The cast of "Orange Is The New Black" season 4 did more than just win awards, they made a statement to the whole world.
The Screen Actor's Guild Award took place Saturday night and the cast of the comedy series won two awards. However, apart from winning, they showed how diverse the world is by representing different shapes, sizes, races and sexual orientations.
"It's a start but the problem starts before the Academy Awards," actress Selenis Leyva, who portrays Gloria Mendoza explained on Entertainment Weekly. "The problem starts in the writing rooms, in the studios; the producers and directors and casting people need to open up their eyes that this is a different world we're living in and diversity is not just black and white."
"Diversity is universal and it's a lot more than what we are focusing on. It's religions, it's sexuality. So it doesn't start at the Academy Awards. That's not the solution. The solution starts before that."
The 34 cast members of "Orange Is The New Black" will be having a season 4 later this year and they brought home the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, their second one already, and Uzo Aduba got her second trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, as reported by Enstarz.
Majority of the cast members are from different backgrounds and represent people that are very diverse, unique and from all walks of life. This is very different from a number of other series that are on air all because people will be able to relate to the characters they see on television. Not only because how they look physically but also because of the stories covered on the show.
"What you see on television, especially women, is this silhouette of an ideal that a lot of women cannot reach," said actress Samira Wiley, who plays a black lesbian Poussey, on Los Angeles Times. "[Series creator] Jenji [Kohan] has put women on your TV screen that look like a rainbow. It’s a mirrored reflection of life."
The "Orange Is The New Black" season 4 television series will be released on Netflix on Friday, June 17, 2016.
