“Riot FOMO:” Mass Shooting References in Orange is the New Black
I recently started watching Orange is the New Black again, you know, since the new season was released I need to refresh my brain on the previous seasons. So I began watching Season 5, Episode 1 titled “Riot FOMO.” Still hungover from Season 4 ending, I was anxious to see where the show would take me. As the riot ensues, I became acutely aware of what I thought were punchlines, but as I thought on it more I realized the punchlines really aren’t what they seem.
What punchlines am I referring to, you might ask? Throughout the episode characters begin referencing mass shootings as a way to describe what is happening — an officer brought a handgun into the facility, and then an inmate took it from him, shot him in the leg, and then began waving it around. While nobody really knows what is happening, in the first reference an inmate states that she hopes the shooter doesn’t go “full on Sandy Hook.” A tragedy, no doubt, but is it being used as a punchline? I’m not convinced. As the show progresses references are made similarly to Aurora, Colorado, Virginia Tech, Columbine, and San Bernadino. Some people were outraged by these references and took to the internet to express their disgust with the writers.
What I find interesting, however, is the fact that while inmates and guards seem to think there is an active shooter scenario occurring, none of them seem to be in actual fear for their lives as they deliver these one liners. For some, it seems callous and insensitive…but here’s what I think: the writers wrote these lines in an effort to show the desensitization of our nation as mass shootings become “a thing.” Society no longer responds to mass shootings as we once did. The shooting at Columbine forever changed our nation, as it ushered in an era of seemingly unthinkable acts becoming commonplace. Gone are the days of “Breaking News” headlines and interruptions (well, these occur but briefly). Active shooter scenarios have become a part of our regularly-scheduled 5 o'clock news updates.
So, while “Riot FOMO” seems to be making a joke of some of our nation’s recent tragedies, I think it actually highlights the fact that this is what our nation has become: a nation of people expecting the worst and adapting. Is it insensitive to use high profile tragedies to encompass a feeling or emotion of a situation? Some might say yes but I say no. The way they deliver the references casually speaks volumes of the head-space that so many people occupy. I’ll be the first to admit that when I hear of a mass shooting my first thought is Another one? Then I go about my day and wait to hear the final details of it, my life seemingly unaffected by it. Does that make me callous? Perhaps, or is it just that I’ve been conditioned and desensitized? If I were to wear the sorrow of every mass shooting, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed.
Instead of addressing the problem of gun control (yeah, I’m going there), we simply find ways to cope. I don’t think the writers of OITNB intended to disrespect the victims and families of mass shootings, but to bring to light the fact that there are so many occurrences that we can use them now as a reference to time, place, and emotion.
One of my professors said that we, Americans, tell time by war and I think that applies here — but substitute mass shootings for war.
When people no longer seek a solution to the problem and instead find ways to cope and exist in a society where mass shootings occur and we don’t even blink, something should be said. And the writers of “Riot FOMO” are saying it, in so many words. Though the one-line references seem crass and insensitive, they also highlight the climate of our society in the wake of mass shootings. Our culture is shrouded with violence, and mass shootings have become a part of that culture — whether we like it or not. Referencing massacres like Columbine and Aurora has become commonplace, much like the massacres themselves. At some point, I hope, those who have the power to change the way our citizens arm themselves will see the dangers of having mass shootings become a part of our culture and reassess gun control, and impose more extensive background checks concerning not only criminal activity but also mental health, as well.
