Week #1- Sirena

September 20, 2013 - Assignments
BEFORE:
The TV show that I’m going to watch is called “Orange is the New Black.” I caught   a glimpse of the title and commercial in the jumble of movie previews at the theatre and couldn’t help but think, “Hell, that actually looks kind of good.” Low and behold, the series showed up on my Netflix; it must have been a sign I was meant to watch this show for this specific assignment!
The basic story line, from what I gathered from the preview of the show, it’s going to be a fictional documentation of female prisoners. What’s on my mind, right now before the show, is I wonder what it would actually be like to be in prison. What would it look like inside of a female prison? How are they treated by guards?  How are the females supposed to  act with each other? I can’t be around females for more than 5 hours alone in a house; how are you supposed to live with them, in cells, for even 6 months? Guess I’ll tune in to find out!
AFTER:
I hate to admit it, but I stayed up watching 6 consecutive episodes of  “Orange is the New Black.” I was sucked into the life of the inmates, and whirled in their personal backgrounds. It never occurred to me before, but there is a very high possibility that prison guards / officers sexually abuse, hurt, or provoke prisoners – and they can get away with it, too easily, because 1.) they’re all female prisoners, and 2.) they’re in prison. It’s screwed up how crap like that can be happening, even in our own facilities, and they don’t have a voice to speak up. If I had to admit that my view changed on the matter, I would. It’s unfair to women prisoners, even if they are in prison for whatever they did. No one would deserve to be sexually abused or molested.
Another thing I noticed was the food conditions. Would it really be nasty food? Or, would it taste good? In the TV show, inmates basically run everything: the kitchen, driving on the prison property to pick up other prisoners, cleaning, etcetera. Is that a glamourized view of women prison, or was what I watched the worst case scenario?
Also, there was a surprisingly high number of gay relations taking place. I didn’t necessarily think that one through, either. I guess they get lonely in there, too, right? Even though some of them are engaged, married, in a committed relationship. It must be hard for women, more so than men, to be in a prison for however long. I’m sure some prisoners may deserve it, based on their crimes, but in the TV show, they all did what they had to do (for the most part).
Here’s one last thing I have to say before I finish this post – the corruption with police officials, wardens, prisoners, and the people who run the place must be immense. The thing is, no one really thinks about it or knows about it, but it’s still there.
Anyways, that’s it for now!