Dramatic Inmates

Episodes of Oz start with an introduction to the theme of the episode in a prologue by a wheelchair ridden bound inmate named Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau) in a clear cell within Oswald State Penitentiary. Hill serves a role similar to the chorus of a Greek Tragedy. Themes of Greek tradgedy also echo throughout the show by borrowing common elements such as the violent blinding of one of the characters (Enck & Morrissey). Hill addresses the audience directly, before taking his place with the rest of cast. Augustus Hill's dramatic openings sets the standard for the way people act in prison dramas.

Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau) delivering an introdution

Litchfield Penetentiary, the women's prison of Orange is the New Black OitNB), is a fictional place, with very real consequences for it's inhabitants. In a scene in the first episode the fiance (Jason Biggs) of the shows central character is reprimanded for possession of a cellphone inside the prison. He then goes to put the phone in his car, and upon returning finds his fiance Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) has been processed. The two never even get to say goodbye because of the strictures of the prison. Piper is stripped of her personal effects and assumes a new identity as Inmate 1278-1945.

Oswald State Penitentiary, or Oz as it is commonly known, is the eponymous setting for Oz. The is a special portion of the prison called Emerald City where a few select prisoners are held. Em City is set up as a Panopticon, with a guard station at its center and glass cells around the perimeter. With this layout the Corrections Officers (COs) can closely monitor the prisoners. "Oz is hard times doing hard time," we are told by Hill in the prelude to the first episode. The COs present new residents of Em City that there are even more rules for the exclusive unit than there are for the general population; no sex, no drugs, workout routines, mandatory counseling, sleeping and monitored bathroom time. Em City and Litchfield are in every sense an institutions of total control (Garner & Black Hawk).

Total institutions case people psychological distress leading to behavior they might not otherwise participate in (Hill et. all). Self-blame, self-imposed isolation, drug use, hustling, and violence become much more common in prison than they are on the outside. In Oz the point of view character of season 1 is Tobias Beecher (Lee Tersen) kicks the substance abuse that landed him in prison only to later return to it after a series of tragic events which leads him to belive he desrves his punishment. Beecher is sucked into a cycle of self harm and drug use which comes to head in episode 6 where he dresses in drag and sings at a prison talent show while high. In OitNB, Piper turns to hustling and exploitation by selling the worn underwear of her fellow inmates. These actions are attempts to regain some of their personal identification. Beecher and Chapman are trying to act in the ways they feel they should, and not the ways the institution says they should.

Beecher sings "I've Got it Bad"

Chapman's panties speech

Folk Heros and Fiends

Entertainment media set in prison such as Cool Hand Luke, Folsom Prison Blues  and Oz have interested me for decades. The prison drama examines the lives people living in what the sociologists refer to as total institution (Garner & Black Hawk, 2014). Prisoners live under constant surveillance and have most of their actions dictated to them by corrections officers and wardens.

Oz and Orange is the New Black (OITNB) examine the lives of these prisoners in ways that are not able to exist in shorter narratives. Johnny Cash tells the story of man as a snapshot while listening to train ramble down the tracks in Folsom Prison Blues; a man pausing to reflect on his crimes as a train representing his freedom passes by. It is a short reflection on the prisoners plight. Cool Hand Luke delivers a series of tall tales about a prison folk hero; no man can eat 50 hard boiled eggs... unless that man is Luke.

Dragline: Why you got to go and say fifty eggs for? Why not thirty-five or thirty-nine?
Luke: I thought it was a nice round number.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Cool Hand Luke is one of my all time favorite films (Roger Ebert has already covered what makes it so great), but its racially segregated chain-gang does not fit a modern narrative. Every character is straight, white, and male (with the exception of a woman who is objectified by the prisoners) while modern prisoners can face a great deal racial tension, and we expect violence from a prison drama. All of the prisoners essentially get along, and everybody loves Paul Newman's Luke. It is a romance or fantasy. This stands as a stark contrast to modern prison dramas which rely on conflict between inmates and guards, or inmates and other inmates.

The modern prison drama feature drug fiends, racism, and sexual violence. Additionally, Oz' and OitNB's long form serial format allows the narrative to explore the lives of a dozen or more characters. We can see how the oppression of a total institution, such as a prison, can influence the psyche of the characters: both convicts and the staff.

Oz was one of the shows that helped kick off the modern prison drama. Incidentally, it also helped spark HBO's serial drama renaissance in the late 90s, with its first episode airing a year before Sex in the City, and two years before The Sopranos. Likewise, with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating, Orange is the New Black is helping pioneer the current streaming serial format (Enck & Morrissey). That is two major shows about prison airing times where the landscape of television is changing.

I think this is a good time to draw distinctions between texts that center on a protagonist who escapes the confines of a prison and texts that focus on life in prison. The former tend to be about the triumph of an oppressed person (or people) over the oppressive regime they live under, while the latter frames how people function within an inescapable reality. The prison break tends to be triumphant, regardless of the crimes of the inmate. The prison drama is about eking out an existence within the rigid confines of an institution of total control.

Both shows explore how life may be within a prison to varying degrees of success. Oz may offer insights into the harsh treatment of convicts, or maybe the show's spectacle promotes the idea that we need these institutions (Hoskin; Yousman). OitNB receives praise from some critics for its non-normative representations of gender and sexuality (Trier-Bieniek; Enck & Morrissey). Prison dramas on television are full of flawed characters and help frame public perception of the criminal justice system.