Opinion Piece- The Handmaid's Tale TV show couldn't have come at a better time
The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel about an America ruled by an authoritative regime that treats women as less than second class citizens and the struggle of protagonist Offred to escape from this world to literally anywhere because they can't be worse. As you may already have noticed, it seems a bit prescient, possibly the reason we're finally getting a TV version of the acclaimed novel. So, as a fan of the story (and someone who needs to start revising the book for his exams), I'm running down why the show has come at the perfect time.
The first, and probably most obvious of the reasons, is that there are a surprising amount of parallels between the fictional world of Gilead that Atwood created and the current state of the western world. The rights of anyone who isn't a middle class white man are seemingly always on the verge of most conversations and this show amplifies those feelings up as far as it can. This is a world entirely run by men where the women of importance are either their wives or to be used for sex (of the ritualistic kind in a very creepy and non-fun way) and any women who are infertile or simply don't want to be pushed into one of those categories are pushed into the nuclear wasteland bit of America. It's bleak but damn if our own world doesn't feel bleak.
There is a more practical and simplistic reason why now is a great time for a show as ambitious as this which is the golden age of television that we are currently living in. I come back to it all the time but it really is such a big deal. Not only does it mean that more budget gets given to shows but it also means that more talented people get to make them and take more risks. For example, in the past for a show like this to exist with a sufficient budget, the executives of whatever network it was on would want to stretch it out for multiple seasons and get the most out of their viewership base because if it can't go for at least five seasons, it should be a film. Now however, we have networks and platforms that are more willing to tell the right story the right way. The example that I love to return to is The Night Manager. It had six episodes and an extravagant budget, told the story it wanted to tell, pulled in countless viewers... And that's it. Anyone involved creatively on the show has said they wouldn't come back for a second outing and frankly, I'll find it difficult to return too if the show is brought back because recapturing that magic will be impossible. Which is how we end up with a ten episode miniseries on a streaming platform that didn't exist 15 years ago, adapting a story by one of the most celebrated authors alive.
But there's one reason that really matters here, the one that I imagine many of you are here for and that is the reason of trying to use it as revision. No, adaptations aren't always the most accurate things in the world to their source material (the hint is in the name) because these are different art forms but that doesn't stop students from trying to pick up what they can. Due to the length of the show versus the length of the book, there will probably be many added sequences, a lot of the immensely descriptive inner monologue of Offred will have to go and transplanting dialogue from a novel verbatim can often be dull. This said, all the show has to do to stay a useful tool for revision is have the right characters with the right iconography that represent the same themes. Much of a subject like English is about these broad themes and sometimes an overview is all that's needed to kickstart your brain into finding that perfect quote for a question about how authority crushes gender or something.
Reviews of the initial episodes of the show are still slowly leaking out so it's hard to tell if it will be any good (I remain hopeful) but I think it's exciting that a book as exciting and daring as The Handmaid's Tale has a chance at the adaptation it deserves. A mere film could not to it justice so hopefully the kind of form that has previously captured lengthy Stephen King novels translates just as well to feminist science fiction. Still beats real revision though.
The first, and probably most obvious of the reasons, is that there are a surprising amount of parallels between the fictional world of Gilead that Atwood created and the current state of the western world. The rights of anyone who isn't a middle class white man are seemingly always on the verge of most conversations and this show amplifies those feelings up as far as it can. This is a world entirely run by men where the women of importance are either their wives or to be used for sex (of the ritualistic kind in a very creepy and non-fun way) and any women who are infertile or simply don't want to be pushed into one of those categories are pushed into the nuclear wasteland bit of America. It's bleak but damn if our own world doesn't feel bleak.
There is a more practical and simplistic reason why now is a great time for a show as ambitious as this which is the golden age of television that we are currently living in. I come back to it all the time but it really is such a big deal. Not only does it mean that more budget gets given to shows but it also means that more talented people get to make them and take more risks. For example, in the past for a show like this to exist with a sufficient budget, the executives of whatever network it was on would want to stretch it out for multiple seasons and get the most out of their viewership base because if it can't go for at least five seasons, it should be a film. Now however, we have networks and platforms that are more willing to tell the right story the right way. The example that I love to return to is The Night Manager. It had six episodes and an extravagant budget, told the story it wanted to tell, pulled in countless viewers... And that's it. Anyone involved creatively on the show has said they wouldn't come back for a second outing and frankly, I'll find it difficult to return too if the show is brought back because recapturing that magic will be impossible. Which is how we end up with a ten episode miniseries on a streaming platform that didn't exist 15 years ago, adapting a story by one of the most celebrated authors alive.
But there's one reason that really matters here, the one that I imagine many of you are here for and that is the reason of trying to use it as revision. No, adaptations aren't always the most accurate things in the world to their source material (the hint is in the name) because these are different art forms but that doesn't stop students from trying to pick up what they can. Due to the length of the show versus the length of the book, there will probably be many added sequences, a lot of the immensely descriptive inner monologue of Offred will have to go and transplanting dialogue from a novel verbatim can often be dull. This said, all the show has to do to stay a useful tool for revision is have the right characters with the right iconography that represent the same themes. Much of a subject like English is about these broad themes and sometimes an overview is all that's needed to kickstart your brain into finding that perfect quote for a question about how authority crushes gender or something.
Reviews of the initial episodes of the show are still slowly leaking out so it's hard to tell if it will be any good (I remain hopeful) but I think it's exciting that a book as exciting and daring as The Handmaid's Tale has a chance at the adaptation it deserves. A mere film could not to it justice so hopefully the kind of form that has previously captured lengthy Stephen King novels translates just as well to feminist science fiction. Still beats real revision though.
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