Madison Reddie Dr. Rosenberg Section 11 Behind Bar(code)s Two weeks ago, my mom was carjacked at gunpoint. The police caught the perpetrator and he’s going to prison for a good, long while, and I wish him the worst. I don’t care if prison isn’t pleasant for him; it shouldn’t be. This all seems perfectly justified. And this is coming from the same person who cried after honking at a bad driver and finding it to be a cute old man who smiled and waved as I passed. I just mean to say that I’m an empathetic person, and I wish very few people in this world the worst. Because of stories, isolated experiences, and stereotypes, it’s easy to neglect anyone who falls under the broad category of “criminal” and permit dehumanization. According to the FBI, only 7% of federal inmates are in for violent offenses, and a study by Time found that 39% of incarcerated Americans should not be in prison. That means that there are more than just guys who steal moms’ cars at gunpoint in there. In response to the common ignorance towards criminals, awful prison conditions, and the immorality of the prison industrial complex, a piece of graffiti art was created and Netflix produced “Orange Is the New Black,” a show about an affluent white woman going to prison. Both works affect their respective audiences through coercion to pay attention, relatable elements, and emotional appeals, though they do so in distinct ways. An anonymous artist made their statement heard by slapping it right in front of people’s faces. A graffiti image of a barcode with hands wrapped around the bars as if they were bars of a jail cell and a random eight digit number accompanied by a loud and proud “FUCK THE SYSTEM” beneath was placed on a public wall. Being in public, of course the piece fell into many people’s lines of sight, but graffiti is everywhere and can sometimes be ignored. The Madison Reddie Dr. Rosenberg Section 11 work “fuck” in all capital letters, however, kind of demands attention. It could have read “The system needs reform,” but this just isn’t as urgent or out of the ordinary. This creation had to be aggressive in order to attain the awareness of busy passers-by, and it is so aggressive that it may even come off as offensive to some viewers. People that feel they have been well served by the system or passionate patriots may resent the image, and the artist risks losing this potential audience, but this is a necessary risk since the piece must stand out to be noticed in its setting. Due to its public and eye-catching nature, this work has made its way far from its unknown original location. It has become so widespread and frequently referenced on social media and the internet that its origin has been lost through its journey of being bounced around, shared, and reposted. Though the artist and where they meant to place the art has been washed away, this still counts as a success, as the piece has been spread around and seen by a much larger audience than it would have had it not ventured from the building wall to the Facebook wall. “Orange Is the New Black,” on the other hand, used finesse and intrigue rather than brute force to attract attention. Piper, the main character of the series, is sentenced to 15 months in prison for once carrying a suitcase filled with drug money for a past girlfriend. That was nearly a decade before her sentencing. The series relies on the audience finding a well-educated white woman going to prison ironic to entice watchers. Otherwise, the storyline wouldn’t be anything particularly special. After this initial shock, the show is packed with more twists and complications, including gang rivalries, beatings, and social drama within the Litchfield Correctional Facility. This is why people watch the series. Few average Americans choose to watch a TV show because they want to know how terrible the USDoJ is. They just want to be entertained and get their $8-per-month worth out of Netflix. Though it’s not the sole purpose of Madison Reddie Dr. Rosenberg Section 11 the show, “Orange Is the New Black” had to be entertaining to gain an audience. Once it has that audience, then it can relay its social commentary and critique of the civic to a large group of people. An efficient way to get unaffected people to pay attention to racial profiling, the prison- industrial complex, and poor conditions for inmates is to engage them in a story that reveals these concepts. Once the two works have an audience’s attention, they must rally support for their respective causes. The graffiti does this by playing on the already-existing negative connotation attached to “the system.” Simply identifying the problem as “the system” was a strategic choice by the artist, not getting too specific and allowing a broader group to agree with their statement. The message isn’t exclusive to people who take issue with the prison system. “The system” has different definitions for different people, so it is likely that seeing “fuck the system” triggers some personal, negative memory for viewers, from an undeserved traffic ticket to high taxes to disagreeable legislation. Many people already harbor distaste toward some system or another, and this distaste is affirmed and validated by the image. Already distrusting the system and now feeling even more justified in doing so, people are more receptive to the graffiti’s declaration that another part of the system, the prison system, is flawed. Netflix likewise finds a way to make its show relatable. “Orange Is the New Black” features a slew of very diverse characters, from straight people to gay people to trans people to rich, poor, black, white, Latinx, and Asian people all with different personality traits and different struggles. It’s easy for any given person watching the show to find a character that they identify with, whether it be mentally, physically, or experientially. Also vital to note is that Litchfield is a minimum security facility with prisoners in for non-violent and petty crimes. These criminals Madison Reddie Dr. Rosenberg Section 11 seem less inhuman than those one might find in a higher-security prison. Viewers begin to see parts of themselves in these portrayals, which makes them more sympathetic, and this is crucial to the reception of the show’s message. If the audience doesn’t care for or feel connected to characters, they won’t care as much for their strifes. When they can relate, however, they may be better able to imagine how they would feel if they were in the shoes of the distressed character. “Orange Is the New Black” banks on watchers finding the personalities in the production relatable because no one cares about the problems of average criminals. Only because the audience’s empathy has been triggered will it consider that inmates should be treated better and question the ethics of the prison-industrial complex. These works now have an in to influence their viewers’ emotions. The street-art, being just a painting on a wall, has fewer options for provoking emotion than a TV show does, but the artist still manages. Depicting a person as faceless and nameless, effectively having had their identity completely wiped away, develops fear in spectators. Identity is often one of the most important things to an individual. People give up acceptance, success, money, and love if it entails sacrificing their identity. Needless to say, identity is important. It is established that viewers lack trust and confidence in the system, so after seeing this example, they fear that they too could be stripped of who they are if they one day found themselves in a vulnerable position. With such an inadequate system in place, this doesn’t seem so far-fetched. This fear serves as motivation to demand reform of the prison-industrial complex, which treats Americans as nothing more than a number, barcode, and money in the bank. Throughout all of the plot of “Orange Is the New Black,” sad events occur and the audience is affected by them, but the emotional climax comes later on, in Season 4. This was Madison Reddie Dr. Rosenberg Section 11 strategically placed, allowing watchers time to get attached to the characters, so that a tragedy would have the greatest possible emotional impact. A consistently lovable inmate that never caused any problems, Poussey Washington, dies at the hands of an under-trained guard. As one could predict, the audience is upset. Following her death is a bureaucratic mess and corporate cover-up that results in the guard being let off and prison administration refusing to acknowledge what really happened, even leaving Poussey’s name out of its official statement. It also becomes clear that the guard’s malpractice was a result of budget cuts that reduced guard training and allowed the hiring of under-qualified individuals. Now comes the anger. Not only did this joyful, kind woman die, but she is disrespected and dismissed in death because the warden doesn’t want the bad press and the private owner of the prison doesn’t want to lose any money. Viewers are angry, and they know exactly what to blame. Netflix has effectively conveyed the deficiencies at the core of the prison-industrial complex and given people a reason to want change. Through a calculated process of gaining attention, relating the audience, and finally, provoking strong emotions, the barcode prison graffiti and “Orange Is the New Black” convey that change is necessary and provide emotional reason for their viewers to seek it.