English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: orangeisthenewblack

Has Piper Changed?

From the first episode of Orange is the New Black to the last season one episode of Orange is the New Black “Fool Me Once”, it is observable that Piper has changed mentally and demeanor-wise throughout this first season. I mainly explored the episode “Fool Me Once”, and noted various personalities that Piper tackles on and her responses to everyday prison events. The most notable difference is her change in tone and voice. In this episode, Piper speaks with a monotone and plain tone and has no emotion when she speaks. Compared to the first episode, Piper had constant emotion when speaking, and was not afraid to let out what she was feeling. As a result of the beatdown of prison life has her emotions toned down, making her seem depressed and more suppressed as a human being. Her reaction to new events in the prison has her bottling up her emotions more and more and having outbursts of anger at times in the episode. An example is seen when Alex confronted Piper about Piper ignoring her and one time in the kitchen when they were alone, Piper pushes Alex multiple times, screams in her face, and unleashes her anger when a few moments before that, she was simply lumber and ignorant of Alex’s actions.

In the first few episodes, after being scared deeply by the prison life, Piper hid in a corner and rarely wanted to socialize with anyone because of the fear of doing something or someone wrong. However, as she started to acclimate throughout the episodes and stepped out of her limits, Piper was not afraid to step up to take leadership roles and confront any inmates, as after going through so much trauma daily, there became virtually nothing that would faze her anymore. In a way, although Piper became stronger as a person and more will-powered. However, it is questionable regarding the amount of PTSD Piper will suffer when she gets out of prison, as it seems like with her personality shifting, her presence seems to decrease with each additional trauma.

Piper Chapman, the main character of the show.

The Bigger Female Picture

After watching through most of the first season of Orange is the New Black so far, it’s safe to say there is a very diverse and intriguing representation of genders and how they clash with other categories such as sexuality and disabilities. The show starts off with Piper and her fiance, Larry. This show is mostly dominated by female characters, as the only male characters introduced in the show are Larry, the prison guards, and the alpha prison watcher. There are only two genders represented on the show being male and female, and no others present. As a result of so many female characters on the show, there is a wide variety of global categories distributed between.

For the male characters, they tend to all act dominant and controlling. Larry expects Piper to go into prison and come out bruise-free. He planned on marrying Piper originally, and didn’t realize that Piper would be faced with so many obstacles. Larry thought it was not fair for him, so he ended the relationship temporarily with Piper because of her struggles. With the prison guards like Porn-stache, they are all attempting to be alpha and controlling all of the inmates to do whatever they please. Most of the officers are especially rude and do not bother with treating the inmates with any sense of respect. All of them are heterosexual and act like typical gender stereotyped males.

For the female characters, they take on a wide spectrum of personalities and attitudes. Every female prison inmate has differing characteristics, whether it’s the way they act, their orientation, or upbringing. Most of the females in the prison are heterosexual and come from a significant other before going into jail. However, there are a select few that are homosexual, and several that have mental disabilities. It’s interesting to see the culture of religions, orientation, races, and attitudes clashed in the same department and how the inmates interact/react to each other’s actions. Overall, the situation of Piper and the obstacles she has to face encountering new environments every day makes the show constantly fun to watch.

Larry and Piper before Piper leaves for prison.

Expecting the Unexpected

The episode I have chosen to write about this time is episode eleven in the first season of Orange is the New Black: Tall Men with Feelings. In this episode, lots of dynamic changes occur in the plot, ones that drastically shift the situation of various characters and leave the viewers shocked. The main theme presented in this episode is that no matter how deep one may be committed to something, one should always be prepared to experience change. Not only will that person face unexpected adversaries, but he/she will learn more about themselves that they will realize.

An example is present when Piper did not realize Larry her fiance, knew that Alex her old lover was in the prison indeed and that Piper was having an affair with this woman who she previously loved. Piper found out when Larry appeared on the radio talk show and the whole prison tuned in. Larry made oblivious side comments about Piper’s secret personal situation in the prison, and when Piper realized, she confronted Larry over the phone about this unexpected situation. Ultimately, this led to them to temporarily breaking up at the end of the episode and Piper realizing that her anger towards Larry should be instead directed towards herself, as she let Alex intrude in their relationship and ruin the dynamics of everything.

Another example is when Dayanara, a fellow inmate of the prison, had an affair with John Bennett, a guard who had mad feelings for her. Dayanara loved him too, and accidentally got pregnant, in turn trying to have sex with the creepy hated prison guard in order to place the blame on him instead of officer Bennett. However, unexpectedly, other people in the prison found out about the situation and attempted to intervene, making Dayanara’s relations much more complicated than it originally was.

The point is, the theme conveyed in this episode is to expect the unexpected. The show writer does a superb job of creating these dramatic life-like events that are so relatable yet deep so that the audience is able to connect with the show on a deeper level.

The Unexpected Couple of Dayanara and Officer Bennett

Piper? Oh you mean Chapman…

Orange is the New Black starts off the show by introducing newly prison inmate Piper Chapman after charged with smuggling drug money internationally with her previous lesbian love affair. She committed the crime five years before the time of her sentence, of which she surrendered to the prison officials. Now, she is struggling to adjust to prison life.

I am focusing on discussing the writing of “I Wasn’t Ready”, the first episode of Orange is the New Black, which was written by Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan, and directed by Michael Trim. Liz Friedman has in the past written known shows such as Conviction, Law & Order, Notorious, and even produced House M.D. Jenji Kohan has also written other shows such as Weeds and The Stones, a pair of older shows that were produced before the 2000s.

The main writer for the first episode, Jenji Kehan.

Throughout this first episode, Kehan and Friedman do a superb job of setting the tone of the show. During Piper’s first several minutes in prison, it is evident that the writers created many different personalities to accompany the characters in the show. For example, Piper’s dialogue I’ve noticed is on the straightforward side. She likes to get her point across but is rather hesitant in voicing her opinion against people of higher power, such as the security guards in the prison. With Red, it is seen in the first episode that she acts along with her will and power in the system, being the chef of the prison. This is directly seen when she discreetly gave Piper an unpleasant meal after Piper accidentally insulted the prison’s food in front of her at the lunch table. Not only these two characters, but it is seen that there are numerous types of varying attributes assigned to everyone in the prison, creating a unit of diversity and makes the interaction between the inmates more interesting. It is also noticed that in the dialogue, the writers utilize many metaphors and references to past events and culturally separated groups to signify the division within the prison mates.

A component highly worth discussing in the first episode was the initial voiceover at the beginning of the show, where Piper’s voiceover describing both her life back home and life in the prison, signifying the difference in environments and truly assisted in introducing the plot effectively.

The main character of the show, Piper Chapman.

The way the first episode was structured by Friedman and Kehan was extremely well-done, the plot was clear to understand and the various transitions with scenes and character personalities kept me engaged and interested the whole way. Overall, it left me wanting to keep watching.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén