[rating=9.00] “Offred”
[rating=8.00] “Birth Day”
[rating=10.00] “Late”
The world is spiraling into a hole of utter madness. The government has been overthrown in favor of a religious totalitarian society. Women have been forced into servitude, acting as breeders, cooks, companions, and keeping one another in line. There is no room for intelligence, fortitude, personality, or strength. Men control women’s bodies, just as they’ve always attempted to do. Just as they will always strive to do. The Handmaid’s Tale has come to life, in more ways than one. While there have been many fictional dystopian tales spun around this idea, not since the 1800’s did such a story feel like it could manifest itself in our world.
The history of violence surrounding women is immense. Taking this idea, and shoving it back in the faces of those who wish to oppress us, Margaret Atwood dreamed up The Handmaid’s Tale. Taking place in a not so far off New England, the story is told from the perspective of Offred, a woman who has been placed in a reproductive class. She is revered for her fruitful anatomy, but punished for daring to be born with such parts to begin with.
While the story has been adapted for the screen before, the current incarnation coming from streaming service Hulu has taken Atwood’s story and rolled it into the modern interpretation of where our world could snowball if we’re not careful; we are mere steps away from the horrors of The Handmaid’s Tale, held back only by those who still fight for the rights of all, in the government.
The terror that comes from this particular version lies in the use of our everyday lives. During Offred’s indoctrination by the Aunt’s we hear them talk about dating sites, promiscuity, the use of birth control, the way we dress, work, exist as autonomous human beings just as we always have. The Aunts are angry at this use of time by women, for this has ruined us for the men who would wish to make us their property. At one point the Aunts encourage the Handmaid’s to slut shame a woman who had been raped when she was a teenager. It was her fault, she brought this upon herself.
For most, A Handmaid’s Tale was required reading. While horrifying, we were always able to keep it at an arms-length, relying on fiction to take us to a world we would never have to face. Where there once was relief at coming up from your fiction, there is now fear that this could become a reality.
As the series wears on, it will be a world where men decide what women can or cannot do with their bodies. Where judges slut shame a plaintiff who has been raped, saying she had it coming because of the way she dressed. Where the President of the United States openly admits to wanting to sexually assault a woman, has been accused of harassment and rape, and yet sits freely at the helm, inexplicably cheered on by a portion of the public who have shown their true colors.
As Offred tells her tale, we get glimpses into her life from before. Many women were found to be barren, and the fate of humanity was beginning to be unclear. Rather than allow natural selection and evolution to take its course, humanity takes the reins, storing away fertile women and their children like a commodity to be traded, and condemning those who would seek to understand why it was happening, rather than blindly fighting back.
Offred laments the rise of the Republic of Gilead with her friend Moira, appalled at her bank account and job being taken from her in the same day. “We’ve been under Martial Law since DC,” Moira retorts. “Yeah but that was about preventing terrorists.” Offred offers. “Maybe there never were any terrorists.”
There’s a scene in the third episode that is cruelly relevant. As Offred (or June, as she reveals her name from before) and Moira march against oppression to protest their current state, we get a scene ripped straight out of the headlines. Riot police pull out large weapons as a show of force, and while Moira and Offred retreat to a nearby bridge for shelter, others continue their protest, only to be met with a shower of bullets from those who care nothing for their lives. It’s horrific. Moira and Offred are able to get away from the battle scene, but through a fogged window we see bullets literally flying by and clipping anyone they can reach. People are dying en masse for showing discontent for the overall state of their being. Offred can’t help herself, and as she stares through the window pane in disbelief of her life, a bomb goes off.
Current events aside, the show itself is a true testament to the quality of streaming networks. Elizabeth Moss’ (Mad Men, The West Wing) portrayal of Offred is magnetic. Even as she simply narrates her disdain for the world she is stuck in, she holds a gaze that many actors will try to emulate, but none will match.
Paired with her Handmaid partner Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), the two are an unending force onscreen. Bledel’s characterization of Ofglen results in a visceral reaction to losing someone she loves and a physical piece of herself all at once. It’s gut-wrenching, resulting in tears, nausea, and a conscious effort to attempt to separate their reality from ours. The fact that the lines are blurred so readily between the content and the acting is at once astounding and terrifying.
The despair that comes with A Handmaid’s Tale is grossly overwhelming. Between the themes, the acting, the cinematography, and the soundtrack/score there’s no easy way to get through this series without falling down the rabbit hole of confusion. Why is it that a novel published in 1985 is able to be adapted so seamlessly into the culture of 2017? It’s to the point that we’re peering into the looking glass of the would be future; one a select group of powerful men wish they could have.
Why is there this creeping fear that this could act as a potential blueprint, for those who wish for the old days that never quite existed? How is it that we can already feel the oppression of a fearful society that moves to control what they think of as the lessor gender? It should make you angry, sad, and it will leave you feeling mostly helpless. This is peak entertainment, and it will act as the catalyst for the gendered oppression we carelessly accept on a day to day basis.
The first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale are now available to stream on Hulu; new episodes will be available every Wednesday.
