shadowfireflame (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadowfireflame) wrote2013-07-20 07:46 pm
shadowfireflame) wrote2013-07-20 07:46 pm
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Orange is the New Black
So has anybody else watched Netflix’s amazing new show, Orange is the New Black? It’s a drama set in a woman’s prison, which—that right there would have me hooked because I love me some prison-drama, but it also helps that it’s so freakin’ good. I’m constantly on the lookout for strong, interesting characters who are female and racially and sexually diverse, and you really couldn’t ask for a better job than this show does.
The main character is an educated bisexual WASP named Piper who had a somewhat crazy youth and a couple of times carried some drugs for her then-girlfriend, though Piper’s engaged to a man now. Over a decade later, that crazy youth comes back to haunt Piper, who’s been named on drug charges and has to go to prison for fifteen months.
At prison, a world unto itself, we meet lots of stereotypes: a murderous nun, a Russian with ties to the Mafia, a woman nicknamed “Crazy Eyes” who wants to make Piper her prison wife, a crazy Christian meth addict, corrupt guards, a mother and two of her daughters, a transsexual hairdresser who used to be a fireman—the list goes on. Oh, and Piper’s ex-girlfriend is also in prison with her. Yup. Can you say drama?
But while some of the characters may initially seem like one-dimensional stereotypes, everyone—literally everyone, right down to the most disgusting corrections officer—is shown to be real and human and complex, with frankly brilliant back-stories told in flashbacks. The characters and world are engrossing and serve as an exceptional critique of the prison system.
Oh, and there’s plenty of lesbian sex, too, mmm.
It’s thirteen episodes (renewed for a second season, yay!), and they’re all on Netflix now, so go and enjoy! And let me know what you thought! :)
The main character is an educated bisexual WASP named Piper who had a somewhat crazy youth and a couple of times carried some drugs for her then-girlfriend, though Piper’s engaged to a man now. Over a decade later, that crazy youth comes back to haunt Piper, who’s been named on drug charges and has to go to prison for fifteen months.
At prison, a world unto itself, we meet lots of stereotypes: a murderous nun, a Russian with ties to the Mafia, a woman nicknamed “Crazy Eyes” who wants to make Piper her prison wife, a crazy Christian meth addict, corrupt guards, a mother and two of her daughters, a transsexual hairdresser who used to be a fireman—the list goes on. Oh, and Piper’s ex-girlfriend is also in prison with her. Yup. Can you say drama?
But while some of the characters may initially seem like one-dimensional stereotypes, everyone—literally everyone, right down to the most disgusting corrections officer—is shown to be real and human and complex, with frankly brilliant back-stories told in flashbacks. The characters and world are engrossing and serve as an exceptional critique of the prison system.
Oh, and there’s plenty of lesbian sex, too, mmm.
It’s thirteen episodes (renewed for a second season, yay!), and they’re all on Netflix now, so go and enjoy! And let me know what you thought! :)
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I will be eternally grateful to you for rec'ing that show. It's effing incredible.
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On a shipping note, I can't decide which pairing I like better, Piper alone or Piper with Alex. Because while, mmm, Alex/Piper is amazing, I really do think Piper needs some time to work out her own issues before she can really commit to any kind of relationship with someone else.
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I think I like Alex/Nicki, honestly. Piper has major issues. Also, she reminds me of someone I know who couldn't keep from screwing up the lives of everyone she touched. She was like the Typhoid Mary of relationships. Also, I love Nicki - she's smart and scrappy and sexy in a witchy kind of way.
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