Family

By Thorsson Questra

Family is an idea that many people can relate to. It is primarily viewed
as being purely biological (and sometimes legal), but family extends beyond
matters of blood and law. Families can be created through other avenues
such as shared goals, or circumstance. University of California, Berkeley
recognizes this idea as family of choice and defines it as, Persons or group
of people an individual sees as significant in their life. It may include none,
all, or some members of their family of origin. In addition, it may include
individuals such as significant others, domestic partners, friends, and
coworkers. It is not entirely uncommon that people do not get along with
their family of origin. Instead, they find the comforts of family from other
sources.
Regarding matters of family, logic is not the best way to view it. It is
best used for psychological analyses of families. Family is much easier to
explain using pathos and ethos. Since family is made from bonds between
people, which can be very emotional, pathos is a great resource for analyzing
families. There is also the experiences people have in a family. These can be
very similar, or completely different from the experiences of others, but due
to the nature of family, can often be relatable.

In Piper Kermans work, Orange is the New Black, Piper writes about
her own experiences in a prison. Being in prison is not a common relatable
experience, but she manages to relate the families in the prison to biological
families. Some women organized themselves into somewhat formalized
family relationships with other prisoners, especially mother-daughter pairs
(p. 131). Piper uses the terms family and mother-daughter to help make the
situation more relatable. She also uses different situations which happen in
the prison families, but are also parts of many families outside of prison.
The younger women relied on their moms for advice, attention, food,
commissary loans, affection, guidance, even discipline (p.131). Families all
over have dependents who require many of these needs. Children (hopefully)
seek the help from their parents for advice, attention, food, money, affection,
guidance, and will receive needed discipline. Parents are not the only ones
who can give these things, and whether or not they fulfill these needs,
children can seek these needs from others as well. Growing up they may
seek attention and affection from their peers instead of from their parents.
From what is shown in Pipers example it is possible to receive the
necessities of family from those outside of family of origin. These examples
were only Pipers observations, but she also writes about her own experience
in a prison family. My de facto prison family revolved around Pop. It
exemplified the complex ways that family trees grow behind bars, like
topiaries trained into very odd shapes (p.131). She refers to the mother as
being an important character in the story, Pop. She also uses an interesting

analogy. It plays on the term family tree, and how it is still able to grow
behind bars. This plays against the idea of trees growing out in the open. It
refers to it as a complex way, and compares it to topiaries being trained into
odd shapes. This portrays the unnatural setting and circumstances that
causes the tree to grow differently, yet can still be just as amazing as a
completely natural tree. My immediate sibling was Toni, the new town
driver who had replaced Nina as Pops bunkie. By automatic extension
Rosemarie, Tonis best buddy, was another siblingI thought of them as the
Italian Twins. But Pop had many other children, including Big Boo
Clemmons, the even bigger Angelina Lewis, and Yvonne who worked with
Pop in the kitchen. I took a particular liking to Yvonne; we called each other
the sister I never wanted (p.131, 132). Pipers personal experience with
her prison family is written in a way that others who read this, can think
about their own family, whether it is a family of origin, or a family of choice,
and relate some of the connections to their own live and relationships.
Another great work pertaining to family is RENT. It does not speak to
the audience in the same way Orange is the New Black does. Piper Kermans
work is written to make the story relatable to the audience through
experiences, yet RENT has situations in it that are very uncommon. This
makes it difficult to relate to it, but the idea of family is still portrayed in a
very emotional way throughout the piece. The story goes more in depth on
the characters and their feelings which makes it easier for the audience to
connect with the emotions of the story. The story also supports the idea of

family extending far beyond the family of origin. In the story, Mark says,
There are times when were dirt broke, hungry, and freezing, and I ask
myself, why the hell am I still living here? And they [his parents] call. And I
remember. This statement is a strong point he makes about how hed rather
live a barely livable life, than a life with his parents. As it was stated earlier,
this isnt an idea everyone can relate to, but the way this line is spoken gives
a clear sense of frustration. Rather than making that particular experience
relatable, the actor attempts to make the feeling of frustration relatable,
while still keeping his specific frustration relevant to the story. The story has
moments of much happier emotions as well. Angel and Collins, as far as this
story goes, had the greatest relationship with each other. They supported
each other constantly, and Angel let Collins live with her for, A thousand
sweet kisses, or more literally, love. Angel decided that money was not
important in the same way that having a lover is. This idea is a perfect
example of family of choice. It may not be a very common thing to see in
todays society, but the audience can connect to such a strong feeling, and
quite possibly be jealous of such a perfect feeling. This can surely be said for
Mimi and Joanne as they said, Id be happy to die for a taste of what Angel
had! Someone to live for, unafraid to say I love you. There are many
emotions dealt out in this line, starting with jealousy. They both strongly wish
to experience Angels relationship, which clearly means their current
relationships are unfulfilling. This quote is a verbal slap in the face to Roger
and Maureen. If the audience has not connected with either of those feelings,

there is still the memento to Angel. Mimi and Joanne display sadness and
regret. They do not think Angel should have died, especially with such a
fantastic relationship, while, ironically, the less perfect relationships still
stagger forward. The feelings held by the characters towards Angel incite
many positive feelings, even, and especially, after her death. Mimi sings,
You [Angel] always said how lucky you were that we were all friends. But it
was us, baby, who were the lucky ones. This was a feeling shared by the
main characters, and its clear from this that even when some in the group
do not get along with each other, they can come together under their beliefs
and feelings for each other.
The writer of RENT, was very smart to use emotional concepts for this
performance. When it was written it was much more relevant, but much of
that relevance is lost, especially on the younger generation. The
incorporation of emotional values has kept this play relevant to todays
audiences. The same can be said for Pipers work. In the same way that
emotion was useful at connecting to the audience in RENT, experience is
useful for connecting to the audience in Orange is the New Black. In further
detail, Orange is the New Black is filled with experiences that are hard to
relate to, so the author finds ways to make it relatable to anybody through
her writing. RENT uses emotion to help people relate to the unique situation,
making it seem relevant to people today. Both of these works will likely
continue to be relatable works in the future due to the way they were
created.

Since families are not going to disappear anytime soon, the themes of
family will also remain relevant in both of these stories, and may perhaps
become even more relevant as family of choice becomes more recognized in
mainstream society. They both portrayed the need for family being met
without the use of their family of origin. With this knowledge, hopefully
current relationships can become even stronger if people recognize their
positive social connections as families.

Kerman, Piper. "Mothers and Daughters." Orange Is the New Black: My Year
in a Woman's Prison. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. 131, 132. Print.

"Definition of Terms." Definition of Terms. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

<http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms>.
Larson, Jonathan. Rent, the Complete Book and Lyrics. New York: Applause
Theatre and Cinema, 1996. Print.