Orange is the New Black
Season-binged it over the past couple of days. Eager for the second season. There are a few problematic plot turnings: gay-as-edgy-rebellion; tall, thin white women are the stars, everyone else is secondary.
But, the show is doing a good job at keeping the majority of the storylines about the women, even when there's a dude involved. It's also really good at giving most people deep, realistic motivations rather than generic heel/face actions.
I'm intrigued by the reactions I feel are expected of me as a viewer. Like, there's an older prisoner, former owner of a cleaning service, doing time for murdering a client who raped one of her maids. So, we're supposed to feel sorry and maybe, outraged, and I do. But it's weird to be guided to feel pity and injustice, when if the story had been about a dude in the situation, the story/emotional nudging would have been Violence is Justified, and Revenge Is Good, and the story would have been shotgun rampage without any criminal repercussions for the dude.
But, the show is doing a good job at keeping the majority of the storylines about the women, even when there's a dude involved. It's also really good at giving most people deep, realistic motivations rather than generic heel/face actions.
I'm intrigued by the reactions I feel are expected of me as a viewer. Like, there's an older prisoner, former owner of a cleaning service, doing time for murdering a client who raped one of her maids. So, we're supposed to feel sorry and maybe, outraged, and I do. But it's weird to be guided to feel pity and injustice, when if the story had been about a dude in the situation, the story/emotional nudging would have been Violence is Justified, and Revenge Is Good, and the story would have been shotgun rampage without any criminal repercussions for the dude.