External shots of Oz are used only a handful of times in the entire run. We are inside to the point where the outside world becomes surreal and barely existent. When a character is released in season 6 only to return to Oz very quickly, there's a feeling that they've tasted a fantasy and are returning to "normal" life.
Augustus Hill and Tobias Beecher are our eyes and ears; we are the ordinary joes introduced to Oz through them. How Tobias changes and survives is not just a reflection of his strength of character but also the lengths people must go to in order to survive. Hill's intros/outros/interludes bridge the gap between the broader issues being explored and the events inside Oz.
It's a credit to the makers that they managed to give us just as vivid a picture of the staff without going outside the prison walls and into their personal lives. The political issues are well explored and I'm glad. It's as close to a vivid, realistic depiction of life in a modern prison as we could get without it being refused classification in countries like Australia (where the classification system is mandatory).
The line between being a gay man and being a straight man who is gay in prison is clearly defined in Keller and Beecher (anonymous exit surveys show something like 70% of straight men form a long term, monogamous sexual relationship with another man while in prison), but the distinction isn't really explored in depth beyond that. It's put in front of us in the hope that we'll simply get it, however I suspect it may be a bit too subtle for some.
I have only one real beef with the show: the depiction of prags and their "use" is pretty much limited to the Nazis. In reality this is widespread in US prisons at least, not being limited to any particular political, cultural or ethnic group. Rape generally is widespread and has been for decades.
Remember, too, that dramatic licence means there will be differences between this and reality. For example, all the long drawn out boring bits where nothing happens have been edited out ;). But overall, brilliant television.
(One note: Emerald City isn't an "unusual" prison, given it resembles most of the privately run prisons built since the early 90s. In 1985 such a prison was depicted in Ghosts of the Civil Dead, and at that time was considered "futuristic".)
Augustus Hill and Tobias Beecher are our eyes and ears; we are the ordinary joes introduced to Oz through them. How Tobias changes and survives is not just a reflection of his strength of character but also the lengths people must go to in order to survive. Hill's intros/outros/interludes bridge the gap between the broader issues being explored and the events inside Oz.
It's a credit to the makers that they managed to give us just as vivid a picture of the staff without going outside the prison walls and into their personal lives. The political issues are well explored and I'm glad. It's as close to a vivid, realistic depiction of life in a modern prison as we could get without it being refused classification in countries like Australia (where the classification system is mandatory).
The line between being a gay man and being a straight man who is gay in prison is clearly defined in Keller and Beecher (anonymous exit surveys show something like 70% of straight men form a long term, monogamous sexual relationship with another man while in prison), but the distinction isn't really explored in depth beyond that. It's put in front of us in the hope that we'll simply get it, however I suspect it may be a bit too subtle for some.
I have only one real beef with the show: the depiction of prags and their "use" is pretty much limited to the Nazis. In reality this is widespread in US prisons at least, not being limited to any particular political, cultural or ethnic group. Rape generally is widespread and has been for decades.
Remember, too, that dramatic licence means there will be differences between this and reality. For example, all the long drawn out boring bits where nothing happens have been edited out ;). But overall, brilliant television.
(One note: Emerald City isn't an "unusual" prison, given it resembles most of the privately run prisons built since the early 90s. In 1985 such a prison was depicted in Ghosts of the Civil Dead, and at that time was considered "futuristic".)