And for OITNB, it's a wrap…
I had heard so many amazing reviews about this particular series but due to personal reasons, I abstained from watching it. The very first encounter I had with the series was four years ago. A friend of mine was actively seeing it and recommended it but then I thought "orange is the new black?" What could such a movie possibly have to offer?
However, this is me four years later making my first ever series review and it just happens to be a review of the series, "Orange is the new black". Amusing right?
I spent over two months watching this series and this isn't due to the numerous episodes. The prolonged audience with the movie was due to the fact that I was seeing other movies intermittently.
About the movie.
Piper Chapman, a vibrant and law abiding citizen, is convicted for a decade old crime of transporting drug money to her ex-girlfriend. She accepts to be sent to prison for a year and a half. Life behind bars can be utterly life changing and Piper found this out the hard way.
The series focuses on society's marginalised voices: black and Latino women, queer and trans women,drug addicts, rape survivors and the mentally ill. It is really a swirl of personalities. For a moment, I wondered, why would the mentally ill be sent to prison? I got my answers after a few episodes.
Jenji Kohan's series about inmates at a correctional facility is as addictive as ever, intermittently hilarious, occasionally infuriating and still very much dramatic. It's a seven seasons series with a total of ninety-one episodes. I didn't even know when I had finished all the episodes. The series is that brilliant.
Cast
This masterpiece talked about a whole lot of different women with very diverse personalities. However, there were a few front runners representing each race. Some of them include; Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman. Laura Prepon as Alex Cause. Uzo Aduba as Suzanne Warren. Danielle Brook as Tash Jefferson. Samira Wiley as Poussey Washington.
Piper and Alex were gay couples representing the queer fellows. Suzanne Warren was a mentally ill black lady. Tasha Jefferson was a black lady who was an advocate for change and internal reformation. Poussey Washington was the reason for change.
I would just like to add that all the characters performed beautifully. There was harmony, unison and chemistry when needed. It was just so lovely to see.
Major Change
There were two major changes during the span of the series. The first happened when the prison was changed from a public to a private facility. Many private institutions are about maximising profit with very little expenses. Also, the employees of such institutions are always more concerned with themselves and their pockets. This whole change had a significant effect on the inmates. They were treated even worse, the food they ate became less palatable and their lives became a living hell.
The second major change occured when an easy going and basically invisible inmate–Poussey– was wrongly killed by one of the 'good officers'. But as usual, those who had the power to ensure that justice was served wanted to sweep the incident under the carpet. The inmates didn't take the injustice and this led to a riot. This particular episode made me really emotional. Not just because someone was murdered for doing nothing but because the inmate involved had a whole life outside prison. A life that she so eagerly waited to be part of once again and in a blink of an eye, that was taken away from her.
This throws some light on the fact that people can die at any time and life would still go on. I watched as countless inmates died from drug abuse, accidents, and murder but nothing was done about it. The highest that was done was a contraband sweep and that was it.
My Opinion.
Honestly, I would like to join the rest of the masses to say that I wish this series never ended. Captivating,educative and extremely entertaining would be understatements if I were to truly describe how the movie was.
This series beat my expectations from every single angle. From the first episode I assumed that the movie was basically going to be only about Piper Chapman but soon enough, the viewers were introduced to every single inmate and as you would imagine, all of them had a story to tell.
It was really interesting to see how the system continuously fails people and how this affects the people both directly and indirectly. I like how raw the plot of this series was. I thought certain deeds would be covered up but the producers and director showed it as it is–unfiltered.
Life in prison is really reforming and if one isn't careful, they get reformed for the worse. Take Piper Chapman for example. She went to prison as a sweet soul and along the line, she found herself doing terrible things. She met with a part of herself that she never knew was there.
This was one series that had a lot of take outs. Due to how captivating it was, I did a little research after the last episode and I discovered two things. First, there are actual people out there who's reality resonated with the characters in the series. As such, there was a little arrangement made for these people to share how much the series imparted their lives and shortly after sharing their stories, the characters came out to give them a warm hug. It was a really beautiful scene to behold and certainly it must have been really reassuring for the people involved.
Second, a Poussey Washington fund was formed courtesy of the fictional character–Poussey– from the movie. This fund is very real and it is an initiative to raise money for a selection of non-profit advocacy groups with the pure aim of revolution. So if you're in search of a non-profit to invest in, you should check this out https://gofund.me/8c349caa
Source.
Recommendation.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this masterpiece to everyone. Although it centres around female inmates and their stories, there is truly a lot to learn from this series. I believe you wouldn't regret it if you try.
All images used are gotten from here
Love, Wongi 🤍