I've never even seen the outside of a real prison. I don't even know what the inside would look like. So I can't comment much on that.
My town was largely homogenous, meaning we had two black kids and three hispanics in the entire school. So I can't comment on race relations.
You know what I can comment about?
Lesbians. It may not surprise anyone to hear I'm a lesbian. I considered bringing it up several reviews ago, when I was reviewing Emily Owens, MD. I decided my comment about how touching that scene was could stand without that knowledge, but my review of this show couldn't.
Because the sheer amount of gay in this show can be overwhelming, and to be honest, it's the only part of the show I can truly relate to.
Netflix's Original TV shows seem to be taking on a pattern, and it's one I really hoped they would; They won't shy away from issues, their characters are largely gray when it comes to morals, rather than being good or bad, and the tv shows are (generally) quite smart.
One thing my doctor said, when I mentioned to her I didn't really like guys, was: Sexuality is a spectrum. People think you're either on one side, or another, but really, it's like a scale, where one side is women, and the other is men, and you're somewhere in-between.
This show is the first one I've seen willing to portray homosexuality like this. The main character even talks about it the same way, though she gets teased for 'not being gay' anymore. At least one other person in a lesbian relationship seems to have turned to it not really because she's more into girls than guys, but because she's lonely.
However, it's not afraid to shy away from homophobia. Despite being a lesbian, I'll admit, I haven't truly seen homophobia. I mean, when I came out, nobody was surprised. My last boyfriend was pretty much a girl (I'm sorry, you know who you are). I'm fairly masculine, and I approach gender roles like a guy. I was often told I probably was just dressing like a girl.
I'm not saying this is how all lesbians are: the show presents quite the range of them, from lesbian as a personality trait (the butch one), to lesbian only being incidental to her personality (the ex-girlfriend.)
In fact, since I came out, I've only had one direct experience with homophobia.
Coworker: So, are you dating anyone?
Me: No, I'm kinda taking time to sort myself out.
Coworker: Your last boyfriend sucked, huh?
Me: You have no idea. He cheated on me. With a guy.
Coworker: My ex-boyfriend wanted me to have a threesome with another guy. I broke up with him right then and there. Gay people are disgusting. There's nowhere in the bible where a man and a man are together, you know? (puts dish cloth away.) Hey, will you make me a sandwich?
Me: (snaps) So long as you don't mind it being touched by a lesbian.
Coworker: ...
Me: ...
After making her sandwich, I apologized, and explained she had no way to know that would offend me, and I had given every indication I was straight, and she apologized for offending me.
Yeah, that's earth-shattering stuff right there.
The fact is, lesbians aren't nearly as hated as male homosexuals. The show called "What Would You Do" proved this, by noting almost nobody caused a scene when two girls were kissing in public, but two boys kissing frequently got confronted, and even had the police called on them.
It gets to the point where I sometimes forget that people might be upset when they hear I'm gay. After all, girl on girl is hot, right?
This show reminded me that I really shouldn't start dying my hair rainbow yet, with two characters: The warden and Sandusky.
The warden gets disgusted when he hears Piper supposedly requested a specific bunking partner. When he hears she didn't, and she didn't like the advances of another girl, the warden makes it clear he doesn't like lesbians, and Piper decides not to bring her sexuality up. He starts acting rather pervy towards her.
Sandusky is an evangelical druggie, since being mistaken for a Christian political protester. Sandusky eventually realizes Piper is gay, and goes to the warden, saying she caught Piper having sex with another girl in the bathroom.
The warden decides to put Piper in solitary for 'lewd behavior' (he caught her dancing). Everyone points out he can't do that, and eventually he relents, but it's too late for her to meet her fiance for the holiday.
Piper snaps at him, and reveals she's gay. I will not spoil the finale, but let's just say this moment leads to the climax.
There are two other major stories going on, which I can't comment on too much from experience, but I will say they were touching, and I enjoyed watching them.
An emotionally abused girl gets involved with one of the nicer guards, eventually getting pregnant by him. She decides to coerce another guard into having sex with her, and tell everyone he raped her, which doesn't please the nicer guard at all. (It leads to a rather funny episode, where the second guard lets the first one know he's 'really tall'.)
And, a guard and the cook (named Red) clash, leading to the death of a character, and the fallout from it.
This is not an easy show to watch. It's not a light show, either. It can be pretty funny at times, which eases the harsh realities it presents. But I think everyone should watch it. If not the entire one, at least the episode where everyone convinces Sandusky she can heal people, until she tries to heal a girl in a wheelchair, and gets sent to the mental ward.
No comments:
Post a Comment