ABSTRACT

Launched in 2013, the television series Orange Is the New Black became the most-watched original series produced by Netflix that year (Gelt 2013). The show was heralded as feminist and progressive, particularly in its focus on women of color, trans women, and queer characters. In a Salon.com article, Wesley Yiin (2015) lauded Orange Is the New Black as “a huge step forward” for women and people of color in the television industry, pointing out how the show “[strips] away political correctness to more honestly depict complex social and power structures.” However, Yiin observed that there were only two Asian women on the show, and only one who demonstrates any complexity. He concludes from this that “Asian-American stories either don’t exist or don’t matter.” In an immediate backlash, irritated online commenters ignored the substance of Yiin’s arguments and cited prison population statistics; almost without exception, they were unsympathetic, sarcastic, or hostile:

Wow, do they work in the prison laundry by any chance?

Is this a joke? Or more politely: an “us too-ism”?

So-So [one of the two characters] is pretty hot.

Wesley Yiin, you are an idiot and no one should be handing you an audience to listen to your drivel. Stop typing. Close the laptop. Never open it again.

Why no white men? I’m insulted.