There’s something about ‘Orange is the New Black’

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Calling out Hollywood’s racial tropes

While this scene is played for laughs, and is indeed quite funny, there is a pathos surging beneath the surface of its humor. It emerges in their reference to negative intra-race relations, through the conjecture that a black parole board would be bad for her case. The sense that black women must assume the role of the nonthreatening sidekick to be appealing is another depressing observation. Plus, there is the pathetic paucity of actors they can point to that actually work regularly in film.

More interesting however – and trust me, there is a poetry here – is that Shilling’s Chapman is absolutely representative of the lead in the “white girl movies” being referenced. The producers of Orange is the New Black acknowledge that the show cannot escape the tropes noted in its own astute criticisms.

In yet another salon scene featuring the bombastic Tastyee, Chapman attempts to purchase cocoa butter from the transgender Sophia, but doesn’t have the money. Tastyee — who is getting her hair done and wants a fresh look — comes up with an idea. In exchange for a lock of Chapman’s blond hair, she will pay for the cocoa butter Chapman wants.

Tastyee sports the lock of blond hair like a new weave, exclaiming proudly in the cafeteria that her hair is as yellow as the corn. Here again, our leading lady is fetishized by her supporting cast, viewing her whiteness, her education and her privilege with a perverse mixture of resentment and idolatry.

Taking on race and alienation

As I watched, Chapman’s relationship to and effect on the other women in the prison reminded me of a quote by New Yorker theater critic Hilton Als, drawn from his book A Pryor Love. Als describes the opening scene of a made for TV play in which two white social workers enter a black diner to do community research. He describes the effect of their presence on the viewer.

“The minute the white people enter, something terrible happens, from an aesthetic point of view,” he writes. “They alienate everything. They fracture our suspended disbelief. They interrupt our identification with the protagonists of the TV show we’ve been watching.”

The sentiment resonates with the effect of Piper’s bright eyed, Pollyanna schtick within the prison environment, but somehow Orange is the New Black manages to use the alienating effect of this “outsider” to the series’ advantage, promoting important and thought provoking dialogue about a range of identity politics.

(Also, I should mention that there are other white inmates that appear similarly put off by her persona because of their differences in education level and class from the well-heeled Piper.)

Next generation storytelling worth watching

Of course no show is perfect. Yet, Orange is the New Black gets it right where many other shows dealing with similar issues miss the mark, and is, for the most part in on its jokes. In addition to racial politics, issues related to gender discrimination, sexual orientation, and religion are all explored with admirable complexity.

It is a gift of the Netflix format that bestows a show like Orange is the New Black with the time and space to let its unique characters develop naturally, without the challenge of keeping its audience intrigued through less substantive means between episodes spaced a week apart. Perhaps that’s why a show like Orange is the New Black, aside from some of the raunch (watch out for a revenge scene involving a used tampon and a breakfast sandwich) is best streamed in single sittings.

Shows such as this are breaking ground in format as much as in characterization, reaching beyond the scope of storytelling that is typical of serial television.

Check it out Orange is the New Black, if you haven’t. There is genuinely something for everyone here.

Chase Quinn is a freelance writer, art critic, and budding novelist, who has worked with several leading human rights organizations in the U.S. and the U.K., promoting social and economic justice. Follow Chase on Twitter at @chasebquinn.