Ginger Telly Man: Orange is the New Black

A new original show from Netflix, all 13 episodes dropped on July 11th for this female prison set comedy drama. Firstly I would just like to say I really love what Netflix is doing at the moment, I recently bulk-watched all the new episodes of Arrested Development when they became available on Netflix and I think this concept is changing the way we consume television.

Orange is the New Black is based on the true life memoir of Piper Kerman's (Piper Chapman in the show) year in prison, here played stunningly by Taylor Schilling. She is sent to prison for a 10 year old crime of smuggling drug money for her international drug smuggling lesbian lover Alex (played by "That 70's Show" Laura Prepon). Piper now a straight, engaged to married,  successful business woman must learn how to navigate and accept her new life behind bars for the next 15 months.

There is a lot to like about this show, firstly the cast is top notch and it is very refreshing to see such a primarily female cast portray such well written characters. The show packs an emotional punch and some episodes will have you reaching for those tissues however on the filp-side it is one of the funniest shows in years. This dual emotional roller-coaster is why I keep coming back for more (I am currently only 8 episodes in), one minute I am welling up and the next l am laughing so much I almost pee a little. One of the funniest moments for me is when two of the black inmates begin impersonating rich white women in the run up to an inmates union election, their impression is so spot-on and hilarious I was almost crying with laughter. Another great aspect is how LGBT characters are portrayed in this show, for once we are not the sidekicks, trotted out occasionally to provide comic relief, no in fact LGBT characters make up almost 50% of the cast in this show and make for well written and complex characters. In particular the portrayal of the post-op transgendered Sophia by Laverne Cox is one of the best examples I have ever seen of a portrayal of this type of storyline in television or film and ultimately one of the most heartbreaking.

I could go on, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for you all so maybe I'll do a followup post when the second series is about to drop but I will say this, find this show and watch it.

You can thank me afterwards.

GBM

Ginger Telly Man: Girls

Okay so I've recently just finished HBO's new comedy series 'Girls' masterminded by the imensily talented Lena Dunham. Dunham not only stars as lead character Hanna but also manages to write/co-write every episode and direct them also.

The show centers on the lives of four twenty-something females living in New York and no doubt many parallels to that other famous New York set, HBO comedy featuring four female protagonists will be made. Yet whilst 'Sex and the City' showed the glamorised side of sex and being successful in pre-recession New York, Girls on the flip-side deals with the aftermath, the directionless youth of today trying to survive after the generation before them pissed it all away. It's real, it's raw, it's nasty and moreover at times it's incredibly funny.

Dunham has managed to pull off something that's not altogether easy, in the creation of characters, Hanna included that at times are absolutely real, repugnant even but can completely endear the watcher to them. Whilst watching on more than one occasion I would turn to Husband and go 'Jesus she is being an absolute Thunderbitch' and then only ten minutes later be in absolute hysterics at the very same character.

My favorite moment from the whole series pans out in this vein, in episode 3, Hanna finds out she has an STD and decides to go confront an ex-boyfriend about it and confirm if he is the cause of her discomfort. The ex is now an out and proud gay man and needless to say Hanna's reaction to the whole situation it not handled very well. It all plays out in a hilarious albeit cringeworthy way which ends with Hanna listening to depressing music and taking to Twitter to vent her misfortune, she begins to write and delete desperate tweets which only make the viewer cringe even more at how it has all played out. Then the song changes to the more upbeat Robyn 'Dancing on my Own' and with that change so does Hanna's mood, she becomes empowered by the what has happened and gets up and dances and laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.

I think this scene encapsulates the greatness of this show, the ability to find the joy and hilarity at life's more fucked up moments and also how one minute Dunham's characters have you cringing behind a pillow and then suddenly you are back with them and cheering them on.

It won't be for everyone, for some the sex may be too graphic/strange and the all white cast may have been a bit a of a misguided step in terms of depicting a culturally diverse post-recession New York but other than that I'm having trouble faulting it.


That said, seeing how Dunham's is only 26 years old and already so incredibly talented and successful I can't help but feel incredibly jealous.

GBM