Orange is Never Black: Latinidad, Racialized Trauma, and Sexual Scripts

• In Event: 3483 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 08. Advances in the Sociology of Emotions

Abstract

Long before the fourth season's finale, Orange is the New Black (OITNB) seemed to be on the verge of gaining cult-status. Backed by viewers who yearned for a more nuanced approach to human emotions and circumstance, the series has earned many accolades for its depiction of prison life, its complexities, and its many hauntings. The inclusive and fresh look at the subject – which deviates from mainstream renditions of ‘good cop, bad robber’ tropes found throughout media representations of criminality – is done by highlighting the humanity and life histories of the occupants of Litchfield Prison. However, scholars such as Caputi (2015) have shown that, although OITNB relies on complex narratives of individual identity, it also flattens and homogenizes social issues to cater to a whitened, liberal gaze.
In this essay, we focus on two themes: 1) the construction of Latinidad and 2) the reoccurrence of racialized trauma across the four seasons; along with how they link with racialized concepts of identity and sexuality. Overall, these two themes tie in with an overarching narrative of anti-Blackness (and brownness) within OITNB that – despite the best intentions – is reproduced and capitalized on for the series’ benefit. We end this piece by giving recommendations for future critical analyses of popular media and representation.

Authors

• Chriss V Sneed, University of Connecticut

• Cynthia Melendez, University of Connecticut