It is 7:55 p.m. on Sunday. I am rushing to my room in Herget just so I have the pleasure of grabbing the remote control and turning the television on HBO. I am just in time. Blood rushes to my brain, and excitement runs through my senses, while I get comfortable in my bed. I request silence so I am able to watch my show in peace. The previous show of Oz comes on, reminding me what happened last Sunday. My heart slows down, and I begin to enter into a world of sexual and explicit content and violence in a prison, which holds plots full of twists and turns.
Next Sunday will be the show’s final episode, and while I have enjoyed all six seasons, I have to ask myself, just as others do — is Oz similar to reality in prison or does it just exaggerate for entertainment purposes?
Oz features all sorts of emotionally disturbing events, which leads me question the integrity of prisoners in the real world. Every character in Oz encounters problems and issues every day, but are these events realistic? Is Oz a realistic series that shows the ups and downs of prison or is HBO taking these turns in the plots of every character to another extent?
On Sunday, the series ended with the Leon’s murder. He was the man in charge of Oz. It is amazing how his murder even occurred in prison? Prison is supposed to be under supervision at all times. In Oz, most of the murders that have happened are not solved. Inmates are seen working, exercising and watching television with little supervision. When a prisoner has a goal to achieve, it is very easy to get around the guards.
Oz also presents the issue of what happens between inmates. Almost every episode includes a scene portraying the subject of rape or sex. In one episode, an inmate is depicted performing oral sex on another. This scene is graphically presented and shows a realistic view of how prisoners actually encounter issues such as sex and rape.
The inmate was not performing oral sex voluntarily but was forced. He was a “slave” of one of the inmates, which is what the Human Rights Watch calls inmates who were forced to do favors for other inmates. According to the Prison Journal, 21 percent of inmates in Midwestern prisons had experienced at least one instance in which they were forced to perform favors for other inmates. Reasearch shows about one-fifth of all prisoners were being forced into participation in sex with inmates. These studies support that the aspect of rape in prison is evident, but is it realistic?
Studies show these incidents do occur in cells and many other places. What is real about Oz’s depiction on rape is that according to Human Rights Watch, these incidents are not reported and hardly ever investigated.
Another aspect of Oz is the violence that occurs inside prisons. According to recent statistics from Canadian prisons, violence toward staff has decreased, but violence toward other inmates has still been a problem. Statistics from 2000 show there have been 1,258 reported injuries to staff of the Canadian prisons.
In Oz, the staff and the prisoners both are committing murders and being murdered. One of the nurses in Oz kills two inmates because she says they are nasty men and then is arrested. It seems as if everyone who is related to Oz and commits a murder is sent back there, and I even thought she would be another prisoner of Oz. A nurse becoming a prisoner is far too disconcerting. This is one aspect that Oz does indeed show to an extreme; these prison officials are not always looking after the prisoners.
According to research from the American Civil Liberties Union, from 1995 to 2000, about 566 cases of abuse were referred to prison personnel, but only about five percent were investigated.
It is hard to understand Oz and what occurs inside the walls, but at the same time, it gives you a different way to look at these characters. Although some events are questionable, such as Leon being murdered by an inmate, it is still obvious Oz mostly portrays a realistic view of the prison world and its problems.