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[Rekwest]

It was a fantastic show, but I'm not going to pretend that as a man, I probably wasn't the prime target this show was being directed at.

I am a man and i don' care if the lead is a woman a man or a robot.

 

[killertofu]

I read this for a college class about 8 years ago so my memory is a little fuzzy.

Watched the first two episodes and thought they were pretty damn good.


It somehow feels more...contemporary than how I felt when I read the book. Like I guess when I was reading the book I just imagined a completely alternate universe and this TV adaptation feels a little too close to reality.

I'm not 100% sure about the use of flashbacks. I feel like it works way better than the movie adaptation of the Road but maybe seeing the actor that plays Poussey is giving me way too much Orange is the New Black vibes

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Does this show have enough going on to be able to intrigue male viewers? Are there any signs of any male protagonists in this show to balance things out?

lol what?

The show is about Offred.

 

[JeTmAn81]

Watched the first episode. I've read the book, which I liked. I think I'm just not in the mood for dystopian tales at the moment, perhaps because the world itself seems too dystopian right now? The show is well made but I'm just not enjoying stories about people in deep oppression.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

I read this for a college class about 8 years ago so my memory is a little fuzzy.

Watched the first two episodes and thought they were pretty damn good.


It somehow feels more...contemporary than how I felt when I read the book. Like I guess when I was reading the book I just imagined a completely alternate universe and this TV adaptation feels a little too close to reality.

I'm not 100% sure about the use of flashbacks. I feel like it works way better than the movie adaptation of the Road but maybe seeing the actor that plays Poussey is giving me way too much Orange is the New Black vibes

The book took place in the mid 2000s right?

Spoiler

We besides the framing device

 

[Pixieking]

This is a tough one to answer. I'd say that there is definitely some unsettling material but no nudity or anything like that. That being said, there are certainly moments I could imagine would stress someone out. Not vicious but the scenario is incredibly horrifying.

Cheers for that... I'll show her your post, and she can decide.

It was a fantastic show, but I'm not going to pretend that as a man, I probably wasn't the prime target this show was being directed at.

A show about a theocratic fascist police-state, with women being used and abused, with little concern shown for their well being, and a desire to push women generally into being subservient...

I think, if anything, men would be the prime target for this, considering the political situation the US is in now: A President being elected who thinks he can do anything to women, and a party in both legislatures that thinks it can tell women what to do with their bodies. *shrugs*

 

[Goodstyle]

Just finished episode 3. That

Spoiler

execution

scene was insane. I'm shook.

 

[killertofu]

tfw you realize the Handmaid's Tale is actually part of the Gilmore Girls Cinematic universe

 

[berzeli]

Vulture is covering the show in full force:

From the Handmaids to the Marthas, How Each Handmaid’s Tale Costume Came Together

Alexis Bledel As Ofglen in The Handmaid’s Tale Is the Role She Was Born to Play (spoilers)

And perhaps most importantly:

Elisabeth Moss Is the Queen of Peak TV

Nothing has managed to grind down Moss’s career so far (except for, perhaps, a recent gaffe during a discussion of Handmaid’s and feminism, but more on that later). Her first real job came two years out of high school (she graduated at 15) for this show called The West Wing, where she spent seven seasons speaking Aaron Sorkin dialogue as President Bartlett’s daughter, Zoey. After that, she did seven seasons on Mad Men as Peggy, a character who just happened to get the most interesting evolutionary arc, from meek secretary to badass copy chief, on a show that just happened to define the Golden Age of TV.

How did Moss wind up on not one, but two, canonical shows? She says she just looked for good writing, “and I think that enabled me to say yes to some television things perhaps before everyone was saying yes to television things.” In other words, she had good timing, and she wasn’t a snob who would only do movies. Moss points out that The West Wing and The Sopranos both debuted in 1999, before the popular notion of “prestige” TV existed. And even when she did Mad Men in 2007, she says, “We were still in a world where, as an actor, you weren’t really supposed to do television. It was kind of like the lesser group of people. But because I never put those parameters on things, and I was just like, ‘This is an amazing script and an amazing project; of course I’m going to do this,’ it became part of one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.”

Yas Queen!
(seriously though, give it a read.)

 

[Anton Sugar]

I mean if you're trying to parse out how many years exactly it would take for a full on patriarchal takeover of our government, you're missing the point.

Also that was ~literally~ the Iranian Revolution.

lol

Glad someone said it.

 

[Viewt]

Just finished episode 3. That

Spoiler

execution

scene was insane. I'm shook.

Dude, I thought I was going to throw up. Everything about that scene was too fucking realistic.

Spoiler

You see Emily switching from recoiling in pain and frustration, only to look back, because it's her last chance to see her partner.

And then they followed it up with

Spoiler

the female circumcision.

It was difficult to go to bed after that.

My fiancée decided to binge through the first three episodes, since we heard a good review for it on NPR, plus all of the other write-ups. It's a fucking amazing show, but I can understand people not wanting to watch it. It's fucking depressing.

Also, (Episode 3 spoilers)

Spoiler

the protest scene where the cops just started killing everyone

hit way too close to home. That's what makes this such a hard watch. It's a freefall of liberty from where we are now, but it's not unthinkable. And it's happened before in other countries.

Devastating stuff.

 

[crackhead_bob]

I'm legit confused as to the point of all of this. All the above reads like a TV executive who gives god-awful notes about a show he doesn’t understand or wants to understand.

Sorry. When I'm drained and exhausted, I tend to come off half engaged. I haven't seen this show yet. I'm looking forward to seeing this show. I want it to succeed, for both entertainment and for reasons that are a bit more deep seated than other shows. That being said, I hope it's able to deflect the predictable backlash it's going to get from conservative leaning viewers who will dismiss it out of hand. I've already seen this with a review from the National Review. One of their biggest complaint in their article is that the show depiction of a dystopian America is hamfisted, and that they should have centered it on the Muslim model -- as if the viewer is supposed to accept a Christian theocracy is superior and benevolent to that of an Islamic theocracy. One of the argument against Handmaid's Tale is that it portrays the subjugation of women at the expense of others, so I hope the producers of this show had the foresight to line their ducks up in a row to dispel that notion.

 

[Pixieking]

One of the argument against Handmaid's Tale is that it portrays the subjugation of women at the expense of others

To which you should say "human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights".

Though I don't think that'll help with conservatives.

 

[crackhead_bob]

To which you should say "human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights".

Though I don't think that'll help with conservatives.

Man, I wish that actually could work with conservatives, but I feel I'd have an easier time finding the Ark of the Covenant. On the whole issue of reproductive rights, I wish progressives could be as full throated and unapologetic on this issue as they are on other social issues like LGBT rights or the environment. I wish separation of church and state could be a regular part of the progressive lexicon as well, but it's not. I go back and forth trying to understand why that is. Maybe it's because church/state separation doesn't fly off the tongue so easily and can't be packaged into a trendy meme on social media. I worry that choice could be going down that same path too.

 

[whyamihere]

I'm honestly still thinking about (ep3 end)

Spoiler

the female circumcision

.

Fuck, I need the next episode.

 

[natsuyasumi]

Book readers: would you recommend I read the novel first? If a book is worth reading (this one certainly is) my usual M.O. is to read the book before viewing an adaptation.

I have plenty of time, as I tend to wait until TV seasons are fully released before watching.

 

[whyamihere]

Book readers: would you recommend I read the novel first? If a book is worth reading (this one certainly is) my usual M.O. is to read the book before viewing an adaptation.

I have plenty of time, as I tend to wait until TV seasons are fully released before watching.

I would. The novel is honestly fantastic and the TV show has deviated in really interesting ways so far that make it worth it.

 

[crackhead_bob]

I would. The novel is honestly fantastic and the TV show has deviated in really interesting ways so far that make it worth it.

Which deviations do you feel are beneficial, and which do you find to be detrimental to the plot? A lot of the better Stephen King films were better because the screenwriters ended up deviating from the original source material.

 

[skullmuffins]

Sorry. When I'm drained and exhausted, I tend to come off half engaged. I haven't seen this show yet. I'm looking forward to seeing this show. I want it to succeed, for both entertainment and for reasons that are a bit more deep seated than other shows. That being said, I hope it's able to deflect the predictable backlash it's going to get from conservative leaning viewers who will dismiss it out of hand. I've already seen this with a review from the National Review. One of their biggest complaint in their article is that the show depiction of a dystopian America is hamfisted, and that they should have centered it on the Muslim model -- as if the viewer is supposed to accept a Christian theocracy is superior and benevolent to that of an Islamic theocracy. One of the argument against Handmaid's Tale is that it portrays the subjugation of women at the expense of others, so I hope the producers of this show had the foresight to line their ducks up in a row to dispel that notion.

Did the National Review even publish an actual review of the series? I searched and only found some articles whining about the reaction to the series, how liberals are comparing the setting to Trump's America and how we're not actually living in a society close to what's depicted in the show. If conservatives are cranky that the show depicts a Christian theocratic society, well, tough shit. I think they're kind of missing the point.

 

[crackhead_bob]

Did the National Review even publish an actual review of the series? I searched and only found some articles whining about the reaction to the series, how liberals are comparing the setting to Trump's America and how we're not actually living in a society close to what's depicted in the show. If conservatives are cranky that the show depicts a Christian theocratic society, well, tough shit. I think they're kind of missing the point.

They did. I think it was titled what fans of the Handmaid's Tale refuse to acknowledge. As far as what they've seen, I can only assume that they're referring to the first 3 episodes. But even if they had seen all 3 episodes, they'll probably dismiss this show based on the show being centered on the Offred character's point of view, and also on the author, Margaret Atwood's personal philosophy. Atwood has said numerous times in the past that Gilead is not technically a Christian theocracy....she doesn't explicitly make those connections outright, and that the criticisms leveled at her by christian conservatives are projection on their part. I guess maybe their objections stem from the idea that Gilead executes dissenters without due process, so maybe that's where all the comparisons to a Muslim theocracy comes from. But the writer of that article is typical of conservatives who will try to reason that a christian theocracy isn't so bad because they're not throwing homosexuals off of buildings like the Muslims are. I just don't understand that line of reasoning. So yeah, maybe the unrelenting depiction of Gilead on the small screen hits a little too close to home for their comfort, but you know, these people are constantly doing everything in their power to make choice nonexistent -- both legislatively, as well as privately. And to this day, none of these christian conservatives will call out their own when they go out and commit acts of terrorism the way they will when someone who is Muslim goes out on a rampage. If they can't even do that, why should they expect that we won't assume that they're content with living in a christian theocracy, so long as the trains are running on time? I do hope this show goes to explain why a society would accept living under this type of rule. I still personally struggle with trying to understand why people who claim to want small government is perfectly fine with placing legislative control under the auspices of institutions who would like nothing more than to micromanage every aspects of our lives based on Biblical understanding.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I'm honestly still thinking about (ep3 end)

Spoiler

the female circumcision

.

Fuck, I need the next episode.

Episode 3 Spoilers

Spoiler

I almost screamed. When it hit me what they had done...fuuuuuucckk.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

The reason why I'm hoping for a male protagonist is so that it can attract men on the fence for this show. I have a feeling that if there's a backlash from the usual suspects, a male protagonist(s) can help to counter this accusation.

I think you're overestimating the importance of having a male protagonist when it comes to attracting a male audience. HBO's Girls, a feminist show predominantly about millennial women, had a majority male audience for its entire run, for instance. If a show is great, most* men will be open to watching it regardless of whether the protagonist is a woman or not.

*and the ones who wouldn't watch a show like this because of the themes, the main character being a woman, etc. wouldn't watch it anyway, even if there was a guy as the co/sub lead.

tfw you realize the Handmaid's Tale is actually part of the Gilmore Girls Cinematic universe

lmao

Elisabeth Moss Is the Queen of Peak TV

Those pictures are fantastic!

 

[crackhead_bob]

So does anyone wish to speculate how this season will play out as an adaptation of the novel? Will the show be a stretched out rendition of the book, or is it possible that they could end up completing the novel at the end of this season and continuing the story from that point forward?

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Finally watched episode 3 -

Spoiler

fuck everything. D:

 

[Prototype Viktor]

Fuck this show for episode 1


Also end credits music is so dumb episodes 1 and 2

 

[Nameless]

As an atheist who respects women, this is one of the most terrifying, disturbing, fucked up dystopian futures I've seen depicted.

Elisabeth Moss' performance is spectacular as usual.

 

[Qvoth]

just watched episode 1, goddamn this is some fucked up shit

 

[LProtag]

Finally watched all three episodes.

Damn. It really captures the ideas the book got at, but makes it much more visceral and real. Granted, I was a high schooler when I read it, so my opinions of it might have changed and I might not have realized how intense the book actually was.

Feels more grounded in reality than the book was, at least.

 

[Socivol]

I watched all three episodes and this is the best new show to come out for a while to me. It looks great, the acting is great, and the story is so timely.

 

[Don Draper's Hat]

Jesus Christ, Mrs. Waterford,

Spoiler

Fred is obviously a Jaffa!

3 very strong episodes to open with. The use of music is a little off putting.

This is something that I can't wait to recommend to my mother.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

As an atheist who respects women, this is one of the most terrifying, disturbing, fucked up dystopian futures I've seen depicted.

Elisabeth Moss' performance is spectacular as usual.

I'd nope out of life if that happened IRL I'd sure as hell episode 1:

Spoiler

shot like a minority on a mostly white show like this

 

[Nameless]

I actually like the music choices. It's supposed to feel a bit jarring and a out of place -- a reminder that these are modern people who not too long ago lived in a modern society. Something that's is easy to forget moment-to-moment in this bleak Puritanical hellscape that's seen most of the technology, art, and flare of contemporary culture stripped away.

 

[Nameless]

I'd hope out of life if that happened IRL I'd sure as hell episode 1:

Spoiler

shot like a minority on a mostly white show like this

Haha I'd like to think I would've died at The Colony by now.

 

[RastaMentality]

I know it's realistic the commander would probably only want white girls but it'd be nice if there was some more diversity.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

I know it's realistic the commander would probably only want white girls but it'd be nice if there was some more diversity.

Don't bring logic in this fight. It's set up to want ANYONE that is fertile, so naturally it would be 95% white..../s

No does it make sense that Episode 3:

Spoiler

the seemingly indiscriminate firing on a mostly female crowd would be smart when you are trying to micromanage births

There's what

Spoiler

10 non-white people shown

so far in the 3 episodes and

Spoiler

at least 2 of them died by episode 2?

 

[kris.]

this

Spoiler

court room scene

in episode 3. i fucking can't. this is terrifying.

edit: JESUS CHRIST

 

[berzeli]

This is definitely my favourite show of the year so far. Not that there has been that much of a competition (especially since American Gods is streaming on like the worst thing ever here. Sorry for that unrelated tangent but like seriously fuck Amazon)

Finally watched episode 3 -

Spoiler

fuck everything. D:

This is an accurate assessment.

I actually like the music choices. It's supposed to feel a bit jarring and a out of place -- a reminder that these are modern people who not too long ago lived in a modern society. Something that's is easy to forget moment-to-moment in this bleak Puritanical hellscape that's seen most of the technology, art, and flare of contemporary culture stripped away.

This is basically where I'm at. The use of "pop music" is used to reinforce the connection between the dystopia and our reality.
The only time I actually got jarred was when they played Hildur Guðnadóttir

Spoiler

when they leave the court in the van

, but that was more because of how they mixed the song rather than the song choice.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I think Ann Dowd is overdue for some award love. She's on that Margo Martindale character actor hustle.

The first 3 episodes are expertly paced. I never felt like they dragged for time, which is a big complaint I usually have with these streaming shows. If you're going to have 45+ min episodes, you better justify that runtime
*glares at every Netflix Marvel show*

 

[RatskyWatsky]

This is definitely my favourite new show of the year so far.

Absolutely.

I actually like the music choices. It's supposed to feel a bit jarring and a out of place -- a reminder that these are modern people who not too long ago lived in a modern society. Something that's is easy to forget moment-to-moment in this bleak Puritanical hellscape that's seen most of the technology, art, and flare of contemporary culture stripped away.

The thing for me is that the first two episodes end with songs that have lyrics that too obviously relate to the plot -

You don't own me
I'm not just one of your many toys

And don't tell me what to do
Don't tell me what to say

So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you

"Hey, it's almost as though she's singing from the perspective of the Handmaidens in the show!"

And then

Don't you forget about me

after

Spoiler

Ofglen gets taken away.

It just seems kind of amateurish to pick songs that are so on the nose, even if their use is still effective.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

It just seems kind of amateurish to pick songs that are so on the nose, even if their use is still effective.

That was my issue with it as well. It's like using Cat's in the Cradle during a father/son bonding scene. The Episode 2 and 3 ending credits were jarring too, but that Episode 1 song choice...woof.

 

[Aiii]

Just finished episode 3 and oh boy, if Alexis Bledel does not win an Emmy for this performance The Emmy's will lose the last bit of credibility they had left. What a stellar actress, I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan, but I would not have expected this from her. Amazing.

I wish I could force everyone I know to sit down and watch this show, but alas, I cannot force them as that would essentially make me Aunt Lydia and who would want to be her?

 

[Snaku]

Just watched the first three episodes, and it was traumatizing.

Spoiler

That trial, execution, and mutilation.

But I get the feeling this is gonna be at the top of the altright's porn queue.

 

[dead souls]

Absolutely amazing show so far.

Just finished episode 3 and oh boy, if Alexis Bledel does not win an Emmy for this performance The Emmy's will lose the last bit of credibility they had left. What a stellar actress, I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan, but I would not have expected this from her. Amazing.

She's usually a goddamn terrible actress which makes her performance in this even more amazing. Who knew she had it in her?

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Holy fucking shit...that's one powerful show. Best I've seen in years.

And it couldn't be more timely with all the evangelical cunts in this country and the political bullshit they've laid in their wake.

 

[Chumley]

Finished the first 3. Does the book explain how the world got to this point? Dystopian fiction this fucked up yet grounded in history (as Atwood said, this has all happened before) always fascinates me, but I'm curious if the book attempts to explain or justify how humanity backslid all the way into beyond dark ages mentality. I get that the Children of Men-esque pregnancy crisis might have been part of the cause, but there must be more to it than that.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

As an atheist who respects women, this is one of the most terrifying, disturbing, fucked up dystopian futures I've seen depicted.

Elisabeth Moss' performance is spectacular as usual.

This is my visceral reaction to the whole thing. Man, fuck all these fundamentalist "christians" in this country, and fundamentalist religion in general.

This is what people in modern secular civilization fought so hard to get away from. Not to go back to. But we are taking baby steps towards it again right now in real life. It's fucking bullshit, and this show is all the more prescient.

 

[wutwutwut]

This is my visceral reaction to the whole thing. Man, fuck all these fundamentalist "christians" in this country, and fundamentalist religion in general.

This is what people in modern secular civilization fought so hard to get away from. Not to go back to. But we are taking baby steps towards it again right now in real life. It's fucking bullshit, and this show is all the more prescient.

It's not just prescient, it's already happened in Syria. It wasn't as modern as the US, but it was still a functioning country before ISIS took over and imposed a fundamentalist theocracy.

 

[Stinkles]

It's not just prescient, it's already happened in Syria. It wasn't as modern as the US, but it was still a functioning country before ISIS took over and imposed a fundamentalist theocracy.

this is kind of a weird example. it was run by an illegally installed despotic minority who gassed his own people. and the parts that were taken over by isis were inevitably worse, but syria wasnt exactly 1950s iran either.

 

[wutwutwut]

this is kind of a weird example. it was run by an illegally installed despotic minority who gassed his own people. and the parts that were taken over by isis were inevitably worse, but syria wasnt exactly 1950s iran either.

It's not a perfect match by any means, but I find it hard to ignore the parallels.

 

[shadowkat]

Just finished the first episode and it's was chilling. Elisabeth Moss is fantastic.

I need to read the book.