I don't know what it is about that show but I just can't bring myself to even finish the first episode. It really worth a watch? I suppose I should ping _refugee_ too, since I assume she's watched it.
From a queer minority feminist perspective Orange is the New Black is the best show out there right now. You've got a show that consists primarily of female characters, that features not only gay/straight dynamics but also more fluid sexual arrangements and experiences, including a trans-woman, and also casts women who represent the entire spectrum in terms of color, shape, conventional attractiveness, and size. Orange Is The New Black laughs in the face of the Bechdel test. It's like "Bechdel? Bet you didn't." In addition it highlights women of all age ranges, particularly in the second season, and the impact that living in prison can have on such groups. For these reasons, I love Orange is the New Black. But, good things don't last. Though I do love what this show brings to the screen, and the diversity of experiences it reflects (even though fictionalized), I expect maybe another really decent season out of it before it begins to jump the shark. And frankly, don't know if kleinbl00 has finished Season 2 yet, but like, there's a pretty big deus ex machina that I found frustrating at the end, which I interpret as a warning sign that the storyline/plot is going to go downhill. I mean, we already had competing prison gangs smuggling in black market items using multiple methods, I think we are outside of the realm of "realistic" in that regard now. But are they going to manage to keep it believable or are they just gonna throw the baby out with the wash? tl,dr: I love Orange is the New Black because of the things I feel it is helping do for TV, women, minorities, and genderqueer folks. In that way I view the show as very important - it's too bad it's not on cable but it would never get on cable I don't think. From a plot perspective I had some problems at some points with this season, but all in all I enjoyed it. In regards to kb's comment about people to root for, there are a few kind-of secondary characters I like and would like to see succeed, but I don't know if I was ever really rooting for anyone in particular. KB, do you think the thesis of Orange is the New Black could be that prison makes people into animals? It degenerates basic humanity?Orange is the New Black is about the basic, fundamental shittiness at the heart of everyone
I will agree freely with this - it's noteworthy just how un-Mayberry the storylines and characters are. It had not occurred to me that this is a reason to celebrate the show, but you're right, it is. You are correct - we aren't to the end of S2. I have noticed, however, that I cared for the characters in S1. There were heroes and villains, and heroic villains and villainous heroes. In S2 I wish for them all to be hit by a truck. Commander Janeway is the only one I give the first fuck about, and that's because S1 was long enough ago that I forgot what a bitch she was. The same was said about Philadelphia - about f'n time Hollywood made a movie about AIDS, but why did it have to be such a "Compleat Idiot's guide to HIV" Kapra-esque primer? And that's my beef with New Black - okay, women's prison. Oz for girls. There are things worth discussing, no doubt, but I've known a few kidz to spend time in the federal pen and their stories aren't nearly so trite. I get a real Diablo Cody vibe from New Black - "Hey, peeps - I'm slumming doing this disreputable job so that I can blog about it, shower me with praise for presenting a tidy, bow-wrapped vision of that thing you feel guilty about." That may be unfair but I got really bored with Weeds halfway through Season 2 as well, so maybe it's a showrunner problem. No. Here's the basic story arc of any given New Black episode: A) inter-prisoner drama that focuses on a prisoner in particular. B) flashback to that prisoner's life before they were a prisoner. C) Complication in which that particular prisoner is faced with a choice. D) Flashback to that prisoner facing a similar choice before they were a prisoner. E) Prisoner makes the wrong choice and fucks someone else over, blowback to follow next episode F) Flashback to that prisoner making a similar poor choice, landing them in prison New Black is determinist as fuck. It basically says we're all chained to the wheel of karma with no hope of escape because humans don't actually have free will.From a queer minority feminist perspective Orange is the New Black is the best show out there right now.
For these reasons, I love Orange is the New Black. But, good things don't last.
I view the show as very important - it's too bad it's not on cable but it would never get on cable I don't think.
KB, do you think the thesis of Orange is the New Black could be that prison makes people into animals?
kinda. Commander Janeway as an aging Russian smuggler is kind of amusing. Here's the thing, though. You know how Shawshank Redemption is about the basic, fundamental humanity at the heart of everyone, no matter how deviant and evil? Orange is the New Black is about the basic, fundamental shittiness at the heart of everyone, no matter how principled and good. You run out of people to root for pretty quickly.