Dire Warnings of TV’s Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale is television’s groundhog day of utter misery. The Emmy-Award winning, six seasoned stretch of Margaret Atwood’s novel is dystopian, sure, it’s pretty well made, sure. But damn it these days it feels like the narrative’s scratched the surface of a future we should all fear. Authoritarian fanatical fascism. And it’s expletively scary.

To enjoy or be frightened with the full impact of the story, binging it is best, and right now would be the best time to start if you had not already done so. Because neatly folded and packaged inside every episode is a glimpse of the future our children, even our generation, may end up with. In many ways it’s Orwellian in its zoomed out state, but drilling deeper there’s the kick-back against feminism as misogynistic swine return women to their single purpose function – breeding.

And that’s where it starts. It ends. And it stretched to maximum effect. In A Handmaid’s Tale there are only five kinds of women: The Handmaid, The Martha (read maid and cook), The Jezebels (reserved for pleasure and prostitution) and the wives. Then there are the go-betweens like Aunt Lydia who do the cruel bidding of her penis-waving masters. It’s all pretty bizarre until you take a step back and contemplate the reality the world has baked for itself.

Men rule in God’s name

Men have gone back to rule the world in the name of God. And the tale amplifies everyone’s biggest fears. Because in Gilead, once America, it’s all about righteousness and old Testament godly anger and punishment. It’s testosterone directed at everyone else but those anointed by the Lord to lead the world to a new kind of enlightenment. And I am sure you can start drawing parallels, right here. Because there are wars being waged in the name of God by self-righteous men right now. There are laws being made that impede personal liberties in the name of safety. Is The Handmaid’s Tale the next chapter for humanity?

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Think about this: Reproductive rights are being rolled back in some of the world’s most developed democracies. Think MAGA. Elsewhere, it’s remained a sin. Education is being censored, first in the name of woke, and then in the name of, well, whatever else. Terms like like traditional values are hot right now, but at a stretch it could shape shift into Gilead at any time. It’s a country that wasn’t built overnight. It was constructed through fearmongering, through media distraction and through apathy.

A bent reality

That’s the genius of The Handmaid’s Tale. The story takes evens from history and bends them into a reality that the characters face day in and day out. And nobody’s dressed like nazis in the show. Instead, the uniforms represent piety, modesty and absolute obedience. The women are dressed like old time church aunties and men in Wall Street suits. But cross the line, and you’ll hang from the wall.

The show is grim, and it’s frustrating because there can be no winners here. It’s war in the name of the Creator and the cruelty of desperate men who believe in their own salvation. It’s a rebellion against the hyper-feminism of the previous century where generations of men felt and became emaciated and today, possibly struggle with their own identities, Is The Handmaid’s Tale the outcome of this role confusion? Andrew Tate may think so. And it could be the consequence of unchecked undercurrents.

But these are only some of the reasons and the questions that humanity should ask of itself today. And this is the reason that you should watch A Handmaid’s Tale, binge it, understand it, and be frightened by the proximity of a reality not dissimilar to its dystopia and social myopia.

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