Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Orange Is The New Black

I like to watch Netflix when I am unable to find anything intelligent and entertaining on television (every day).  I have gone through such series as "Bones", "Doctor Who", and "Grey's Anatomy".  I recently watched the series "Orange Is The New Black", a Netflix original series.  I enjoyed the series, and found it funny in certain areas, and a bit scary in others.  I wasn't sure how accurate a portrayal of prison life it happened to be, but I enjoyed it.

I was surprised when I saw a write up about this series in "Out" and "The Advocate", both magazines dedicated to news and support of the LGBTQ community (subscribe).

I have to say, if I had seen the advertisement in "Out" first, I would not have been interested in watching it.  The description given in the ad was not compelling to me.  I would have asked myself, "What relevance does this program have for me?"

I have a different viewpoint of the article written by Diane Anderson-Minshall, and presented in "The Advocate."  In this article, Diane describes the program as "the greatest lesbian TV series ever. (Yeah, that's right, I said it, L Word fans.)"

Having watched both, I disagree.  I didn't particularly find "Orange" to be a primarily lesbian program that happens to take place in a prison; I found it to be primarily a prison program that happens to have lesbian undertones.

Yes, some of the characters perform lesbian actions, and many of the characters talk about lesbian acts, but I did not see this program as focusing on the lesbian aspects of the characters over the fact that these characters are in prison.

In contrast, "L Word" was specifically about the lesbians in the program, and their careers were secondary to the story.

Diane seems to feel that "Orange" is a primer on how lesbians think, act, and feel; but I feel that it is more a primer on how prisoners think, act, and feel.  I feel the lesbian activities displayed are secondary to the story.

I am still searching for the book in my local libraries.  Perhaps the book will lend a better look at the intent of the story.

**Spoilers?**
From what is portrayed in the first 13 episodes, I am surprised the author lived long enough to write her memoir.

"Orange" is a story about a woman who made poor decisions that landed her in prison, and then made even dumber decisions while in prison.