It was created by a woman, inspired by the life of a woman and featured more women than you’ll ever see in a single project: we named “Orange Is the New Black”, the prison, the feminist, the ruthless.
It’s up to Piper Kerman, and her autobiography Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, which we owe the one and only Orange Is the New Black – or OITNB for insiders. But the seminal series, released just 10 years ago, goes further than the book on which it is based and only uses Piper Kerman’s story as a starting point.
Sentenced to 15 months in prison for carrying a suitcase full of cash 10 years earlier for his then-girlfriend, who worked for a drug cartel, Piper – Chapman this time – made her debut in Litchfield, a federal penitentiary for women, minimum security. There, she discovers a merciless world that will never stop testing her and her many companions in misfortune. Dehumanized, they all become the property of Litchfield.
This premise is an opportunity for Jenji Cohan (Weeds), the creator of the series, to shine a light on the stories of diverse and varied women. She said it herself: Piper is just a Trojan horse allowing women whom Hollywood has too often ignored to finally distinguish themselves. Indeed, OITNB stages at least 38 female characters with a developed narrative arc, characters who are in no way foils of the one who introduces the story. Endowed with a complete fictional life, before and during incarceration (and sometimes after), the prisoners are no longer dehumanized.
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For the anecdote, none of the protagonists appears in all the episodes: this is the opportunity for each of them to have their own time to shine. Because Orange Is the New Black is above all a portrait of women in all their splendor: of all ages, all shapes, all sizes and all colors, all sexual orientations and all socio-economic backgrounds. The show draws the natural and messy female figure, comfortable in her skin or mentally broken, without ever diminishing or judging her. Whether polite or rabid, the woman of OITNB is real, defying clichés and societal norms – and doing so with determination.
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Complex and uninhibited, the series voluntarily breaks the heart of its viewer to awaken him to harsh realities. As hilarious as it is heartbreaking, she cuts to the chase when it comes to showing prison life as it is and tackling current political and social issues, always privileging marginalized voices and challenging heteronormative patriarchy in the process. .
A patriarchy that she fights both in front of and behind the camera: with a woman in charge, almost as many female directors as male directors, but above all more female writers than male writers, producers than male producers and actresses than actors, the show has completely exceeded the rules of parity. And speaking of its actresses, brilliant in accuracy and beauty, we admit it to you: it’s heartbreaking to choose which ones to quote. Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Uzo Aduba, Natasha Lyonne, Laverne Cox, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Taryn Manning, Selenis Leyva, Yael Stone, Adrienne C. Moore, Samira Wiley, Diane Guerrero, Dascha Polanco, Elizabeth Rodriguez and so many others: the order does not matter here, they are all equal.
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But beyond its strong subject matter and full engagement, Orange Is the New Black also made TV history for being one of Netflix’s first original series. Breaking records upon its release in 2013, the year it was proclaimed the most watched show on the platform, ahead of House of Cards launched a few months earlier, it also won a few Emmys. During its first six seasons, nearly 105 million users watched at least one of its episodes: that’s something to impress.
Pioneering and ahead of its time, OITNB is one of the first series specially created to be binge-watched and thus immerse us in the imperfect lives of its characters in an intense and prolonged way: a journey from which we do not come out unscathed and this is indeed the desired goal. Be prepared to be upset.