At this point, I'm just going to assume that most of you have already completed your marathon of Orange Is the New Black Season 3 . Maybe even multiple times . (Hey, no judgment here.) Who can blame you? The series was a groundbreaking television format that has proven time and time again that it's not afraid to tackle controversial topics and force our society to look at certain issues differently. "Jenji Kohan is a warrior," Lea DeLaria, who plays Big Boo, said of the show's creator. "She's trying to bring about political change. She's trying to get people talking about the prison system in America and abortion and gay rights and all the things that I myself am very supportive of."
All of this makes this role almost a dream role for an actress, especially when the hope is that these storylines will spark positive changes in the way society looks at certain issues. Because after all, difficult topics are often the ones worth talking about. "I think we do these things on purpose. These things are there because you bet we have an agenda," DeLaria said of Orange is the New Black , including these storylines.
But it wasn’t just the topics themselves that DeLaria admired, but the way the show discussed them. "[ OITNB ] is so feminist without ever saying, 'We are feminists!'" DeLaria explains. "All these women of all shapes, sizes, ages, races just being themselves and living their lives. Never talk about whether their butts are fat in jeans or when am I going to find another man? It's about reality Life, and what? It’s amazing that women actually talk about this.”
Take her character's abortion monologue, for example. It appears in the first episode of season three and immediately sets the tone for the type of content the season will openly discuss in an honest way (which later includes rape, sex, etc.).
This is a big reason why OITNB is such a great show, not just on Netflix, but in the entertainment industry as a whole. These are things that real women face every day. Therefore, by providing a platform for these issues to stand on, OITNB is able to provide a mainstream voice for urgently needed issues. And if that’s not something to celebrate, then I don’t know what is. So, please excuse me while I go and re-watch the season.
Image: JoJo Weldon/Netflix (2)
