Welcome to the Clone Club of Orphan Black

In their impressive science-fiction series, creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett deal with the concept of clones, human clones in particular. Orphan Black, a hidden but successful Canadian series, addresses this phenomenon in a scientific, but also a humanistic way.

Human cloning is still a controversial aspect of science, raising many constitutional and ethical questions. Francisco Galdos already tried to unmask the controversy around human cloning and many books are published surrounding the topic, like "The Ethics of Human Cloning" by Kass and Wilson. Manson and Fawcett also picked up this topic and processed it into an addictive series. 

The Sestras Family

The series is centered around a genetics company, called Neolution. The company shaped an idea of human cloning and created two cloning projects as a result; one male and one female project - Project Castor and Project Leda respectively. They produced the clones and most of the female clones were released into the world, unconscious of their origins, but monitored by the company. The storyline focuses on one of those female clones, called Sarah Manning; a British orphan whose life dramatically changes when she discovers her origins. She starts to search her sisters and to reveal the truth about Neolution and its other umbrella companies.

An exceptional element when watching the series and facing all these clones is that one single actress is playing all the female clones; Tatiana Maslany. The fascinating and impressive acting work of this 29-year-old actress does not remain unnoticed, as she was rewarded with an Emmy Award last year. She portrays women who are totally contrasting each other: the British punk orphan Sarah, the addicted housewife Allison, the bisexual Ph.D. student Cosima and the Ukrainian psychopath Helena to give some examples. The story is structured around the differences between these clones, but these isolated women find each other and succeed to form a family, called ‘the sestras’.

The perspective on cloning

The show offers the viewers a new perspective on human cloning, or even a perspective on human cloning to begin with. A perspective that is focused on the humanity of these women. They are not portrayed as objectified women or female robots, but as ordinary human beings with different characteristics and backgrounds. Basically, the fundament of these clones is the same, but they hugely differ from each other due to their cultural and social environment. In this way, the series shows and reinforces the idea of cultural differences among people in society. 

Orphan Black will present you a perspective on human cloning focused on humanity 

However, the way human cloning is processed in the series is rather different than human cloning in science nowadays. The aim of human cloning in science is to solve medical problems, which causes the controversy. It should be a solution "to generating new organs" and "that could allow us to repair many of the problems that often lead to death" (Galdos, 2014). The existence of the clones in Orphan Black is not due to medical issues and the clones are not created to deliver a certain solution to medical problems. On the contrary, the projects in the series were illegal, military experiments. The female clones became part of society, while still observed and examined by a higher company. The reason behind human cloning in science nowadays differs from the reason behind the clones in the series. 

The hidden meaning

There is a true, kind of feministic, meaning hidden in the series: in what sense can these women truly be free? The clones are fighting for their own (bodily) autonomy and rights, and protest against the forces that are controlling them. They are looking for their own identity and these general issues can also be attributed to women in society in some sort of way. 

"“It’s so thematically connected to feminist issues,” Graeme Manson, one of the show’s creators, told me. “Who owns you, who owns your body, your biology? Who controls reproduction?”" (Loofbourow, Lili. "The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany" 2015)

The series also creates a new view of femininity and it deviates from the existing female stereotypes, like Lili Loofbourow writes. In movies and on television, female characters are mostly used and portrayed in the same, uniform way and satisfy all kind of beauty standards. The viewers are not used to see extreme differences among female characters or to see a female psychopath who is trying to kill the people around her. The show offers a new dimension on what the role of women in the television world is, by trying to distance itself from the conformity and uniformity in this world. On the other hand, it reflects the differences among women, which are also visible in society.

The scientific part

Besides this humanistic and feministic character of the show, the scientific part of the series is also hugely important. A show about human cloning implies many theoretical and genetic information about the existence of the clones. Many scientific terms and theories make their introduction in the series, which requires focus in order to understand the whole cloning process. However, the series deals with this scientific character in a plausible and serious way. The scientific discoveries come across as ‘real’ explorations and they are in line with current scientific investigations and interests. Maybe Orphan Black and its scientific discoveries are already ahead of the science in our reality.

The science in the series is leading the science in our reality

The viewers are expected to understand all these theories and terms, which can be difficult but incredibly helpful and instructive. Especially in the last season, there is much more focus on the theoretical part, which made the series harder to watch and more confusing. This scientific character has been there during all five seasons, but it reaches its peak in the last season, since the clones are getting closer to the truth. A realization the viewer should make is that it is a consequence which belongs to this subject and the involvement of science is a requirement to understand the human cloning concept.

The Clone Club is ready

Orphan Black is a mix of science-fiction and drama, including quite some thriller scenes. The human cloning phenomenon is addressed in a humanistic and scientific way, which implies advantages and disadvantages.  The message processed in the series is original and important, reinforced by the fascinating acting work of Tatiana Maslany who makes the series even stronger. Orphan Black can be considered as an informative series and offers a perspective on and information about human cloning. The Clone Club is ready for you. 

References

Galdos, Francisco. Human cloning: Unmasking the Controversy. Harvard Science Review. January 22, 2014. 

Hughes, Sarah. “Send in the Clones: Orphan Black, TV’s smartest show, is back.” The Guardian. June 7, 2017.

Loofbourow, Lili. “The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany.” The New York Times. April 2, 2015.