Balyhoo Behind Bars: Staging the Women's Prison as Spectacle: A Bernaysian Reading of Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019) within a Critical Cultural Studies Framework

Karras, Jelena

4. term

English, Master

2026

2026-01-06

6987

This thesis examines the gap between the reality of mass incarceration in the United States and the way women’s imprisonment is portrayed in popular culture, focusing on Orange Is the New Black (Netflix, 2013–2019). Using Edward Bernays’s theory of public persuasion (early public relations), which draws on Freud and Gustave Le Bon’s crowd psychology, it shows how media activate unconscious desires and use symbols and stereotypes as recognizable shortcuts that trigger feelings. Bernays is read alongside bell hooks’s work on the representation of marginalized bodies and Michelle M. Lazar’s Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA), which studies how language and media sustain unequal power relations and make them seem natural. Together these lenses are complementary: hooks describes the effects, Bernays explains the mechanisms, and FCDA offers tools for imagining fairer gender and racial representation. Building on this framework, the analysis finds that OITNB employs overt sexualization to hold attention; sexual excess works like a smokescreen that appears to expose power while obscuring structural inequalities. The series normalizes women’s trauma and downplays or excuses guards’ cruelty by treating abuse as inconsequential within the plot. It also stages racialized characters to increase appeal while repeating familiar clichés under the banner of diversity. Black characters avoid the classic hypersexual stereotype yet often have limited scope to challenge systemic injustice, or their suffering is packaged for consumption. Latina characters are depicted as wild and exotic or as expendable once their narrative function is fulfilled. Maritza Ramos exemplifies a cautionary tale where immigration and incarceration intersect, echoing contemporary narratives that criminalize immigrants. These patterns redistribute who is seen as other so their persuasive pull remains strong and easy to consume: stereotypes reduce cognitive effort and prompt quick recognition and predictable emotions. Despite claiming multiple perspectives, the series repeatedly centers its white protagonist, Piper Chapman, as a model for others. Her imprisonment is framed as a moral lapse that is erased after release, in sharp contrast to the difficult realities faced by many people with criminal records in the United States.

Specialet undersøger kløften mellem USA's virkelighed med massefængsling og den måde, kvinders fængsling fremstilles i populærkultur, med fokus på serien Orange Is the New Black (Netflix, 2013–2019). Med Edward Bernays' teori om offentlig påvirkning (tidlig PR) som hovedlinse, der bygger på Freuds psykologi og Gustave Le Bons massepsykologi, vises hvordan medier aktiverer ubevidste ønsker og bruger symboler og stereotyper som genkendelige genveje, der udløser følelser. Bernays læses sammen med bell hooks' arbejde om repræsentation af marginaliserede kroppe og Michelle M. Lazars Feministisk Kritisk Diskursanalyse (FCDA), der undersøger, hvordan sprog og medier opretholder ulige magtforhold og får dem til at fremstå naturlige. Tilsammen giver de tre perspektiver en helhed: hooks beskriver virkningerne, Bernays forklarer mekanismerne, og FCDA tilbyder redskaber til at forestille sig mere retfærdige køns- og racerepræsentationer. Analysen viser, at OITNB bruger tydelig seksualisering som strategi til at fastholde opmærksomhed; seksuelt overskud fungerer som et røgslør, der ser ud til at afsløre magt, men skjuler strukturelle uligheder. Serien normaliserer kvinders traumer og nedtoner eller undskylder vagters grusomhed ved at gøre overgreb konsekvensløse i fortællingen. Samtidig iscenesættes racialiserede figurer, så de øger seriens appel, men gentager kendte klicheer under mangfoldighedens dække. Sorte karakterer undgår den klassiske hyperseksualiserede stereotype, men får ofte begrænset plads til at udfordre systemisk uretfærdighed, eller deres lidelse pakkes til konsum. Latina-karakterer fremstilles som vilde og eksotiske eller som forbrugelige, der kan fjernes, når deres fortællerolle er opbrugt. Maritza Ramos fungerer som et advarende eksempel, hvor immigration og fængsling flettes sammen og afspejler samtidige fortællinger, der kriminaliserer immigranter. Disse mønstre flytter rundt på, hvem der gøres til de andre, så budskaberne forbliver overbevisende og lette at konsumere: stereotyper mindsker den kognitive anstrengelse og fremkalder hurtig genkendelse og forudsigelige følelser. På trods af et påstået mangfoldigt blik centrerer serien igen og igen sin hvide hovedperson, Piper Chapman, som forbillede for andre. Hendes fængsling fremstilles som et moralsk fejltrin, der slettes efter løsladelsen, i skarp kontrast til de barske vilkår, som mange tidligere dømte møder i det amerikanske system.

[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]

Download PDF
View record in AAU Student Projects