Over 30 years ago, Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale from her home behind the Berlin Wall. Like many of the best dystopian authors, she took the struggles and fears of the time, blended them together, and set them on fire.
Frighteningly, those struggles still resonate in 2017. Especially on the heels of the Women’s March, the growing issue of human trafficking, Trump’s closed-minded leadership, increasing struggles with infertility, etc…. You can see why so many people are signing up for Hulu subscriptions.
If you’re not familiar with the storyline of The Handmaid’s Tale, the world of the future suffers from extreme environmental problems as well as debilitating fertility issues. In the town of Gilead, the “Plague of Infertility” doesn’t take a violent, apocalyptic turn like in Children of Men. Instead, it goes straight Old Testament.
For example, public hangings are a regular occurrence (mostly “gender traders” and those in the “wrong” religion), along with stonings, and cutting off fingers and hands as punishment.
A new caste system is created with the male commanders at the top, followed by the wives (dressed in blue), the “Aunts” or Red Center leaders in brown, the housekeeping Martha’s (dressed in green), and then the red cloak and bonnet-wearing handmaids. The handmaids are the direct property of the commanders, and must take on the commander’s name. For example, Offred (Elizabeth Moss) is the handmaid of Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes).
Handmaids are essentially slaves, subjected to the roller coaster of slut shaming and getting Tasered by an Aunt, or being highly revered, depending on whether or not they are pregnant. Ironically, the handmaids have the most power, as they are responsible for carrying on the human race. In Gilead, fertility is considered a gift from God, and children are a “biological destiny.”
To this end, handmaids are perhaps Gilead’s most precious commodity. Commander Waterford rises in power because of his initiative to trade handmaids with Mexico. Offred is able to have a moment with a Mexican ambassador to tell her how terribly the handmaids are treated. But the ambassador is not swayed, “No child (in Mexico) has been born alive in six years. My country is dying.” To which Offred replies, “My country is already dead.”
Through flashbacks, we are able to get a glimpse of Offred’s life before the new laws were written, when she was June. She had a husband, an eight year old daughter, and a good job. Gradually, the walls begin to close around her: the laws are changed so that women can’t work or own property. Everything in her life seems monitored (“Under His eye”). In an effort to escape to Canada, June and her daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) are separated from her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle). June and Hannah are found by the guards, and in a horrific scene, Hannah is ripped from June’s arms.
June is transferred to the Red (Rachel and Leah) Center, and tagged like an animal. June is now Offred, a slave at the Waterford’s home. She is subjected to a “ceremony” every month in which she is raped by the Commander with her head in the wife’s (Yvonne Strahovski) lap.
The whole house waits with bated breath to see if Offred gets her period every month. Offred is treated with the utmost care and respect when she is thought to be pregnant. When she’s not, she is beaten and forced into solitary confinement.
When Offred is still not pregnant, her mistress (the ironically named) Serena Joy suggests hooking up with the house driver, Nick (Max Minghella). Most of the Commanders are likely barren, but no one talks about that. Offred agrees, and keeps returning to Nick in secret. It’s an escape for her.
Although their existence seems bleak, at least the handmaids have each other. As Offred says, “They should have never given us uniforms if they didn’t want us to be an army.” They band together when one of them is in labor, and help deliver the baby. They huddle up when one of them is treated to an especially harsh punishment.
There are whispers of underground networks, working against the current regime. Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) is the first to tell Offred about such a group, called “Mayday.”
Offred is finally given a mysterious package from one of these groups, which she carefully hides behind her bathtub. She worries about what is inside, but when she finally opens it, she is shocked to find a bundle of handwritten handmaid’s tales: professing who they are, the children and family members they’ve lost. Reading those stories gives Offred the boost she needs to keep fighting.
I can almost guarantee that Elizabeth Moss will win an Emmy for this role. She brilliantly leads the cast through just about every scene. She is absolutely compelling as Offred, and there is an especially raw scene toward the end of the season in which Offred is trapped in a car that will just rip your heart out. There are no slouches in the supporting cast, either. This show has found a group of actors at the top of their game, and boy did they have to bring it for The Handmaid’s Tale.
The stunning cinematography is another high point for the show. The camera dives in and grabs the emotion from the characters. To portray the bleakness of the time, there are a lot of rainy, moody settings. The characters roam around in houses that already feel haunted.
The Handmaid’s Tale has very little music, so we are able to hear every creak of the floors, and really sense the ratcheting tension level of the show. The struggle is not only real, it’s palpable. But when a song is chosen, it’s very tongue-in-cheek. For example, when Offred enters a secret sex club, we hear Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” In the closing credits, Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” or Tom Petty’s “American Girl” is played.
Ultimately, The Handmaid’s Tale is all about perspective. We are allowed inside June/Offred’s witty inner dialogue. Despite the fact that she has lost her family, her rights, her job, and her possessions, she maintains a sly sense of humor to keep herself sane. It’s this perspective that keeps her head above water as her companions give up all around her. She must push on to make a change, to be remembered, to save her daughter. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum (Don’t let the bastards get you down) becomes a motto for Offred. She refuses to live like a dancer in a music box, trapped in a little room.
So many aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale are creepy and terrifying, yet still resonate. Most of what Atwood wrote about has happened somewhere, at some point in time. So if history keeps repeating itself, could we possibly go back to this? Are we making any progress?
The second season of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere on Hulu in 2018.
Grade: A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJTonrzXTJs
