As a kid, I learned through fairy tales and children stories that protagonists must be good and, at times, maybe even perfect, and always logical. Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots and even The Three Little Pigs (well at least one of the three) always made the right decisions when it mattered. Growing up I was exposed to stories which have protagonists with the same qualities. From the John Grisham books my mother bought for me at an early age (I think she may have been Inception-ing me to become a lawyer), I learned that even if life is marred by our bad choices, in the end, we, either through self-realization, societal factors or divine intervention, still make the good decisions that always lead to happy, or at least, satisfying endings. These characters may not start out to be good persons but they definitely progress towards being good as their stories go along.
One of the reasons I liked How I Met Your Mother is because I felt that despite Ted and his friends' many faults in decision-making, they will, in the end, make the right decision at the right time. Ted will let go of his irrational hope that Robin is The One and find The Mother. Barney and Robin will stop being scared of love and the mess that goes along with it, and just get married--even before Ted does. Marshall and Lily will get over their differences and arguments--big or small--and be the amazing parents they're destined to become. The same goes for the boys of The Big Bang Theory, the nerds of Chuck, the kids of Glee, and even the study group of Community.
This is where Orange is the New Black deviates from the usual. In Orange's first episode we are introduced to Piper Chapman and how she--and everyone else, for that matter as the season progresses--got into prison: By making the wrong decision. This may be a normal start off point for most stories (Mistresses' Savi Davis, Community's Jeff Winger and Once Upon A Time's Rumplestiltskin to name a few) but the difference with Orange is that as Piper's story in prison progresses, the wrong decisions are not lessened. In fact, they pile up. They come one wave after the other.
We see Piper mess up relations with fellow inmates Red, Crazy Eyes and Miss Claudette, her best friend Polly, her ex-girlfriend Alex, her fiance Larry and even, her counselor, Healy. Yes, Piper, at some point, resolves her little f*ck ups but we see that as with every step she takes in the right direction (or what she thinks is the right direction), she also takes two steps back in the wrong direction. As Dana Piccoli correctly pointed out, Piper Chapman is the anti-hero. She is a self-entitled white girl who thinks her problems are the world's worst problems. In her effort to try to blend in with the women of Litchfield she does the opposite and stands out in a bad way. We appreciate her effort because we know she has good intentions and she's just making decisions based on information she has and the recent lessons she learned from experiences she'd recently been in. If you're done binge-watching all thirteen episodes of Season 1, you have to give it to Piper for trying so hard. And yet she still failed.
The cringe-worthy moments in Piper's prison life--and to some extent, in the other Litchfield inmates' lives as well--make me love Piper--and the women of Litchfield--more. They may not fit the image of what heroes or protagonists should be, but somehow, the connection between actor (them) and the audience (me) is there. They're relatable in the sense that not everyone makes the right decisions at the right time. Not everyone learns from one's mistakes easily, if at all. Not everyone is good or perfect or logical. We share Taystee's fear of the uncertain, Red's desire to show strength in the face of adversity, Miss Claudette's doubts, Daya's insecurities, Nikki's longing, Alex' yearning for direction and even Pennastucky's ill-channelled devotion.
Orange's dedication to show us the stories of these women with honesty, precision and straight-forwardness remind me of Freaks and Geeks' willingness to do the same for teens in the late 1990s. The setting and topics discussed by each show are vastly different from the other but somehow if we squint really closely, we can see some similarities. Freaks did not focus on the high school life of the jocks or the geeks who are lovable or likable (for example, Glee's New Directions), it focused on the geeks who are geeks. Freaks introduced us to Lindsay Weir, a teenager struggling with finding her identity. Throughout Freaks' run, we see Lindsay get into different kinds of trouble (egging her own brother, babysitting while high, skipping classes, dating a burnout) and in the last episode we expected that she has learned her lesson. That she has improved. Instead, we are left with the image of Lindsay joining Kim as they plan to follow some band they like over the summer break instead of being where her parents think she is (an academic summit). Freaks end with Lindsay making, what many of us think is, the wrong decision.
In Orange, at the end of episode 13 we see Piper make what many of us think is the wrong decision. But for her, in that moment--it's Christmas and she's alone, having lost Larry, Alex, Healy, and even her roommate--smacking Pennastuckey with her bare hands seemed like a good decision. Maybe it's too early to tell if all hope is lost on Piper. Maybe she will become the hero that makes the right decisions at the right time in the long run. It took Barney and Robin eight seasons to figure out their shit and they're not even in prison.
Piper is not the conventional protagonist but I find myself rooting for her every time she makes a (potentially) bad decision. Maybe she was correct when she said that Frost's Road Less Traveled really/only meant that shit just happens the way it happens and it doesn't mean anything.
At this point in her story, Piper is not the hero we're all used to seeing. So if you're looking for a success story or a feel-good series, Orange is the New Black is not for you. Step away because shit gets real in Litchfield. But I assure you that Jenji Kohan's storytelling and the cast's wonderful acting will make the journey worth it.
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You may want to read my other Orange related blog entries:
Orange is the New Black Season 2
Orange is the New Black Season 4
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