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