It has been one month since the release of season 3 of Orange is the New Black and it seems as if this season has left a bad taste in people’s mouths. A fan favorite character dies and veterans are depicted as monsters.
Orange is the New Black premiered in July 2013 and has received a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though this current season has been rated with a 97%, not everyone is happy with it. Leading Veteran groups are outraged because of the representation of veterans in this season of the show.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars found the show offensive. Disabled American Veterans said it was out of touch of the real veteran experience. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said it will continue to stigmatize veterans.
There are a few examples of misrepresentation of the veterans. In the show, when hiring veterans was proposed, one of the employees gestured to shoot and kill his co-workers while saying, “We looked into using veterans in the past in our office, but, you know veterans…”
Another example is when one of the Correction Officers tells a story about his time overseas. He forces a child in Afghanistan to juggle grenades until one blows up. “And then you shoot him, because you don’t want him to grow up without arms or tell on you, or maybe you just strangle a girl that you had sex with in a small village because her family is going to kill her anyway, right?”
The show illustrates example after example of the veterans as racists, sexists and assault the women in the prison.
Many people are commenting that it is a show of fiction. But people do keep these things in the back of their heads. When they see someone in real life who is represented in a show, they think of the show. Orange is the New Black is a very popular show. When service members return home from combat and are looking for jobs, people may have the image of the Correction Officers from Litchfield.
The transition from wartime to civilian life is hard enough. Veterans now have to overcome the prejudice of being a veteran.
The commander in chief of Veterans in Foreign Wars, John A. Biedrzycki Jr says:
“America has tens of thousands of troops currently deployed into harm’s way, and millions of others who have successfully transitioned back into society, but the writers and producers chose instead to offend them all just to fit a storyline that needed new villains.”
