This is going to be the first time I write a television review. Like all first times I assume that it’s going to be awkward as hell, a little….okay, maybe a lot….uncomfortable and after a minute or two, satisfying to one party.😅
Let’s get to it then…
I had heard about this book a few years back but I had refused to read it because I knew it would rile me up. I was deliberately sticking my head in the sand. But then the TV series came out and the promotional pictures…..let’s just say I had to unstick my head from the sand and get riled up.
So I begrudgingly went to movie central at Zai Plaza and bought myself a copy of the DVD.
When I sat to watch, I had a pillow to scream my frustration into, a hanky handy to wipe away the snot.
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the future where for some reason environmental disasters have led to an alarming increase in infertility and this has crippled the world. A Christian fundamentalist regime who call themselves the Sons of Jacob, take over the US renaming it the Republic of Gilead.
All the hopelessness in all these dystopian movies and series do not come close to the hopelessness in The Handmaid’s Tale.
George Orwell’s 1984 is a utopia compared to this.
Since infertility has plagued this world, the women who are fortunate or unfortunate enough to still be fertile are forced to become handmaids and have ritualized sex with men in leadership positions who are known as commanders in order to give from them and their wives children…..creepy, right?
Even worse, the handmaids are stripped of their identity and their names.
Any slight offense against state leads to painful mutilation. Fingers are cut off, eyes are plucked out, hands cut off and in some extreme cases, genital mutilation and even death.
The protagonist is called Offred, literally of Fred, belonging to, a slave of Fred, her commander.
We are in Offred’s head for most of the series and she is played by the absolutely phenomenal Elisabeth Moss….who was the only reason I stayed with the series, Mad Men.
Offred’s former name is never explicitly stated in the book but in the series we learn that her name is June.
What’s even more horrifying is the fact that the Sons of Jacob use the Bible to justify their oppression of women.
And EVEN MORE SCARING, is the fact that the wives of the commanders are complacent in these women’s mistreatment.
I feel like if I keep writing, I’m going to give spoilers away.
It’s horrifying all round and even I, with my pretty amazing binge-watching skills (I’ve watched entire seasons in a day), I could not watch it in one sitting.
Recommendation:
I recommend that y’all watch it. It’s haunting, it’s beautiful, it’s emotional, it’s vivid, it’s sad, it’s thought provoking. It’s an eye-opening drama to what can happen when a person, nay a man, chooses to find verses in the Bible that justify his prejudice against women.
And in some parts of the world, this injustice to women is actually happening.
Thank you Margaret Atwood for writing this and thank you Hollywood for doing this iconic book justice.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
So how was the review…. Was it goooooood? Drop your comment below.
so interesting! my bookclub just read Handmaid’s Tale and it sparked quite the discussion. thanks for this review!
Thank you for reading. 😄
Wow I have seen it often but never bothered with it, it looked haunting. Considering my interest in conspiracy theories and my belief in the fact that as the Bible says we should look to Israel for the signs of the end, I look to Hollywood for the signs of the new world order , I have heard of George Orwell’s ’84 an apocalyptic fictional book and many more that seem to play out the eradication of the middle class and instead have an upper class and servant class , also population reduction and more , so I am so definitely going to watch this just so I can monitor the well hidden plans of the new world order , hidden in clear sight, in form of ‘harmless ‘ entertainment . 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾
Great review. You should write more of them. I’m still annoyed at how women were treated in the series even though it’s fiction.
The funny thing is its not that much of a stretch. Things like this are happening to women the world over.
Thank you for reading. 😀
Nay.. I will decline to the recommendation.. My heart is not so strong enough to watch the oppression and all that comes with it.. Thank you for the review.. I now know what not to go looking for!!
Lol….. It’s actually really good. You just have to watch it with something to scream your frustration into.
I HATE spoilers!
Thanks for not spoiling.
I don’t know if I should watch, though.
Don’t know if time I have.
40-50-minute episodes or shorter (20 min)?
About 50 minutes. It’s to be taken in dozes. Not in one seating.
Lol I hate spoilers too.
Doses are for the WEAK!!! 😀
(I’m sorry. I’m a Netflix person. We get all the episodes at one go hehee)
😂 so am I…. But I also couldn’t binge watch it.
I’ve heard of this show before, when I heard that Poussey from OITNB would be part of the cast. I’ll admit, the title kind of put me off, but then I saw the pictures that you included and it caught my attention (I thought it would be about the Amish or non-mainstream living which I’m so fascinated by but I was wrong LOL). I haven’t watched this show, but I’m definitely interested now. I didn’t know it was so dystopian and scary though. I’ll probably have to watch this during the daytime lol.
Oh definitely do… Get ready to experience some frustration and anger. 😅