Some of my many thoughts on Orange is the New Black
For the past couple of weeks I've been watching all of Orange is the New Black. It's now been a few days since I finished, so I thought I'd sum up my feelings. (Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Tumblr have seen some of it.)
I actually saw the first ep before, but never kept watching because I thought Piper was so annoying. But now there were so many commercials running, plus I read a quote from the creator that Piper was just a "gateway drug" to get you interested in the other women's stories, so I figured I'd give it another chance. And boy am I ever glad that I did!
Piper is still annoying, and indeed one of the least interesting characters, but the further the show went, the more I started appreciating her place on the show. For once, there's a protagonist that it's okay not to like. It's not at all unusual for me not to like a protagonist! There are plenty of them who are just as clueless, self-absorbed as Piper, and just as obsessed with people considering them nice, rather than doing nice things. The difference is that Piper gets called on it. There's no protagonist privilege; when there's a disagreement she's not right just because she's the lead. She became more fun to watch merely for her struggle to keep in the front-and-center where she was convinced she belongs.
And this is carried on with the rest of the cast. We get to see both sides of conflicts and their consequences, and decide for ourselves who was right. It could be everyone. It could be no one. There's no hero. There are precious few full-on villains. "I can't tell if I'm supposed to sympathize with this character or not!" fans complain. Great! Just the way I like it. That means I get to decide for myself.
Now, my favourite character is still one of the nicest ones: Poussey Washington. I think she was my favourite before I even started watching, because Samira Wiley is just so beautiful and has such a gorgeous smile. But three seasons has definitely cemented that love. She his my soft spots in so many ways:
Funny - It was only recently that I realized how important funny moments are to me. Not in the sense of comic relief, just that I need to, at least sometimes, find the characters I love funny. I lamented about characters that should do it for me but didn't: "Sure, they're badass, but they're not funny!" Poussey is really funny!
Nerdy/intelligent - she works in the library and has a funeral for burned books. 'Nuff said.
Angst puppy - Not in season 1, but definitely season 2 and 3.
Has a hard time fitting in - ditto.
Has that lithe, dark look, like she could audition for Nightwing - if Nightwing was a black lesbian woman.
Kind - for the most part.
Can carry a torch well - this is another thing I only realized lately, that I love characters who can be unlucky in love without coming off as whiny assholes. Alcoholism aside, Poussey pined with grace.
Obviously I've been shipping Poussey/Taystee, because I want Poussey to be happy and because Taystee is another wonderful character. She's the one who taught Poussey about the library! She treats AA like Open Mic Night! ("Poetry slammer".) She's warm and funny and increasingly fills her role as the mom!
But, alas, the girl is straight. (Or, as someone suggested, asexual.) So when Soso became a viable alternative, I grabbed it with both hands. Who can resist these adorable baby otters and their joy to no longer be alone?
And wow, how I love the number of lesbians/LGBTQ+ characters on this show! On any other show, all I'd have would be Piper and Alex, or possibly Piper, Alex and Stella, and I'd either half-heartedly ship them or feel bad about not shipping them. On this show, I have Poussey and Soso, Suzanne and Maureen, Nicky and Lorna, Trish and Mercy, Big Boo and Sophia. (Not that Big Boo and Sophia ever hooked up. Maybe they should.) That's more than a dozen characters, not even counting Fig's husband. Only one of them dies, and most of them have interests outside of being queer (which is always one of my main requirements). Who cares if the main pairing is lukewarm, y'know?
Of course, it's not as lukewarm as the straight pairings. Daya/Bennet are soaking in a bland sweetness that becomes increasingly sour without ever becoming interesting. Too bad the existance of Baby means we can't lose the storyline when we lost Bennet. Mary Steenburgen did brighten the whole thing up a little, though I can't help thinking of her as Helen Girardi. (And you thought you hade troubles with THOSE kids!) Piper/Larry/Polly was duller still, and it was a relief in season 3 to have Piper's friends and family out of the show. I think that helped her character too.
Apart from that, I can't decide what I think about season 3. It was more overtly comic than the other seasons, maybe to appease the Emmys, and sometimes that gets a bit much, as with the Norma cult. At the same time, there were definitely bits of brilliance. Who'd have thought Big Boo and Pensatucky would make such a power team, for one? Or that Black Cindy's conversion, despite the way it started, would contain one of the most beautiful takes on religion I've ever heard? ("It's like a verb. It's like... you do God.") Or that Chang would get the most stone-cold awesome badass moment so far? And I got to admit, I never thought it'd be so satisfying to see the guards try to unionize.
Watching all the seasons in a row on Netflix as I did of course makes the whole thing flow together in a different way, but yeah, season 3 felt a bit all over the place. And I kind of missed Vee. Which is a strange thing to say, because while she was on I hated her so much and just wanted her gone. She occupied the same kind of space as Kai Winn and first season Sylar, where her presence made me actively fear for my favourites, which means I want the suspense to be over and to prolong it at the same time. Lorraine Toussaint was bloody brilliant in the part, and definitely heightened the storyline. Privatization and that twerp Danny doesn't pack the same punch in the slightest. At the same time, as someone pointed out, it's hard to top Vee without going in a big-bad-of-the-season direction.
Really, I could talk about this show all week. There are so many characters, and most of them are interesting, and even the ones that aren't interesting will have great moments attached to them. If you're a watcher of this show, and you've read this far, do make a comment with things you'd like to discuss with me - I'd loooove to do it!
This entry was originally posted at http://katta.dreamwidth.org/634540.html and has
comments there.
I actually saw the first ep before, but never kept watching because I thought Piper was so annoying. But now there were so many commercials running, plus I read a quote from the creator that Piper was just a "gateway drug" to get you interested in the other women's stories, so I figured I'd give it another chance. And boy am I ever glad that I did!
Piper is still annoying, and indeed one of the least interesting characters, but the further the show went, the more I started appreciating her place on the show. For once, there's a protagonist that it's okay not to like. It's not at all unusual for me not to like a protagonist! There are plenty of them who are just as clueless, self-absorbed as Piper, and just as obsessed with people considering them nice, rather than doing nice things. The difference is that Piper gets called on it. There's no protagonist privilege; when there's a disagreement she's not right just because she's the lead. She became more fun to watch merely for her struggle to keep in the front-and-center where she was convinced she belongs.
And this is carried on with the rest of the cast. We get to see both sides of conflicts and their consequences, and decide for ourselves who was right. It could be everyone. It could be no one. There's no hero. There are precious few full-on villains. "I can't tell if I'm supposed to sympathize with this character or not!" fans complain. Great! Just the way I like it. That means I get to decide for myself.
Now, my favourite character is still one of the nicest ones: Poussey Washington. I think she was my favourite before I even started watching, because Samira Wiley is just so beautiful and has such a gorgeous smile. But three seasons has definitely cemented that love. She his my soft spots in so many ways:
Funny - It was only recently that I realized how important funny moments are to me. Not in the sense of comic relief, just that I need to, at least sometimes, find the characters I love funny. I lamented about characters that should do it for me but didn't: "Sure, they're badass, but they're not funny!" Poussey is really funny!
Nerdy/intelligent - she works in the library and has a funeral for burned books. 'Nuff said.
Angst puppy - Not in season 1, but definitely season 2 and 3.
Has a hard time fitting in - ditto.
Has that lithe, dark look, like she could audition for Nightwing - if Nightwing was a black lesbian woman.
Kind - for the most part.
Can carry a torch well - this is another thing I only realized lately, that I love characters who can be unlucky in love without coming off as whiny assholes. Alcoholism aside, Poussey pined with grace.
Obviously I've been shipping Poussey/Taystee, because I want Poussey to be happy and because Taystee is another wonderful character. She's the one who taught Poussey about the library! She treats AA like Open Mic Night! ("Poetry slammer".) She's warm and funny and increasingly fills her role as the mom!
But, alas, the girl is straight. (Or, as someone suggested, asexual.) So when Soso became a viable alternative, I grabbed it with both hands. Who can resist these adorable baby otters and their joy to no longer be alone?
And wow, how I love the number of lesbians/LGBTQ+ characters on this show! On any other show, all I'd have would be Piper and Alex, or possibly Piper, Alex and Stella, and I'd either half-heartedly ship them or feel bad about not shipping them. On this show, I have Poussey and Soso, Suzanne and Maureen, Nicky and Lorna, Trish and Mercy, Big Boo and Sophia. (Not that Big Boo and Sophia ever hooked up. Maybe they should.) That's more than a dozen characters, not even counting Fig's husband. Only one of them dies, and most of them have interests outside of being queer (which is always one of my main requirements). Who cares if the main pairing is lukewarm, y'know?
Of course, it's not as lukewarm as the straight pairings. Daya/Bennet are soaking in a bland sweetness that becomes increasingly sour without ever becoming interesting. Too bad the existance of Baby means we can't lose the storyline when we lost Bennet. Mary Steenburgen did brighten the whole thing up a little, though I can't help thinking of her as Helen Girardi. (And you thought you hade troubles with THOSE kids!) Piper/Larry/Polly was duller still, and it was a relief in season 3 to have Piper's friends and family out of the show. I think that helped her character too.
Apart from that, I can't decide what I think about season 3. It was more overtly comic than the other seasons, maybe to appease the Emmys, and sometimes that gets a bit much, as with the Norma cult. At the same time, there were definitely bits of brilliance. Who'd have thought Big Boo and Pensatucky would make such a power team, for one? Or that Black Cindy's conversion, despite the way it started, would contain one of the most beautiful takes on religion I've ever heard? ("It's like a verb. It's like... you do God.") Or that Chang would get the most stone-cold awesome badass moment so far? And I got to admit, I never thought it'd be so satisfying to see the guards try to unionize.
Watching all the seasons in a row on Netflix as I did of course makes the whole thing flow together in a different way, but yeah, season 3 felt a bit all over the place. And I kind of missed Vee. Which is a strange thing to say, because while she was on I hated her so much and just wanted her gone. She occupied the same kind of space as Kai Winn and first season Sylar, where her presence made me actively fear for my favourites, which means I want the suspense to be over and to prolong it at the same time. Lorraine Toussaint was bloody brilliant in the part, and definitely heightened the storyline. Privatization and that twerp Danny doesn't pack the same punch in the slightest. At the same time, as someone pointed out, it's hard to top Vee without going in a big-bad-of-the-season direction.
Really, I could talk about this show all week. There are so many characters, and most of them are interesting, and even the ones that aren't interesting will have great moments attached to them. If you're a watcher of this show, and you've read this far, do make a comment with things you'd like to discuss with me - I'd loooove to do it!
This entry was originally posted at http://katta.dreamwidth.org/634540.html and has
comments there.