Piper Kerman, the convicted felon whose time spent in prison were turned into the book and Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, has criticised an event thrown by the global media giant to celebrate the launch of the show’s fourth season in Singapore.
To honour the show, set in the fictional Litchfield Penitentiary in upstate New York, a pop-up restaurant designed to look like the prison’s cafeteria, was created in the American-style diner Overeasy in Singapore, complete with a prison-food menu for paying punters to try.
The event came in for considerable criticism, with many claiming that it mocked and belittled the lifestyles of those who are actually incarcerated, with Piper Kerman saying: “This is repulsive. I am not aware of this being Netflix, but you should ask them.”
Netflix has so denied media requests to have its say.
Despite courting controversy, the restaurant has proven to be a hit with Singaporean diners, with its online booking system filling reservations all day long and its spaces for walk-in customers seeing queues of people waiting to get in.
Diners were put through security checks before being led into the dining space by security guards, with the option to wear orange prison uniforms made available to anyone wishing to do so at the door. The restaurant also hired actors to play the parts of correctional officers walking around the prison space and maintaining order.
Customers then had the opportunity to eat meals from the same kind of plastic trays on which the food in the prison canteen, where much of the show’s action takes place.
Season four of Orange is the New Black launched on Netflix on Friday.
[H/T: Mashable]
