Piper Chapman: WASP on the Edge

[DianeDobbler]

I don't see Piper as any more complex than any other person. What I liked/was fun about her arc is she came to prison with a personality and coping/people management skills that worked beautifully in her real life, but when she applied them to prison life, she was busted immediately as somebody with no actual skills a/k/a street smarts, because she didn't need any, and that whole package attracted people's contempt, in part because she really had no answer for it. She'd never been in a situation where she had to watch what she said, or else be in big trouble - lose a job, make the wrong person angry. She had economic power and she had looks, which minimized what she hard to do to get along with other people, and she was protected from the shit other people did - didn't even interact with seriously problematic people. Not a neighbor, not a relationship, or anyone. AND she was oblivious to all of this. When Suzanne urinated in Piper and Claudette's cubicle, I don't think Claudette scoffed at Piper because that specific thing had never happened to her before, but because Piper had never had to deal with anything gross she couldn't easily escape. She saw her past experience as the norm. 

 

I don't think her problems were as profound as being more narcissistic than other people. She was sheltered, younger than her actual age and hadn't had to dig nearly as deep as some of the other prisoners. Being thin, pretty, considered charming and loveable, with an upper middle class white person's cultural frame of reference was it. In her past experience, if you're in any type of trouble, or offended someone, if a please or apology doesn't cut it, you decide what will. "Okay, we'll do this, and then we can move on, okay?" I really truly think what pissed the other inmates (and Alex) off about Piper was nothing more than ye old "privilege" and, mainly, the fact that she saw that as the norm.  I really don't think Polly would have fared much better in prison. Well, maybe been less cuter than thou, and more strategic about when to chase a point, and when to shut up. Even once Piper was assimilated, her inability to own the fact that her life was full of unusual good fortune persisted, such as her admitting her home had four and a half bathrooms. That's why she was constantly called out.

 

It's funny that Nicky probably comes from a wealthier background than Piper, but her raspy New York accent and the way she carries herself masks it. Having been a junkie gave her some rough edges and, I'll bet, some street smarts, and being raised in NYC helped there too. I'll bet she had some careless moments in her life as well, such as that flashback we saw when she left her cohorts in jail and used her mother's money to buy more junk. That can also be written off as a junkie move, not a rich girl taking her bail money for granted, though.

 

I'm describing TV Piper, not real Piper, whom, based on the above, sounds a lot more entitled and self-enchanted than the TV Piper, with a less authentic evolution.

 

(I found the "real" Larry almost relentlessly needy and self-absorbed in his joint interview with Jason Biggs).

Edited July 3, 2015 by DianeDobbler

[Chaos Theory]

I find it interesting why people don’t like Piper.  It usually comes down to “she’s a bitch.”  Some of these same people are the people who watched Breaking Bad and House and found the main character a bastard but a complex one. 

It is “bastard” vs “bitch”

 

A an entire show can be set around a bastard and we will as a whole love it.  However rarely does a show revolve around a bitch, especially a white privildged one.  If Sklyer White had been the main character on Breaking Bad half the audience would have revolted early on because she was a bitch and no one wants to watch a bitch.

 

That is what makes Piper Chapman so interesting.  She is a selfish, privalaged asshole and not the poor rich white girl victim.    She is a bitch and barely has the insight to see it.  If she had been a man there is no doubt in my mind that the show would revolve almost completly around her.  However the three strike rule comes into play with Piper.

 

Strike 1:  You are a white woman of privilage and no one wants to see that as a main character.

Strike 2:  You are a bitch and bitches aren’t main characters they are the main character’s best friends who spend the show giving the good girl main character terrible advise.

Strike 3:  You character revolves totally on the notion that you have no self awareness about who and what you are.  That might work for a dude....but not for a woman.

 

Personally I find Piper fascinating.  I find her lack of self awareness at times mind boggling but also entertaining.  I love that her character is selfish.  Honestly, at least to me, Piper Chapman is the most interesting and entertaining character on the show.

[Captanne]

While I'm not as effusive about Piper as you are, ChaosTheory, I do agree with your male-character versus female-character assessment.

 

I'm not as enthusiastic about Piper because, while I find her endlessly fascinating, she constantly disappoints me.  That is not a sentiment I like to visit too often and Piper is pretty relentless in the "disappointment department".

[Aja]

I just don't think Piper is that well-written. Walter White was a brilliantly-written character whose complex arc was mapped out in painstaking detail. There are so many other characters on the show who are far more compelling to me. I find a character compelling if they are written compellingly, and it doesn't really matter the gender or race or whether it's a 'good guy' or a 'bad guy.' Nancy Botwin was a privileged white woman who was a pretty terrible person, making one disastrous bad choice after another and putting herself and her family in serious danger all the time, using her sexual power to manipulate everyone around her, but I found her character fascinating, and it easily carried a show for seven seasons. It just seems like after season 1, Piper is going through an awful lot of changes offscreen with no explanation whatsoever and every time she's on the screen, she acts completely differently. It doesn't feel consistent or honest to me.

[Ripley68]

Why does Piper wear a bra?  She has smaller boobs than I did in High school!

[baky]

Why does Piper wear a bra?  She has smaller boobs than I did in High school!

Lol, poor Pipes/Taylor. 

TAYSTEE: Damn, you got, some nice titties

PIPER: Oh, thank you.

TAYSTEE: You got them TV titties.

Edited July 14, 2015 by baky

[Chaos Theory]

I am not sure if this has been posted yet but I thought it should be.  This has some Alex and Piper/Alex in it but it says a lot of what I have been saying about why I like Piper and why I think the show should never lose Piper as its main protagonist even it it continues on it path as a multitalented.     It is from AfterEllen.com

 

In Defense of Piper, Alex and the Female Anti-Heroine on “Orange is the New Black”

[DianeDobbler]

I disagree with most of that article. Not the principle behind it, but the false comparisons. The author describes Piper as, ultimately (but not solely) a brat. When shows present men like Walter White and Don Draper, they're iconic demi-gods. The "oh-the-humanity" aspects of their experience is always taken VERY seriously, and after every (rare) serving of humble pie they return with the afterburners on and win. Or they get to be noble in passing the baton. They're anti-HEROIC but really heroic. Even when these guys are petty, self-serving little shits it's this "They're human too!" skew on it.

 

That's not Piper. We still don't have a Walter White/Don Draper/House-type female on TV.

 

 I mostly enjoy Piper. I think Taylor Schilling is really funny. I think the Whispers story has problems and in thinking on it, I think maybe Schilling could have made different choices (provided she wasn't directed to make many of the tonal choices she made). I wish her "inspiring the troops" speech had been directed differently, more energized, more madly improvising - mostly more real energy.

 

Anyway, a male Piper would be maybe a very young Hugh Grant finding himself in a minimum security guy's prison, not quite catching onto himself. 

 

I don't think Piper and Alex are toxic and dysfunctional. I believe their respective circumstances ARE, but that their relationship could thrive perfectly well and probably better than it does, outside those circumstances. I think it actually has the potential of being a healthy love. I think the two as people connect. Obviously, for it to work long term, both would need to be out of jail, and both would need to find something sustainable as far as work or career. But those are the ingredients any relationship needs.

 

P.S. - For me Piper could never get worse than "love to hate" (and I'm nowhere near that) because Schilling is so good, so smart, so perfectly suited to this part, same as we can stay in story with some leading man because the actor is so good. Schilling's just funny, and also very generous as a performer.  She's on point with lots and lots of clarity. When I hate characters who are sort of Piperish, it's often because something about the performance wears thin and can't keep me interested in some character who is basically a spoiled douchebag and all the actress (or actor) can think of to do it play it like the character thinks they're right. It gets insufferable.

 

Schilling knows exactly what she's doing and exactly what's right about Piper and what's off about her, and she works it.

Edited July 24, 2015 by DianeDobbler

[tennisgurl]

I really disliked Pipers story this season, and it was probably a representation of my issues with this season in a nutshell. The pacing was a complete mess. We have no idea why she decided to start this used panty empire, we don't know why she wants to keep going, she just goes from "privileged but harmless" Piper to "already broken bad" Piper. It just did not work for me. It just seemed like they needed a "wacky" subplot, and it somehow went terribly out of control. 

[DianeDobbler]

I think they never found the tone for the Whispers story (I hate the "p" word). It's like they wanted to sort of play with Breaking Bad Piper but lacked conviction. They hedged their bets and ended up in this nowhere zone of half-comedy, half-maybe serious,  and had Schlling hedge her bets, so it came off as Piper sort of playing/experimenting with a persona, trying it on for size, seeing if she could pull it off. Then Stella is sent to max thanks to Piper setting her up, which is a HUGE deal for a woman about to be released, and Piper says "tell your people" to Boo. Yet it still comes off as sort of a dress up game Piper is playing. It was even acted that way. But when you think of it, she had a woman on the verge of release sent to MAX. It should be a bid deal, except that Stella herself isn't very real. She's pretty much a camp construct, so the whole thing came off sort of campy. So I guess, to repeat, this plot direction lacked conviction and that's why it didn't work. You can't have it both ways. Piper is breaking bad (kind of! Maybe! She's not sure herself - she's just experimenting!) but she's also still cute! Meanwhile, Alex is in trouble in the Greenhouse! Stay tuned!

[EllenI]

I find it interesting why people don’t like Piper.  It usually comes down to “she’s a bitch.”  Some of these same people are the people who watched Breaking Bad and House and found the main character a bastard but a complex one. 

It is “bastard” vs “bitch”

 

A an entire show can be set around a bastard and we will as a whole love it.  However rarely does a show revolve around a bitch, especially a white privildged one.  If Sklyer White had been the main character on Breaking Bad half the audience would have revolted early on because she was a bitch and no one wants to watch a bitch.

 

That is what makes Piper Chapman so interesting.  She is a selfish, privalaged asshole and not the poor rich white girl victim.    She is a bitch and barely has the insight to see it.  If she had been a man there is no doubt in my mind that the show would revolve almost completly around her.  However the three strike rule comes into play with Piper.

 

Strike 1:  You are a white woman of privilage and no one wants to see that as a main character.

Strike 2:  You are a bitch and bitches aren’t main characters they are the main character’s best friends who spend the show giving the good girl main character terrible advise.

Strike 3:  You character revolves totally on the notion that you have no self awareness about who and what you are.  That might work for a dude....but not for a woman.

 

Personally I find Piper fascinating.  I find her lack of self awareness at times mind boggling but also entertaining.  I love that her character is selfish.  Honestly, at least to me, Piper Chapman is the most interesting and entertaining character on the show.

I think Taylor is such a poor actress that we, as viewers, just can't get into her character. When she got onto the tabletop to give her speech about her new business, I actually, literally, physically cringed and wished the scene could be over. I felt actual embarrassment for Taylor Schilling as an actor. It was just horrible, kind of like the time she said to Soso that she is a lone wolf, and told Soso not to make her rip her head off with her teeth, or something to that effect. No one is going to buy that. Not the way she said it. I have no idea how she got the role as the "protagonist," which is what a lot of sources call Piper Chapman.