Orange Is the New Black is an American comedy-drama series created by Jenji Kohan and first released on Netflix on July 11, 2013. The series, produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television, is based on Piper Kerman‘s memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, about her experiences in prison. The second season premiered on June 6, 2014 at 3:00 am EDT. The series has been renewed for a third season
Actor | Character | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Taylor Schilling | Piper Chapman | |||
Laura Prepon | Alex Vause | |||
Michael J. Harney | Sam Healy | |||
Michelle Hurst | Miss Claudette Pelage | |||
Kate Mulgrew | Galina “Red” Reznikov | |||
Jason Biggs | Larry Bloom | |||
Uzo Aduba | Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren | |||
Danielle Brooks | Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson | |||
Natasha Lyonne | Nicky Nichols | |||
Taryn Manning | Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett | |||
Yael Stone | Lorna Morello | |||
Samira Wiley | Poussey Washington | |||
Dascha Polanco | Dayanara “Daya” Diaz | |||
Selenis Leyva | Gloria Mendoza | |||
Adrienne C. Moore | Cindy “Black Cindy” Hayes | |||
Nick Sandow | Joe Caputo |
In Orange is the New Black, Black women and brown women are normalized as prison inmates. Similarly as most reality shows depict Black women as uneducated,hyper sexual, violent and attitudinal.
The series proves to be a fan favorite according to HitFix TV Critic Alan Sepanwall. Alan says
“The first six episodes of “Orange” season 2 wonderful. In many ways, they’re better than their counterparts from the first season, because Jenji Kohan has a better sense of the stories, characters and actors she has on hand, and can deploy them in even more effective fashion.“
There are criticisms to the show and elements that depict the mass criminalization of minorities in America, especially Blacks and Latinos. The narrative seems to popularize the experience of people of color in prison and suggests that in order to change the perceptions of black female inmates a white women of privilege should be the trojan horse for black and brown women in prison in Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling).
The narratives suggest that the underlying framework is with the because there is a white woman at the center of no and fictionalizing the experiences of people of color in prison.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief TV critic Tim Goodman says in his review that in season one, “what separated Orange Is the New Black was the vast and talented cast, the multitude of characters who crossed races, age, sexual preference, weight, education and world perspectives in a drastic, enthralling cross-pollination that never let the series grow stale and, strangely, made it more compelling each hour.” (Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/orange-is-new-black-season-709942)