The handmaid's tale

amother

Apricot

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 9:56 pm

I started watching the handmaid's tale and I'm confused what the plot/ storyline is.
Has anyone watched it? Did you find it interesting? What is the storyline?

anon for this

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:07 pm

I read the book but didn't watch the show. I think the first season is based roughly on the book, so reading it may help.

sequoia, did you hear the Atwood is publishing a sequel? I'm looking forward to reading it.

amother

Apricot

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:10 pm

The first episode is pretty horrible, does it get worse? If so, I'll stop watching it. But I don't get the plot. How did these women get there? Where is that place?

sequoia

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:18 pm

amother wrote:

The first episode is pretty horrible, does it get worse? If so, I'll stop watching it. But I don't get the plot. How did these women get there? Where is that place?

It’s a dystopian America.

sequoia

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:37 pm

amother wrote:

What does dystopian mean?

A literary genre which portrays (in the author’s view) the worst possible world. Dystopia is the opposite of utopia, originally the title of a book by Thomas More which sought to describe the perfect society.

Some well-known dystopias, which you may have read, are 1984, Brave New World, The Iron Heel, Darkness at Noon, and We.

In the past decade YA dystopias have become increasingly popular. They are aimed at kids and teens and have some sort of “happy ending.”

The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in an America that has been taken over by a certain group of religious extremists, who have abrogated women’s rights and abolished democracy.

lucky14

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:47 pm

amother wrote:

The first episode is pretty horrible, does it get worse? If so, I'll stop watching it. But I don't get the plot. How did these women get there? Where is that place?

horrible as in a bad story-line or horrible as in horrific- you were shocked at the stuff that happened in the episode? If you meant horrible like you found it super disturbing then yes it gets worse. and worse.

gilamom

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 11:10 pm

IDK how you can stop watching at this point, I was so disturbed after the first episode but I couldn't look away and had to keep watching. It gets so much worse, I've spent many a sleepless night because of that show. Each episode shows you a little bit of the world leading up to how it got to that point.

etky

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 1:09 am

I read the book decades ago when it first came out and reread it as I was watching the series. The first season is heavily based on the book. The second season is not at all.
I loved the book and the series.
I did find many episodes disturbing but more in a visceral, momentary way. Sometimes I would find myself brooding about an especially disturbing episode but overall I can't say that the series colored my mood in any lasting way.
I found the series engaging enough that I watched until the end which is saying a lot since I watch next to nothing.

amother

Linen

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 5:30 am

I guess I am not that sensitive. It's fiction. I love Dystopian fiction.

Its set in a world in which far right xtian extremists have taken over the USA. I think in either the book or the movie it references what happens to the Jews - I think sent to Israel? Or worse? (Ok I just googled it - in the book they are told they are being sent to Israel and then mostly thrown overboard at sea) Those who stay are executed or sent to camps if found being Jewish. I guess they are allowed to convert.

People are divided into different groups as far I can see. 1. Commanders and families 2. handmaids 3. servants 4. Everyone else.

Obviously being gay is outlawed and punishable by death. Or you will be turned into a handmaid if a woman.

There is a fertility issue - hardly anyone can have children anymore so women are forced to be handmaids and have children for the commanders.

Canada and other countries are still normal countries so people keep trying to escape there.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 5:37 am

I read the book over 20 years ago. I watched the first episode and literally could not watch anymore.
I have a few of her books and the dystopia is so disturbing but sometimes its so disturbing that you just have to read until the end.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 6:15 am

I grew up watching secular shows and movies, and don't think that I'm particularly sensitive. If anything, I'm a bit cynical when it comes to shows.

This series scared the stuff out of me! It is so horrific, so creepy, and so very sad. If they add more episodes I don't know if I'll watch it to the end or not.

watergirl

Fri, Mar 08 2019, 6:35 am

I read the book and watched both seasons. Sequoia explained it very well. But I’ll add, since you are confused. The show features flashbacks to June’s past and the viewer is slowly shown how America became Gilead. The story takes place 5 years in the future, whenever that is.

If you are sensative to certian visuals, I’ll say this. Ritualized and legalized rape is a big part of both. So is other forms of abuse. There are disturbing scenes where people are killed and where you see people who have been hanged. There is strong language and adultury. Its all important to the story and imo, not gratuitously placed.

imasoftov

Sun, Mar 10 2019, 8:31 am

Linen amother wrote:

(Ok I just googled it - in the book they are told they are being sent to Israel and then mostly thrown overboard at sea)

This appears in the appendix of the book and includes the detail that the "Jewish repatriation scheme" was privatized, "with the result that more than one boatload of Jews was simply dumped into the Atlantic, to maximize profits".