Orange Is The New Black Textual Analysis

Season 2 Episode 4

When the camera first cuts to Brooke, it is a long shot and there is selective focus on her. This, coupled with the ambient sound, shows Brooke to be excluded from the others. This subverts typical stereotypes, as Brooke is heterosexual; normally, it is the homosexual characters that are shown to be loners or outcasts from society. This could derive from the setting, as the characters are in prison, meaning that typical societal roles may be reversed or completely eradicated. As Piper calls Brooke over to the table, the camera cuts to a selective focus shot of Boo among other inmates. Boo is framed by the other women, which makes her look predatory. This conforms to the stereotype of lesbians being manipulative, and presents her in a negative light. Boo's appearance is also typically 'butch', and her voice is lower. This conforms to the stereotype of lesbians being masculine, which is the way they are normally presented when the show doesn't want to sexualise the character. As Piper talks to Brooke, the camera continuously cuts between her and Boo, showing that they are both involved in the conversation (although Boo is on a different table). As Piper is bisexual, this connection between the two shows that they are both involved in the manipulation of Brooke, which presents them in a negative light. It also presents the two as working together, which subverts typical media tropes; commonly, characters of a different sexual orientation to heterosexual are presented as loners, and as being the only non-heterosexual in their friendship group. This again could account to the prison setting, as with there being many women grouped together there are going to be many women of different sexualities. Later, we learn that Piper was trying to convince Brooke to engage in intercourse with Boo. This conforms to the stereotype of homosexual characters only being interested in sex and not long-lasting relationships.

Overall, in the scene the homosexual character is being presented as manipulative, predatory, and sexually-motivated, which are typical tropes used in the media to present homosexual characters in a negative light. However, it also shows heterosexual characters to be out of the ordinary, which goes against common media portrayals.