Originally posted by All-American
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Having made it through the first 13 episodes, I am very interested to see if they continue down the path the plot lines have led them so far.
Compare this show to Breaking Bad, which is making waves particularly because it takes a good guy, Walter White; gets the audience to identify and sympathize with him; and then, over the course of the show, punishes the audience for doing so as Walter White slowly digresses into sheer evil.
I'm not sure if the producers will continue to pursue this theme or not, but if they do, Orange will stand as condemnation of the tendency of modern society to write off prisoners as outcasts, the very dregs of society. Rather than merely showing that prisoners are people just like us, however, Orange makes an altogether different statement: we, the ones who condemn our fellow human beings to lives in institutional hell, are far worse off than those whom we wish, however unsuccessfully, to forget.
Compare this show to Breaking Bad, which is making waves particularly because it takes a good guy, Walter White; gets the audience to identify and sympathize with him; and then, over the course of the show, punishes the audience for doing so as Walter White slowly digresses into sheer evil.
Spoiler for Plot reveal:
As Orange begins, Piper Chapman is presented as a universally-likable (though admittedly imperfect) character. She doesn't belong in a federal institution: she's kind, she's sweet, she's pretty, and (yes, this matters) she's white. The show's earliest plot lines emphasize the fact that she is in a new, foreign, and hostile world-- the comment about the poor food leading to Red's attempt to starve her out; Crazy Eyes adopts her as her "wife"; being placed in the "ghetto" with other black inmates.
Bit by bit, though, the show begins to reveal the sort of morality that exists among the prisoners, chief among them being loyalty. The prisoners only have each other, and they will fight to get one another through. As the season progresses, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Chapman doesn't share in these morals. In the second-to-last episode, Crazy Eyes, playing the part of archetypal wise jester, springs the trap. Chapman isn't nice. In fact, by the end of the season, she has betrayed her fellow inmates in a number of ways-- turning over the phone, abandoning Alex, and condemning another to the Psych unit, letting her out only to salve her burning conscience (arguably a selfish act in and of itself). By the end, she has assaulted (and possibly murdered-- it's left unclear) another inmate. Chapman, as it turns out, may be the very worst of the prisoners in the facility.
Bit by bit, though, the show begins to reveal the sort of morality that exists among the prisoners, chief among them being loyalty. The prisoners only have each other, and they will fight to get one another through. As the season progresses, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Chapman doesn't share in these morals. In the second-to-last episode, Crazy Eyes, playing the part of archetypal wise jester, springs the trap. Chapman isn't nice. In fact, by the end of the season, she has betrayed her fellow inmates in a number of ways-- turning over the phone, abandoning Alex, and condemning another to the Psych unit, letting her out only to salve her burning conscience (arguably a selfish act in and of itself). By the end, she has assaulted (and possibly murdered-- it's left unclear) another inmate. Chapman, as it turns out, may be the very worst of the prisoners in the facility.
I'm not sure if the producers will continue to pursue this theme or not, but if they do, Orange will stand as condemnation of the tendency of modern society to write off prisoners as outcasts, the very dregs of society. Rather than merely showing that prisoners are people just like us, however, Orange makes an altogether different statement: we, the ones who condemn our fellow human beings to lives in institutional hell, are far worse off than those whom we wish, however unsuccessfully, to forget.
Spoiler for Sideplot reveal:
I think Piper as a monster is a bit overstated. Red is way worse. She lit her friend on fire!
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