison
The plot revolves around Piper Chapman, our privileged, white protagonist landing in jail for a crime she committed 10 years ago. Watch her transition from a naive young woman fresh out of college into a hardened prisoner-of-society and adjust her life according to the lessons she’s learned. The series also showcases a lot of the injustice the women face due to the greediness of corporate businesses.
4. Everyone has a backstory
One of my favourite things about this show is how they leave no leaf unturned. The viewers get to see intricate backstories and witness life choices made by women that make them land in prison. Everything you think you know about a character gets turned upside down within the following episodes. You will find yourself filled with empathy for the majority of the characters in the show.
5. The characters grow
...making them more relatable. Every character learns, makes mistakes, grows, and adapts themselves to their surroundings. By the end of season 7, you will be looking back and wondering how your opinions about a specific character changed so drastically.
6. It will make you laugh
7. It will make you cry
8. It’s written, created, and directed by women
Lauren Morelli, Jenji Kohan and Jodie Foster wrote, created and directed the show respectively. So if you’re looking for good pieces of film and/or television by female creators, OITNB is a must watch.
9. It casts people, not models
We are surrounded by superhero films and rom-coms where every girl has a brazilian wax, porcelain skin and not a flaw in sight. That is not the healthiest beauty standards put up for women, nor are they achievable. Every woman in this show is beautiful in their own way, and it breaks the barriers of conventional beauty and acting going hand in hand.
10. It tackles real-world issues
Be it gender identity, rape, marital problems, psychosis, religion, racism or drug abuse. OITNB touches on almost every social issue imaginable through its abundance of characters who are incarcerated, and it handles them well.
by Koushin Unber
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