The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian story that takes place in the recognizable and not-too-distant future. With characters singing Bob Marley and making references to Uber, you have a distinct feeling that the setting still carries the same shadow of the world we live in now. In this future America, widespread infertility has caused the new government to round up all the women who are able to conceive and make them, “Handmaids,” which is a polite way of saying “breeding stock” for wealthy powerful families that cannot have children.
Hulu released the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale; so, the Us and Them of it all is still somewhat a mystery. It would appear, however, that if you don’t have a direct role in the government you are a part of their slavery task force carrying out a specific role.
Besides the fact that it’s visually well done and performances are stellar on every level, the story itself is kind of terrifying. In the start of the third episode, “Late” Offred is speaking during a flashback of her life before the fall of civilization and says: “I’m awake to the world now. I was asleep before, that’s how we let it happen. When they slaughtered Congress, we didn’t wake up. When they blamed terrorists, and suspended the Constitution, we didn’t wake up then either. They said it would be temporary. Nothing changes instantaneously. In a gradually heating bathtub you would be boiled to death before you knew it.”
Just as Offred said this, I was casually scrolling through my Twitter feed and saw that President Trump announced that May 1 would now be called Loyalty Day, where American’s would be asked to demonstrate their loyalty to the nation, by ways of the normal fanfare; displaying flags, supporting the troops, etc. I’m not an alarmist, and I am under no delusion that the world of The Handmaid’s Tale is far more terrifying than the world I live in.
However.
Suddenly the idea that we dissolve Congress, and put a hold on the Constitution under the guise of National Security doesn’t seem that far-fetched. Scarier even, it seems like something that huge groups of people would support. It’s almost as if we need a new term for this genre of storytelling. My suggestion would be something along the lines of: Holy Shit Is Anyone Else Watching This and It’s Scaring the Shit Out of Them Too?
The first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale were fascinating, and brutally realistic. With new episodes airing on Wednesdays I’m excited to see where the story goes because it seems the only direction would be some form of revolution. But in such an oppressive society — how do you fight back? After watching a world where women are told they are second class citizens — how do you still watch that on tv and not feel completely defeated? Atwood's story, now more than ever, feels like a warning.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 4, 2017.