Like Shonda Rhimes’ titular Grey’s Anatomy doctor to Seattle Grace Hospital, Orange Is The New Black’s Piper is our first entry into Litchfield Penitentiary. Both women are the brainchildren of strong and experienced female showrunners. And both are starting to wear out a welcome originally extended to them by viewers on their programs. Just as viewers started to tire of Meredith’s indecisiveness and often underwhelming storylines, I felt myself wondering why we need Piper Chapman and her less-than-engaging story arcs during this latest season of Orange Is The New Black.
When the show debuted in 2013, it did so under different social and political circumstances. In the time between then and now, many of the stars of this show have become icons in their own right. For evidence, look no further than June’s cover of Essence, prominently featuring six black female members of the cast. In a cultural moment where “#sayhername” has become a rallying cry for the value of black female lives otherwise overlooked by police and the patriarchy, their ascendance—Uzo Aduba with her raw and heartbreaking portrayal of mental illness, Samira Wiley (and now her Australian castmate Ruby Rose) shining a light on the fluidity of gender and sexuality, and Laverne Cox’s tireless championing for the rights and recognition of transgender individuals—momentarily gave that call a different meaning. As the storylines of these capable actresses grew strong enough to take center stage, our former primary protagonist has been relegated to a sub-standard romantic arc and a desperate prison business.
When the show first premiered, series creator Jenji Kohan called Piper her “Trojan horse” that provided an entry point for the “hard sell”—the stories of black, Latina, or older women. But nowadays, when those hard sells are on magazine covers, do we still need a white female protagonist?
For all the acclaim OITNB has garnered for its creator, writers and actresses, it also debuted in a cultural moment where many of the issues it addressed were mirrored in tragic and frustrating current events. Even in the past ten days alone, as I whizzed through each successive episode, questions surfaced as life imitated art. Do we need a majority entry point to…
Address when the significantly higher incarceration rate of people of color, as well as the nature of their crimes, are in a bright spotlight?
When the prevalence of hate crimes and transgender violence, such as one incident that surfaces in the second half of season 3, is so clearly visible in our society?
When the controversial nature of who gets to do what based on race (revealed on the show in Gloria and Norma’s disagreement on healing, as well as Soso’s struggle to find a “tribe” at Litchfield) has been front and center?
And, most recently: Do we need a majority entry point when the brutality and cruelty carried out in the name of religion and racial hierarchy continue to dominate our headlines?
Just as progress in our society has allowed the OITNB cast to advance to a point where they can speak up for significant issues, some truly awful elements of our society have underscored a need for the show’s prominence with similar fervor. At times, I ached for how relevant some of the issues that surfaced, months or even years before the headlines they seemed to predict, unfolded in real time. In either case, a barrier to entry for the show has been lowered: While initial thoughts may have erred on the side of having a white female protagonist to draw viewers into the story, those services may no longer be needed.
So Piper, while you’ve done your time—at times admirably, at other times gratingly. But your release may be nigh.
Amma Marfo is a writer, higher education administrator, and popular culture enthusiast dedicated to the idea that our leisure pursuits can inform and enrich the work we do. She writes often for her own blog (“The Dedicated Amateur“) and is a contributing editor to the Niche Movement. Her first book, THE I’S HAVE IT: Reflections on Introversion in Student Affairs, was released in January 2014. Her other interests include running, yoga, surfing, trivia, comedy, and gluten-free cooking/baking. You can follow her on Twitter @ammamarfo.
Who the fuck is Anna Marfo and why do we care what you think. The story is based on a true story about a white woman sent to prison so why shouldn’t she be in it.
Did I just skim something arguing that someone should be fired for their skin color? Look, TPM, I’m the first to shout in outrage at outrages, but these opinion pieces are getting absurd. They’re superficial, abrasive, “grating” and frequently just knee-jerk PC chest puffing: “look how smart I am that I’ve cooked up another thing to be outraged about.” They are typically designed so that disagreement with them allows the people who agree with it to just shout you down as not “getting it” or “part of the problem.” It’s everything the GOP/Teatrolls/conservatives are complaining about with PC-ism getting out of hand…and it IS getting out of hand in some respects. This article is proof. Let me help the author: IT’S A FUCKING TV SHOW. You want a TV show all about minority-only female prisoners? Write it yourself, smartass…and let us know how that turns out for you without a white devil as a foil for them…someone to provide the launch pad for voicing angry screeds about her privilege or whatever. Oh but wait…we can get rid of the white female prisoner because we can just make all the jailers white men?
And wtf…is this Piper person’s whiteness a reason for this imbecile to show palpable contempt for her personally? Is she a bad actress? Does she bring the show down? Is she holding it back? What about Piper and her contributions to the show…other than her whiteness…justifies gushing over the minority actresses and their roles and then dismissing this white actress as meaningless frippery and nothing but an objectified marketing ploy throughout the article and ending with a palpably belittling tone?
Whatever…if you want to feed us “thought provoking” opinion pieces on these kinds of issues, TPM, then I have this to say: please start.
If you’re asking, “For the sake of entertainment in this sort of a setting (in the current here-and-now), do we need a white person-as-the-obvious-star?” to bring in a large® audience – then I’d have to say, obviously not. However, that doesn’t seem to be where you’re going here … or am I not reading this in the way it was meant?
I absolutely love this show. I have grown to love each and every character. The writing is superb – and so are the actors. Truthfully, I was pulled in because I saw Kate Mulgrew was in the cast. I have followed her for years, ever since I saw her on ‘Cheers.’ It doesn’t hurt that I’m a huge ST: TNG and Voyager fan. It also helped when I read Lea DeLaria was in the cast. I saw her do stand-up many years ago in San Francisco. Man, she can sing, too!
Now that I’ve been exposed to many of these other actors, I’ll no doubt want to see their other works. Do we need white people? Um, yes. I’m a gay white man and I’m a little put off by the question. As chammy above states: The story is about a white woman who went through the prison system there. I love all these actors – they are amazing, but that also shines through because of the stories. Yes, I’m also very glad to be exposed to every one of these stories. Uzo Aduba has the most interesting and difficult storyline, I think. I’ve witnessed firsthand the lives of a few people living with varying degrees and different kinds of mental illness. Her portrayal is spot on and brings out so many emotions.
Again, I don’t know if I misunderstand your angle–I am responding to how I read what you wrote.
So the “writer” of this piece calls herself a writer? Just try to figure out what the first paragraph is all about (if you’ve never seen the show). And how about the fourth sentence of the second paragraph? I dare anyone to try to make sense of it.
It’s quite believable that whoever wrote this is a “higher education administrator”. And a “popular culture enthusiast” definitely. The list of interests (“trivia, comedy, and gluten-free cooking/baking”) kind of sums the whole thing up. Did this originally run in The Onion?
Obviously a radical feminist, judging by her use of the word patriarchy.