Review: "The Handmaid's Tale"

In a not so distant dystopian United States, a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship is forcing women to live as concubines with the sole purpose to bring children to the world, without having any more rights or a say to it.

In “The Handmaid’s Tale”, due to climate change and narture habits, baby birth have been critically reduced. For a group of fundamentalists this happens due to disrespect to God’s word, so they plot a coop and they take over a piece of the United States. The new state is now called Republic of Gilead, but is far from being a republic.

In Gilead, women have lost all their civil rights and are categorized to four major groups. The wives, who are the spouses of the elite that governs Gilead. Aunts that are older women who can no longer have kids and are now training the third group the Handmaids, on how to behave properly and obey the word of God. Last but not least are the Marhtas, women who serve as maids in the elites households.

The story revolves around a Handmaiden, June. Handmaidens are women who had children before the establishment of Gilead and are now force to serve as baby making machines. These women serve under the elite men who rule Gilead, known as Commanders. These men, rape them in a sexual ritual in the presence of their wives, who serve as chains to keep the Handmaidens down, while their husbands are raping them.

These women are treated like slaves and even get the name of the officer they “belong” to. So June that is a slave to Commander Fred Waterford, is called Offred. June was arrested trying to flee the country with her husband and young daughter. She was taken to the Red Center where the Aunts force them to learn how to obey the Commanders and even place an earring like tracking device to their ears, like the ones cows have on a cattle.

The star actress of the series, Elizabeth Moss, who is also known from her role at the hit series “Mad Men”, is playing June, a handmaid that is far from willing to become a slave to the elite’s appetites. Untamed and pressure resistant, is always looking for a way to escape this God forsaken place, find her daughter and live on the other side of the boarders in Canada.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” Is based on Margaret’s Atwood dystopian novel, with the same tittle and is loud cry for all the women in the world that their rights are being oppressed and have to live and watch the world progress from the side lines. In the year 2018 the message of the book and by extension the series, is more up-to-date than ever before. Women all over the world are suffering on the hands of phallocratic men.

The political and social messages are seen throughout the series. The oppressing regime of Gilead is metaphor for all the countries out there who fail to achieve gender equality and treat women as unequal’s amongst equals. But the story is not only about women, is for every oppressed human, where ever they are, whoever is their oppressor.

But is not all doom and gloom. “The Handmaid’s Tale” leaves a tiny beam of light through. The message hidden beneath all the pain and suffering is that the women, united can achieve great things even on an oppressing regime such as Gilead. When they will realize the power hidden within they will be unstoppable and can bring Gilead to its knees.

The series is a class A series, with great directing and a cast full of talented actors. It can get really heavy sometimes, but the truth is always heavy. Is not a series to be taken lightly and really needs the viewers’ attention because every detail shown, counts. Elizabeth Moss is offering memorable acting throughout the two season it has been running, alongside her Yvonne Strahovski, is also excellent on the role of the villain, playing the wife that supports her Commander husband Joseph Fiennes, while he rules over Gilead with an iron fist.

Special remark has to be made to Ann Dowd, who is also knowing from her role as Patti Levin at the series “The Leftovers”. Dowd has a special way to depict the oppressing tool of a cult. In “The Handmaid’s Tale” offers a remarkable performance as Aunt Lydia, a woman oppressing other women while at the same time she is fighting her own demons.

Watch these series and wonder, how far have we gone on achieving total gender equality and how capable are we as a species to provide uncontested equal rights to every human on this earth.