Who Is Jenji Kohan's Portrayal Of Racial Stereotypes

Television has always played on stereotypes. It’s not until recently with the up and up of social justice in social media that has brought out these stereotypes to light. Things should not always be taken at face value. When I sit down and watch TV or a film, I used to just do it for the escapism aspect of it. The ritual of mindlessly watching Bad Girls Club or Keeping Up with the Kardashians is long gone. What you see on television is being fed to you in a formulaic manner. Sitcoms, dramas, and reality television alike all seem to have a sort of cookie-cutter way of producing their shows. I’ve learned that many shows draw up many stereotypes in their productions whether they mean to or not. Portrayals of racial stereotypes are prominent throughout

It takes place in prison and apparently prisoners segregate themselves by their race. Watching the first season I thought that the whole thing made sense. Spanish Harlem was full of Hispanics, the ghetto was all inmates who were black, and the Suburbs were for white inmates. The main character of Piper was initially appalled at the fact that racial lines were drawn so overtly and didn’t understand and she felt that there shouldn’t be any lines at all. When I first watched it, I agreed with her. But looking back and knowing what I know now I understand that there’s a certain level of acknowledgement that needs to be had regarding race. We cannot just be colorblind because it discredits the struggles that people of color go through. I’ve learned that while it’s good to treat people equally, one must also not disregard the inequalities that other people face. Yes, Piper was in jail, but she definitely was treated differently than her fellow inmates. The prison counselor, Mr. Healy, wasn’t just a racist and homophobe. He had issues with white patriarchy as well which I’ve learned about this past 10 weeks. Healy was one of my least favorite characters from the beginning because of how discriminatory he was and re-watching his actions against Piper being a lesbian makes my blood boil even more. He’s used to control and when he doesn’t have it he