Orange is the New Black

Orange is the new black? It's not a radical reinvention of our perceptions of colour choices, but it does invite us to reinvent the way we perceive other people and our life decisions. 

Created by Jenji Kohan, the American comedy-drama series first hit Netflix about a year ago in July 2013, but has only reached the radar of the majority of UK audiences around now. It is the latest new series that has got my friends displaying positive nods of approval or jovial enthusiasm.  

The series stars Piper Chapman (played by newcomer actress Taylor Schilling) as a bisexual woman who is sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for transporting drug money for her former girlfriend (Laura Pepon of That 70's Show). This offence occurred ten years before the series and since then she had committed to a middle-class suburban life in New York with her fiancé (played by Jason Biggs of American Pie fame). The episodes follow her struggle to accustom to life in prison alongside a vibrant range of female inmates, including her former drug-dealer lover and prison guards with questionable morals. 

From the outset, it's easy to see the appeal of the series and why it's got tongues wagging. Not least because, it's clear that the program is going to feature a lot of tongue wagging... Full nudity, hot lesbian/bi sexual tension and compromising positions proliferate the pilot episode, setting the steaminess expectations for the rest of the series at dizzying levels. Not one to sit down and watch with parents or children!

A series can be pretty vacuous and transparent however if sex is all its selling. OITNB is about much more than that, with strong female characters that each have a unique identity and a vivid emotional back-story, brought to life through an intriguing flashback structure. In the second episode for example, we learn just why 'Red' is so defensive about her cooking and that even a tough cookie has a doughy centre. 

There's also a true heart to this compelling series as it's based on the memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman, who spent a year in prison battling to preserve her individuality in the face of a grey, impersonal bureaucracy and the constant reminders of their powerlessness in prison. In addition, it features a real and spectacular transgendered actress rather than a guy in a wig.

Personally I'll never suit jumpsuit orange, it just doesn't go with my skin tone. Orange is the New Black is however perfectly suited to filling my free hours with thought-provoking and humorous content, and I am eagerly awaiting watching the third episode and onwards to the third season!