The Handmaid's Tale (mid-season review)

The Handmaid's Tale (on channel 4) is a dramatisation of Margaret Atwood's most famous novel. Although the U.S. has seen all of it, we're now just half way through the season in the U.K., and as someone who didn't enjoy the book it has really blown me away.

The Handmaid's tale occurs after a religious revolution where women are used as commodities to save the fertility crisis occurring in the U.S. I started to read the book when I was far too young, and so never finished it, and cannot review the show from a point of honesty to its original. However, I can praise it on what it achieves as a show. I wanted to review its style, and give it a quick plug because I think everyone and their dog should watch this show. 

First of all, let's talk about Elisabeth Moss. Someone I've only ever seen as Peggy in mad men, where she's made to seem intentionally stout and unattractive. In stark contrast, The Handmaid's Tale makes her impossibly sexy. Not in her looks or the way she acts, but in her voice overs; her fearless fuck you's to the establishment. I say fearless, being a voice over they are obviously in her head, but their choice of actress here perfectly sums up the courage that June should represent. 

The way the show is shot as well is to die for. The light yellow hue of the colour palette makes everything seem like some kind of dream. The present doesn't seem quite real, and the flashbacks don't either. Moreover, the narrative shifts in and out of the present seamlessly, rather than in the cheesy fashion that we often see in films. The flashbacks are more subtle than OITNB, but have the same emotional punch, producing a gut wrenching feeling that those times will never return.

The themes of this show are not for the faint-hearted, and I have heard some people say its a bit girly, which infuriates me. The subject of objectification shouldn't be girly, as it can happen to anyone, any gender or sex. The Handmaid's Take doesn't need to be 'relatable' because the objectification and slavery of a person is a universal issue which, in this instance, is addressed through fertility. I highly recommend everyone watch this show, as its hard hitting but constantly thought provoking. 

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