The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu Original (**Spoilers**)

Posy wrote: »

Fantastic that this is back!

Missed the first 15 minutes though because I had it set to record. :mad:

It is an excellent series. Enjoying it. It is on again tomorrow at around 11.30 on RTE 2 so you can watch the first 15 minutes then

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Very good episode touching on a lot of things. My favourite quote was when June said 'you were always there' with you meaning Gilead. Some things I noticed about this series so far:

First off, there is very little of Fred and Serena and of posh Gilead in general. Tonight's episode was mostly focused on June but series 2 so far has focused on the poorer side of Gilead. There is very little seen of the Marthas as well so far but I guess all this will be back next week.

Another thing that got my attention was the inclusion of the Muslim character. We already know that there is a state Christian religion that is the only tolerated faith with other Christian denominations like Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, Quakers and Baptists banned. It obviously extended to Jews too who were told to convert or go to Israel (this was in the book, so far not in the series). It is obvious Islam and other faiths also would not be tolerated and we get to see that tonight.

The flashback to Aunt Lydia showing the slideshow. All dystopias like to justify why they act the way they do and how good they are and how worse the alternative would be. In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, we hear Tina Turner's character say many times how she forged civilisation in her Bartertown that replaced chaos and robbery with trade and a form of stability. When justifying the thunderdome fight system, we see a clergyman introduce it as '2 men enter one man leaves' and going on to say disputes between 2 men should begin and end with those 2 because otherwise it would escalate into war that was 'damn near the death of us all'. Likewise, we see Lydia saying how the former world polluted itself and how people polluted their bodies and how god was ignored. While Bartertown was a step up from the world of Mad Max 2 and the statements of improvement are real, I'm not convinced Aunt Lydia can justify the advantages of Gilead compared to the world before though.

The end (will not mention because maybe some have yet to watch episode 3) just shows how a typical violent hypocritical terrorist state conducts its affairs.

The quote about Gilead being always there was the most interesting. Gilead is a fictional state but also a set of ideas where wellmeaning causes become oppressive laws in a blink. Looking at the world in general, 'Gilead' is everywhere:

-The obvious one is current America which has at least 3 very warped individuals, Bannon, Bolton and Mercer, associated with it. The religious, nationalist and paranoid hypocrisy of Gilead is there and often too is the racism, sectarianism and misogyny.
-TV evangelists. The thoughts and phrases of Gilead are here for all to see. No coincidence that Serena was one in the book.
-The recent Ulster Rugby court case.
-Sex slaves, prostitutes and so on and how they are treated.
-Clergy who abuse.
-The Me Too, etc. issues.
-Health legislation gone too far with things like extended smoking bans and the proposed alcohol bill, and the constant chorus of everything being 'bad for you'.
-ISIS, Taliban, al Qaeda, Lords Resistance Army, dissident IRA and other terrorists of all or of no faith.
-Men in pubs who make women feel unwelcome and/or mock them.
-Ditto for men in golf courses.
-We have already seen 'handmaids' in other dramas. Debbie the prostitute in Love/Hate for example. Different terminology and purpose but the same deal: to be a sex slave for men. The breeders in Mad Max Fury Road are examples that another dystopia also regarded women merely as childbearing prisoners owned by tyrants.
-The whole abortion legislation in Ireland and how rigid Christianity framed it.
-Violence against women in relationships.

One can see 'Gilead' everywhere. One has seen examples of mocking women, violence towards women, anti-women laws, women as slaves, etc. in Handmaid's as well as the self righteous hypocrisy. This series can be applied to almost anywhere in the world today and the nastiness of Gilead lies beneath the surface in many walks of life in so-called 'civilised' states.

Gilead flag

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Well necessarily among the Jezebels, since they presumably chose cooperating in that fate over the colonies – but maybe there were some women in the colonies who choose/thought the reverse? (I haven’t read the book)

There's not much reference to the colonies in the book except as place handmaids are sent to after they've outlived their usefulness iirc.

Colser wrote: »

I haven't watched this season yet but have it recorded,Aunt Lydia is very complex imo..there are scenes where you can see she has love and compassion for the girls and then she does the most horrific things to them that I can't even breathe while watching her..a fascinating character in the show tbh.

Aunt Lydia is a very scary character and all the most violent and cruel acts in the show centre around her. Does she have love and compassion in her? I guess we will know more as the show goes on as she is set to have a bigger role in coming episodes.

After watching episode 3 a few times, it is clear

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