Netflix has released its fourth season of "Orange is the New Black." Of course you already knew that because you've either seen it advertised all over social media, or binge watched the entire last season in one day. I am guilty as charged! The adventures of Piper Chapman have made you laugh, cry and at some points worry if our hearts would start beating again. While the hit series is nothing less than entertaining, it also has a few underlying themes that seem to only become more obvious as the each episode goes on. So what does writer Jenji Kohan know that we don't?
1. The show is based on a true story.
This past fall, I was given the opportunity to attend a lecture lead by Piper Kerman, the writer of "Orange is the New Black: My year in a Women's Prison." The opening words of the lecturer were chilling. The woman, who's appearance was unbelievably similar to our Chapman's, began, “I turned from Piper Kerman to number 11187-424." As Piper Kerman, a former inmate of federal prison, spoke these horrifying words the crowd grew silent. Kerman was polished in a dress suit, wearing nude pumps with a smile on her face. Not exactly the image one would picture when thinking of a convicted felon. None the less, Kerman had previously landed herself in the Federal Correctional Institute of Danbury, Connecticut. The crime: carrying her ex-lover’s bag of drug money across the globe from Chicago to Brussels.
Kerman did explain that the Netflix Original Series had many similarities to her own story, but Kohan has put her own spin on the plot. The character Crazy Eyes is based off the physical appearance of a woman named Pom-Pom that Kerman had become close with during her sentence. Kerman also explained that she was also very kept to herself and seemed not to fit the criminal expectations, as Chapman is in the beginning of the series. "Now, I was not so much of a badass as Piper Chapman," Kerman spoke. During her lecture, she showed a clip from the show, it was Piper’s first day in prison. She says that the way that the women spoke to her and even the body language of the women in the scene is almost exactly word for word and motion for motion of how it really happened in her own experience.
2. Rape.
Season three follows the story of Tiffany Doggett, or Pensatucky. We all watched in horror as we saw her being raped by a prison guard in multiple episodes of the season. Though we would have loved to not watch those graphic scenes, it is obvious Kohan write them for a reason. There is something to be said about rape culture in prisons. Piper Kerman explained that during her year in prison it was not uncommon for women to be assaulted by officers and unable to do much about it. This is heartbreaking, but something that needed to be brought to attention. Kohan takes Kerman's words and brings the issues to light.
3. Overcrowding.
As we see this issue grow more and more throughout the series we start to realize where Kohan is going with this. Early in season four, the prison becomes so crowded that women are sleeping on the floor, unable to be fed and "gangs" begin to form. Kerman's lecture was centered around the issues of overcrowding. She explained that over 200,000 women are currently in prison and about two-thirds of those women are convicted of non-violent crimes. That means that roughly 132,000 women are away from their children. They are taking up spaces in publicly funded prisons for crimes that were not dangerous to the people around them. Piper Kerman was in prison for a year for carrying a suit case; while Brock Turner, convicted of sexual assault, gets six months with potential three months on good behavior.
4. Police brutality.
As the prison becomes overcrowded, the need for correctional officers grows. During season four we watch some of the officers take things a little too far with the inmates we've grown to know and love. One officer in particular, Piscatella, begins to strip the women of their humanity by referring to them as "inmate" instead of calling them by name. The officers show excessive force with the woman and cruelly punish them for small acts of disobedience. While Kohan depicts the officers as the villains, she also reminds you that these woman are criminals who are locked up for a reason. The idea that these women are capable of murder is something the viewer begins to lose as they become attached to the characters throughout the series.
5. Life after prison.
As we have witnessed many of the woman get released from prison, Kohan begs for viewers to realize that life after prison is not easy. Alex and Tasty are two women who find themselves struggling in the real world in earlier seasons. Both of them find themselves back in a cold hard cell because it is safer for them there. In the fourth season we follow Aleida Diaz, Daya's mom, as she spends her first few days of freedom. She only has $40 to her name while she struggles with finding a place to live and being able to see her own children. These are issues that ex-convicted criminals face on a regular basis.
Jenji Kohan did an amazing job of gaining a large audience of fans after her first couple of seasons of Piper Kerman's real life. After the first season, Kohan's "Orange is the New Black" became an outlet for societal issues revolving around prisons and women's rights. Kohan does a great job of putting these issues on the table that would otherwise go unnoticed by the average person who has not had any experience with our country's correctional system. With the help of Jenji Kohan, Netflix, and fans of the show, Piper Kerman may see the change she is looking for.
