Veterans Condemn ‘Monster’ Label ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Slaps On Group

Orange is the New Black has millions of fans, but according to the New York Daily News, leading veterans’ groups are unhappy with the way veterans hired as prison guards are portrayed in Season 4 of the Netflix series. The Academy wasn’t that impressed either; the critically acclaimed series received a single nomination for Outstanding Casting for this year’s Emmys.

Veterans’ groups are offended that the drama-comedy series — based on Piper Kerman’s experiences while serving time in a minimum-security prison — squandered the opportunity to portray veterans in a positive light, and instead chose to present them as animals and unsympathetic monsters.

@IAVA @DAVHQ @VFWHQ object to grotesque portrayal of vets in @OITNB. It’s cruel, lazy storytelling https://t.co/kCzUNGN5XJ @JenMcDermottAP

— Jonathan Schleifer (@Jonathanchad) July 16, 2016

Tahlia Burton, a 27-year-old Air Force veteran, shared her disappointment in the program in an opinion piece for Task & Purpose, a military news and culture site.

“‘Orange is the New Black’ had the opportunity to portray veterans in a way that shed light on an identity that’s widely misunderstood; but instead, the show fed into the very worst stereotypes that we’ve been working so hard to overcome.”

She writes that she was excited to see how the program would challenge stereotypes surrounding veterans the way the show did for the LGBTQ community, individuals with mental illness, and people of color, but it didn’t happen.

“I eagerly anticipated the first scene with the newcomers. To my disappointment, I quickly learned that the veterans were the real villains throughout the season.”

Since Burton’s piece was published, several veterans’ organizations have chimed in. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and Disabled American Veterans (DAV) have said that the show is offensive, perpetuates negative stereotypes, and is out of touch with the veteran experience.

Season 4 of Orange is the New Black was particularly controversial because of the much-publicized and timely death of fan favorite Poussey (Samira Wiley) by the hands of an overzealous, untrained prison guard. Her suffocation death was a reminder of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, catalysts for Black Lives Matter and “I Can’t Breathe.” Correctional Officer Bayley (Alan Aisenberg) — who was responsible for Poussey’s accidental death — was comforted by Correctional Officer Dixon (Mike Houston), who consoled him by revealing his war crimes, which included murdering innocent Afghanistan civilians in retaliation for troop deaths caused by insurgents.

“… you just grab a farm kid from a grape field, and you make him juggle live grenades until one of them 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 gonna kill her anyway, right?”

Iraq War veteran Dan Clare is the national spokesman for DAV, and he considers the way Orange is the New Black represented veterans as “egregious” and he wonders how veterans are supposed to piece their lives back together when they are presented in such a negative light.

“Orange is the New Black is a popular show airing at a time when many service members are returning home and looking for jobs. If the public has a negative perception of veterans, that will affect how they’re able to transition back into civilian life.”

VFW National Commander John A. Biedrzycki Jr told the New York Daily News that Orange is the New Black writers and producers chose to make veterans the villains for Season 4, and he would like to see the “deranged veteran story line” changed. He feels veterans are owed an apology.

While she is unhappy with the way veterans are portrayed, Tahlia Burton says she will most likely continue to watch further seasons of OITNB with the hopes that the show’s portrayal of veterans will change to empathetic characterizations.

“I’m not saying that the veterans deserve hero status. I’m not even saying that veterans are owed any kind of respect —but don’t portray us as a group of monsters.”

Netflix has yet to respond publicly to the criticism over how Orange is the New Black portrays veterans in Season 4.

[Image via Netflix]