Orange is the New Black, Come Back!

I recognize (and in fact support) the shame attached to my weekend spent brainlessly watching Gossip Girl and The Carrie Diaries online. Besides being completely addictive and full of enviable fashion, these shows don’t have a lot going for them. Not only do they epitomize high school insecurity and angst, they leave me completely unsatisfied with the representation of women.

For this reason, among many others, I’m eagerly awaiting June 6th, AKA the newly-revealed date for the season two premiere of “Orange is the New Black”!

A Netflix original series about a women’s federal prison and its inmates, Orange is the New Black gives its audience what we so rarely get from the media – strong female characters and utter honesty about the sometimes funny, sometimes horrible, always complicated world we live in.

The cast of Orange is the New Black is dominated by female characters, the plot line is based on a real woman’s experience, and the series was created by a woman. As if that isn’t impressive enough, here are a few more reasons why Orange is the New Black represents female characters in an enlightened and open way that all should appreciate:

1. For those of you who don’t follow the show, just go watch the first season. Those of you who do can nod your head in agreement when I say part of why I appreciate the show is because I have no idea which characters I am supposed to like and which I’m not. With the first couple episodes, it seems relatively clear-cut: Piper seems like a pretty good person while Red seems heartless and terrifying. Crazy eyes seems… well crazy. At the surface level, the show portrays these women as simple and defines them merely as criminal inmates. With each episode, however, the viewers are exposed to the relationships between the characters and given an insight into their back-stories, and thus the show develops the complexities of each individual.  The stereotypical female character that pines after a gorgeous guy, is sexy but also cute, and has perfect hair does not exist. Each woman is unique and multi-dimensional.  
2. The show addresses sex and homoeroticism in an unabashed and honest way. The characters are not classified dichotmously as gay or straight, and sexuality is portrayed along a complex continuum. Love, lust, loneliness, friendship, and boredom all mix together to make for a brutally honest (and vivid) portrayal of sex. In fact, most aspects are presented in an unguarded, intense way – no shying away from uncomfortable issues in this show. 
3. Orange is the New Black is one of the first widely-watched shows to have a transgender lead. The wonderful Laverne Cox plays Sophia, a trans woman with a wife and child at home, fighting the bureaucracy around obtaining hormone medications and in general being one of the few characters that is almost always likable. The issues that Cox’s character address transition to the real world and provide a platform for LGBTQ discussion and growth.  
4. Litchfield Penitentiary’s inmates don’t magically look flawless. The TV glam that makes The OC’s Marissa Cooper a stunning drunk or Gossip Girl’s Serena van der Woodsen glamorous while incarcerated does not exist in Orange is the New Black. After months or more in prison, these characters have limp hair and bags under their eyes, as you’d expect–they are in jail, after all. Portraying pretty faces and enviable wardrobes is far from the point of the show. 
5. Orange is the New Black addresses true issues that women face in society with honesty and wit. Education, race, gender, sexuality, and whole host of other complicated and often scary issues are addressed with an admirable balance of sincerity and humor.

Sadly, the premiere is still a few months away (three and a half months to be precise), but at least this gives you plenty of time to watch (or rewatch) the first season and get caught up for June!