Authored by Lizzie Hurst

Categorized as a comedy drama versus a drama, Orange is the New Black (OITNB) and The Night Of offer depictions of seemingly antagonistic environments of prison life. The viewer is immediately draw into the lightness of OITNB with the “You’ve Got Time” upbeat theme song playing as images of women’s eyes, teeth and lips are shone. No face is given more time than any other- not even that of Piper whom the series follows- but, as Schwan argues, it is through “Piper’s atypical viewpoint” and the “show’s innovative use of genre” that OITNB can appeal to a broader audience (Schwan, 474). This is in sharp contrast to the instrumental only theme song of The Night Of that accompanies images of a dark city, abandoned taxicab, shattered glass and a lone, bloody hand. The viewer subscribes to a more provocative and emotionally jarring experience from the beginning. As OITNB revolves around a female prison and The Night Of features a male protagonist, to what degree are the depicted environments influenced by a feminine or masculine stereotype?

OITNB uses comic relief to add lightness to the environment and minimize the severity of the situation, arguably appealing to a more feminine audience. In season one episode one during a flashback into Piper’s old life, she jokes to her fiancé Larry about getting ripped while being in prison, as if prison is an environment of self-pursuit and creation. The air of lightness continues in prison when she has to get her photo taken and the guards cannot figure out how to work the camera—meanwhile, a cord was not plugged in the whole time. This is in stark comparison to Naz’s entrance into the holding cell where he is forced to strip down and hand over his clothes as crime scene evidence. Trying to conceal his nakedness and shivering from his onlookers, we empathize with his vulnerability and tepidness. For, unlike Piper, this is not an adventure for Naz- this is the destruction of his whole life.

The air of lightness in OITNB partially stems from the fact that Piper is not consistently the main protagonist throughout the entire series, with this main shift coming in season two (O’Sullivan, 409). Because we get to know the characters of the prison through backstories and flashbacks, we develop greater empathy for all the characters. Revolving storylines help to portray something larger than just Piper’s story, and by the time season three episode one comes around, Piper does not even come into the episode until 12 minutes in. By comparison, Naz is the sole protagonist in The Night Of. Without knowing the backgrounds of the other criminals, we assume as viewers that everyone else is in prison because they committed a crime and rightly belong there. This creates an environment of uncertainty that even starts to extend into our conviction of Naz as innocent.

In addition to character lines, technical choices of lighting and music create a more comedic environment in OITNB that contrasts to the confrontational environment of The Night Of. With an all female cast compared to a solo male protagonist, it appears as if the portrayed environments are conducive to a more delicate feminine stereotype compared to a foreboding masculine one.

Citations:

“I Wasn’t Ready” (Season 1: Episode 1). Orange Is the New Black. Netflix. 2013. Television.

“Mother’s Day” (Season 3: Episode 1). Orange Is the New Black. Netflix. 2015. Television.

O’Sullivan, Shannon. “Who is Always Already Criminalized? An Intersectional Analysis of Criminality on Orange Is the New Black.” Journal of American Culture 39.4 (2016): 401-412. Print.

“Part 1: The Beach.” The Night Of. HBO. 2016. Television

“Part 2: Subtle Beast.” The Night Of. HBO. 2016. Television

Schwan, Anne. “Postfeminism Meets the Women in Prison Genre: Privilege and Spectatorship in Orange Is the New Black.” Television & New Media 17.6 (2016): 473-490. Print.