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Atwood's 'The Handmaid’s Tale' on Hulu


AncalagonTheBlack

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35 minutes ago, Martini Sigil said:

Holy cow.... this show is disturbing.... especially if you're sensitive to religious extremism in America

Not to mention if one happens to be female.

As Atwood, and all the people involved with the television production are careful to say, there's no condition here that women haven't experienced in large numbers, sometime, somewhere.  It's not confined to crazy xtianity.

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42 minutes ago, Martini Sigil said:

Holy cow.... this show is disturbing.... especially if you're sensitive to religious extremism in America

how bad is religious extremism in America if you have to fabricate a dystopian caricature of it

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28 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Not to mention if one happens to be female.

As Atwood, and all the people involved with the television production are careful to say, there's no condition here that women haven't experienced in large numbers, sometime, somewhere.  It's not confined to crazy xtianity.

point taken. you are totally correct

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I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this show so far.  I think the performances are strong and of course the story is great.  The film technique gets grating after a while.  Too much reliance on Offred's facial expressions.  It's like over half of these first three episodes focused entirely on Elisabeth Moss' face.  It became tiresome.  I wanted to see what was going on around her, too.  

Yes, the content is really disturbing.  Not just because this is something women experience all around the world.  It's so relevant right now to America considering there are neo-nazis and religious fundamentalists at the highest offices.  It's been years since I read the book.  I seem to remember that the Commander's wife was a christian tv personality, one of those who were super made up with big hair and gobs of cosmetics.  I kind of wish they'd gone that route.  Or at least with a familiar ultra fundamentalist character, like one based on the Duggars or something.

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I am surprised how few people have posted in this thread. You get 20 pages for Westworld at this point, lol, and one and a half for Handmaid?

I thought the first two episodes were awesome. Gripping. I never read the book (yeah, take away my citizenship) and am looking forward to episode 3, which people have posted on Facebook was shocking. We don't get Hulu in Canada, so they sold it to a cable channel, thank God.

I never got into Mad Men, so I'm not bored with Elizabeth Moss.

I loved that "Fuck" at the end of Episode 2.

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8 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I am surprised how few people have posted in this thread. You get 20 pages for Westworld at this point, lol, and one and a half for Handmaid?

I thought the first two episodes were awesome. Gripping. I never read the book (yeah, take away my citizenship) and am looking forward to episode 3, which people have posted on Facebook was shocking. We don't get Hulu in Canada, so they sold it to a cable channel, thank God.

I never got into Mad Men, so I'm not bored with Elizabeth Moss.

I loved that "Fuck" at the end of Episode 2.

I think being on Hulu has something to do with it. I might read the book but I'm not sure I want to pay for Hulu in order to watch this.

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Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, bitch.

This show continues to be amazing but incredibly difficult to watch. I'm tense throughout an entire episode. And I need something light and happy to go to after. I can't imagine binge watching this one.

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7 hours ago, Commodore said:

media/critics trying so hard to make this show a thing, but that dog won't hunt

if anything, their earnestness is a turnoff

What the hell is your deal? And more to the point, what metric are you using to assert that "that dog won't hunt" and what's your source for that assertion? 

Anyway, I read the book a few years ago and I'm really enjoying the show. It's probably my second favorite show right now after American Gods. I didn't think last night's episode was as strong as the first three but it was still pretty damn good. (I agree with the poster who said it relies on Kate Moss's facial expressions too much though. Not that Moss is incapable of pulling it off -- she's a great actress -- but from a production stand point it just becomes too much of an over-relied on gimmick.) 

Also, was the escape attempt in the book? I don't seem to recall that scene. 

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This show is so hard to watch sometimes.  Nothing is gratuitous, but it still constantly makes me feel sick.  It's too easy to place myself in it.  What's worse is that I know millions of women are already living that life.  

I'm still not into some of the filming style choices.  At least this time they've pulled back and didn't focus so entirely on Moss's face.  Also, I'm so over editors taking blue eyes and color correcting them to something alien.

1 hour ago, All-for-Joffrey said:

What the hell is your deal? And more to the point, what metric are you using to assert that "that dog won't hunt" and what's your source for that assertion? 

Commodore malfunctions when he watches something that doesn't support his worldview.

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9 hours ago, Commodore said:

media/critics trying so hard to make this show a thing, but that dog won't hunt

if anything, their earnestness is a turnoff

It does appear to be a of a feminist darling, in the same way that Girls was, and the media try their best to push that angle. 

But having said that I don't think the show is really doing that at all 

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7 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

It does appear to be a of a feminist darling, in the same way that Girls was, and the media try their best to push that angle. 

But having said that I don't think the show is really doing that at all 

Oh good fucking lord please don't compare this to Girls or Margaret Atwood to Lena Dunham.  

And how is the show not feminist? The Handmaid's Tale is the most feminist story I can think of. It's a culmination of all the shit that societies everywhere have done and continue to do the women and takes all that to its maximum logical conclusion in a dystopian society. 

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Lol. the funniest (lolsob) thing about these comments is the fact Trump signed an executive order today, the 'religious liberty' EO. More control over women's bodies - companies can refuse to cover contraceptives now in health plans that are part of benefits packages.

The order will direct the IRS to exercise “maximum enforcement discretion” over the Johnson Amendment, which prevents churches and other tax-exempt religious organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. It will also provide “regulatory relief” for organizations that object on religious grounds to a provision in Obamacare that mandates employers provide certain health services, including coverage for contraception.

The order will declare that it is the policy of the Trump administration “to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty,” according to a senior administration official.
 
Trump plans to sign the order and deliver remarks during an event at the White House Thursday marking the National Day of Prayer. The event will bring national religious leaders to the White House.
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10 hours ago, All-for-Joffrey said:

Oh good fucking lord please don't compare this to Girls or Margaret Atwood to Lena Dunham.  

And how is the show not feminist? The Handmaid's Tale is the most feminist story I can think of. It's a culmination of all the shit that societies everywhere have done and continue to do the women and takes all that to its maximum logical conclusion in a dystopian society. 

A number of the cast have moved away from calling it a feminist tale and said instead its a 'human story'. Even Atwood is famously being uncomfortable with being classed a feminist, she doesn't seem to like certain brands of feminism and doesn't want to be associated with them. 

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10 hours ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

A number of the cast have moved away from calling it a feminist tale and said instead its a 'human story'. Even Atwood is famously being uncomfortable with being classed a feminist, she doesn't seem to like certain brands of feminism and doesn't want to be associated with them. 

No.

 

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Quote

“Honestly, for me it’s not a feminist story,” said star Elisabeth Moss during the panel. “It’s a human story, because women’s rights are human rights.”

Quote

“I don’t think this is feminist propaganda,” said Madeline Brewer, another actress on the show. “I think this is a story about women and about humans. The three people hanging on the wall [in a scene depicting the aftermath of an execution] were all men. This story affects all people.”

Quote

"In a feminist dystopia pure and simple, all of the men would have greater rights than all of the women. It would be two-layered in structure: top layer men, bottom layer women. But Gilead is the usual kind of dictatorship: shaped like a pyramid, with the powerful of both sexes at the apex, the men generally outranking the women at the same level; then descending levels of power and status with men and women in each, all the way down to the bottom, where the unmarried men must serve in the ranks before being awarded an Econowife."

Atwood

 

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I'm not so interested in what the actors have to say as I am about what Atwood has to say. And the Atwood quote you cited doesn't preclude her from labeling the story feminist. She's merely pointing out that Gilead is classist as well as sexist -- like pretty much every other authoritarian regime on earth. (Also, have I mentioned that this is a really fucking dumb conversation to be having?) 

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14 hours ago, All-for-Joffrey said:

I'm not so interested in what the actors have to say as I am about what Atwood has to say. And the Atwood quote you cited doesn't preclude her from labeling the story feminist. She's merely pointing out that Gilead is classist as well as sexist -- like pretty much every other authoritarian regime on earth. (Also, have I mentioned that this is a really fucking dumb conversation to be having?) 

Why is it dumb?

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I heard Atwood being interviewed yesterday and she said Handmaid has been picked up for a 2nd season, so they will be launching into new territory, as this season ends the same way as the book.

As for 'poor reviews', when she and Elizabeth Moss met up in a Washington hotel before the show aired, for a round of interviews, they joked about just going home because the reviews from the reviewers who saw the advance couple of episodes had all raved about the program. 

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