orange is the new black
every time you watch a piece of media from the past (2013 was 12 years ago!) you get an awful nostalgia of the way things used to be. i am a sucker for the past, no matter how much it sucked at its own time. i've been watching Orange is the New Black (2013-) past few days, completely overhauling my schedule and violating my circadian rhythm (went for a morning walk at 7 after staying awake the whole night), & i cannot stop being at awe with its perfection. in recent memory, any series that astonished me as nearly was Dark, the German mind-fuck.
how powerful does a narrative have to be take you inside the prison life and keep you in there with the "inmates" so much so that you feel like if i don't watch it ahead, they'll remain stuck there at the point where you left. [spoiler ahead] currently there's a riot situation going in the prison, after Poussey died like George Floyd. for once i thought "oh, they're recreating how George Floyd was killed" only to realise the latter was in 2020. eerie. they're all waiting for the riot to end, and if i don't watch it they'll be pissed i'm keeping them in limbo.
besides, the show is beautiful, terrifying, hilarious, comical & impactful. Morello's voice, Red, Caputo, Piper and her pathetic lovely self! i didn't know it was categorized as a "comedy" because it's horrifying at times. it's easily one of the best.
why it affects me so much is because it's set the transition period when we grew social (media) conscious around 2013-14 and went downhill around 2018-19. you can call it the last few good days before everything went to shit, including movies and shows, and that's why it's special.