Crazy Eyes Character Analysis

1816 Words8 Pages
However, the progression of the first season reveals a different side of Crazy Eyes, one where more sympathy and understanding towards her character is created for the viewer as we learn more about her. In season two, she develops a very one-sided, relationship with a new inmate, Vee, who takes complete advantage of her child-like mentality. Vee serves as a mother figure for Warren, and she devotes herself to her, completely blind to how much of a villain Vee is and how her devotion to Vee is not returned. Vee attacks another inmate and lets Warren take the blame for it by convincing Crazy Eyes that she was the one who committed the act. In season three, less violent acts are committed by Warren and instead of anger and violence, her “crazy”…show more content…
Her character represents a larger picture about real-life inmates with mental disorders, and how their situations are relatable to those of Crazy Eyes. Although the Orange is the New Black never directly states that Crazy Eyes suffers from mental illness, it is quite clear that she suffers from some type of mental disorder. Her character is often compared and contrasted to real life inmates with mental illnesses. Warren represents the population of mentally ill inmates in prisons. The Huffington Post article, “Why We Need to Talk About OITNB’s ‘Crazy Eyes’,” describes Warren as vital cast member because she, “…represents the slew of mentally ill inmates that litter our prison systems. As she is especially vulnerable to violence, manipulation, and fright, so are all too many inmates wasting away among feces-filled showers and itchy bedspreads,” (Cappello). Crazy Eyes’ character is often manipulated by the other inmates who don’t really have sympathy for her mental state, for example, Vee manipulating her into doing all of her dirty work for her so she could come off…show more content…
Warren’s character is a reflection of a consensus of views in pop culture. It is thought that, “Many of the assertions about mass media’s portrayal of mental illness and its role in maintaining stigma are based on impressions and anecdotal observations, with only occasional reference to specific research findings,” (Wahl). Portrayal of mental illness in the show may not be completely accurate in comparison to real-life, because it is mainly used to provide entertainment and keep the topic of mental illness relevant. The success of the show has allowed for its character, Crazy Eyes, to be one of the representatives of mental illness in current pop culture. Her role provides the comedic relief to the show and an outlet for people to gather an understanding (even though under exaggerated circumstances) of what it is like to have a mental illness in the prison

More about Crazy Eyes Character Analysis

Open Document