Jailbirds
By Martin Brown,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Intriguing docu about female inmates can feel exploitative.
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What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.
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Jailbirds
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Based on 2 parent reviews
Jailbird
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Brutal expletive-rich reality of life in a jail cell - too real and exploitive of participants...
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What's the Story?
JAILBIRDS shows the day-to-day life of a group of female inmates at the Sacramento County jail. It focuses on prison rules and procedures, as well as how people cope with being in jail. Viewers get to know several of the inmates: what they did to get put in jail, the friendships they've made, and what their lives were like on the outside.
Is It Any Good?
It's interesting that it's taken so long for Netflix to develop a show that depicts a sort of real-life version of Orange Is the New Black. Jailbirds is entertaining enough, and many of the inmates' coping mechanisms -- their unique system of communicating through toilet pipes, aka "toilet talk," will likely be a popular part of the show. However, like many reality shows, it's difficult to tell what is real and what the directors are manipulating for dramatic purposes. Other prison shows have a clear point of view and purpose: OITNB, for example, is about how the prison industrial complex can degrade and abuse prisoners. Without that clarity of purpose, Jailbirds is entertaining, no doubt, but can sometimes feel exploitative.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the inmates profiled on Jailbirds. What characters do you find yourself rooting for and why? How do you reconcile the crimes they have committed with how they present themselves on the show?
Are all criminals bad people? Who on the show seems like a good person that may have done bad things? Who comes off like a good person on the show that might not be as good as they seem? How can you tell which is which?
How are the inmates treated by the guards? How does being in prison seem to affect each inmate's behavior?
TV Details
- Premiere date: May 10, 2019
- Network: Netflix
- Genre: Reality TV
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: February 27, 2022
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