The Handmaid's Tale, Episode 1
OFFRED
The Handmaid's Tale isn't good for my anger management.
Based on a Margaret Atwood novel by the same name, the US is now the Republic of Gilead, ruled by its totalitarian government where, among other things, women are not allowed to work, read and be a normal human being. They are only expected to obey men and people in power, and fulfill their biological destiny ie to breed. Snickering at that will earn you a shock by a cattle prod or cost you an eyeball.
During this dystopian time, the world suffers from severe pollution and a sharp decline in fertility rate, which is still not its biggest problem. Under Gilead, women are graded and classified like supermarket produce, as they should, obviously:
At the beginning of the episode, we are introduced to a woman wearing a red dress, a uniform, sitting by a window, looking like she's from at least 200 years ago. No, this is current, taking place in the near future, even, if the world isn't such a mess. In fact, this is the time you should expect iPhone 10 to be released.
My first major blood-boiling moment is upon learning that the woman's name is Offred, which is not her real name, because that is now forbidden, but rather a name that attaches her to her master, Fred Waterford. This woman is Fred's Handmaid, a woman who he systematically rapes, with his wife sitting on the same bed literally holding the Handmaid's hands down. The name is the least of the woman's problems.
Offred's real name is June, and no, I'm not calling her Offred. Fred and the Waterfords can die.
Stripped human rights aside, there are eye-rolling customs too. There are greetings, for example, and my favourite is "Blessed be the fruit", replied with "May the Lord open" -- usually between two women wishing each other fertility!
I was tempted to mock this further, then I realized how satisfying this story already is, at the very least, in imitating the real world. There are rules to be followed "because the religion asks you to", ways to dress, automatic assignments for men to lead and dictate, women to change their last names, misogynistic acts brushed off as norms, and a set of greetings that may sound funny to outsiders.
Adding to that, there are also societies that have been telling women every day that they can only be complete with marriage, children and their household-tending skills; that they have to look or act a certain way, or look younger than their age; that they deserve to be talked at; and that they have a sell-by date. Just to name some of the expectations not only put on, but upheld and guarded fiercely by women themselves.
The relationship, if you can call it that, between June and the Waterfords starts with a warning from Serena Joy, "I want to see as little of you as possible. He's my husband until death do us part. If I get trouble, I'll give trouble back." A little background: the joyless Serena Joy was part of Gilead's early movement along with her husband. She's not allowed to be in the government now because she's a woman, so she settles with just being part of an organized rape system these days.
The Handmaids are trained at the Rachel and Leah Centre by the Aunts, who tell them "Oh, you are so lucky, so privileged!" of their status breeding children for the Commanders and their Wives. I've heard this before, of women's "privileged status" in a different context, you know, maybe thrown out to defend polygamy, for example 😏.
Watching and discussing The Handmaid's Tale feels like watching a longer Inglourious Basterds in which Quentin Tarantino is hunting the Nazis. I mean, Gilead has to fall in the end, right? Ideally, I want to discuss all of its 10 episodes, shoving them to misogyny's face.
Image: twitter.com/HandmaidsOnHulu
The Handmaid's Tale isn't good for my anger management.
Based on a Margaret Atwood novel by the same name, the US is now the Republic of Gilead, ruled by its totalitarian government where, among other things, women are not allowed to work, read and be a normal human being. They are only expected to obey men and people in power, and fulfill their biological destiny ie to breed. Snickering at that will earn you a shock by a cattle prod or cost you an eyeball.
During this dystopian time, the world suffers from severe pollution and a sharp decline in fertility rate, which is still not its biggest problem. Under Gilead, women are graded and classified like supermarket produce, as they should, obviously:
- Wives are married to the high ranking officials ie the Commanders.
- Aunts train the Handmaids in a special* training centre and oversee their postings afterwards.
- Marthas do house chores in the Commanders' homes.
- Handmaids are a handful of fertile women left, turned into breeding slaves, and their sole function is to get impregnated by the Commanders in a monthly "Ceremony" to increase population.
- And Unwomen are women who are not able to get pregnant, therefore sent to clean toxic waste in the Colonies.
At the beginning of the episode, we are introduced to a woman wearing a red dress, a uniform, sitting by a window, looking like she's from at least 200 years ago. No, this is current, taking place in the near future, even, if the world isn't such a mess. In fact, this is the time you should expect iPhone 10 to be released.
My first major blood-boiling moment is upon learning that the woman's name is Offred, which is not her real name, because that is now forbidden, but rather a name that attaches her to her master, Fred Waterford. This woman is Fred's Handmaid, a woman who he systematically rapes, with his wife sitting on the same bed literally holding the Handmaid's hands down. The name is the least of the woman's problems.
Offred's real name is June, and no, I'm not calling her Offred. Fred and the Waterfords can die.
Stripped human rights aside, there are eye-rolling customs too. There are greetings, for example, and my favourite is "Blessed be the fruit", replied with "May the Lord open" -- usually between two women wishing each other fertility!
I was tempted to mock this further, then I realized how satisfying this story already is, at the very least, in imitating the real world. There are rules to be followed "because the religion asks you to", ways to dress, automatic assignments for men to lead and dictate, women to change their last names, misogynistic acts brushed off as norms, and a set of greetings that may sound funny to outsiders.
Adding to that, there are also societies that have been telling women every day that they can only be complete with marriage, children and their household-tending skills; that they have to look or act a certain way, or look younger than their age; that they deserve to be talked at; and that they have a sell-by date. Just to name some of the expectations not only put on, but upheld and guarded fiercely by women themselves.
The relationship, if you can call it that, between June and the Waterfords starts with a warning from Serena Joy, "I want to see as little of you as possible. He's my husband until death do us part. If I get trouble, I'll give trouble back." A little background: the joyless Serena Joy was part of Gilead's early movement along with her husband. She's not allowed to be in the government now because she's a woman, so she settles with just being part of an organized rape system these days.
The Handmaids are trained at the Rachel and Leah Centre by the Aunts, who tell them "Oh, you are so lucky, so privileged!" of their status breeding children for the Commanders and their Wives. I've heard this before, of women's "privileged status" in a different context, you know, maybe thrown out to defend polygamy, for example 😏.
Watching and discussing The Handmaid's Tale feels like watching a longer Inglourious Basterds in which Quentin Tarantino is hunting the Nazis. I mean, Gilead has to fall in the end, right? Ideally, I want to discuss all of its 10 episodes, shoving them to misogyny's face.
Image: twitter.com/HandmaidsOnHulu
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