Beneath the Jump Suit: Decoding "Orange is the New Black"

A lot of people I've talked to, about Netflix's Orange is the New Black, said they don't watch the show because there's too much lesbian sex. Memo to you people, that's bigotry against lesbians. Love is love. Then again, many of the inmates that up the show's ingredients fall under the phrase "gay for the stay."

But I looked underneath all the elements that make up Orange, witty catchphrases, uh, sex, and super foul language, featuring names for lady parts I never heard of; I looked for the ingenuity of the writers. If you just ignore all the special elements, you can to appreciate how great the story.

Based on Piper Kerman's memoir bearing the same name, we journey into the unknown world of a women's prison. The main character, Piper Chapman (called Chapman in the show), soon realize the life a con in prison isn't a cake walk, and perhaps in her mind, the longest 15 months of her life.

The extra special element that makes up the story is the back story of the other inmates. It isn't like any other flashback with a dramatic segue and whoosh into the past. You watch two girls argue about the problem of the day, and as the winner walks away, the loser stands there looking defeated, and you would think, "You deserved it." But then, we cut to the loser's past, and it opens your eyes to what the character is like. You realize that the loser isn't a loser after all; winning is just not their strong suit. As they dig deeper into the other inmates' past, you begin root for some to win and others to lose out.

If you weren't ready for this new kind of show, don't worry, Piper wasn't either. Give it time to appreciate. Regina Spektor says, "You've Got Time."