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.