OPINIONS
KAVYA GUPTA writer
Hunkering down in contemplation during this once-in-a-century, nightmarish, unimaginable catastrophe, the future feels bleak and uncertain. Yet even now, it appears to be far brighter than the apocalyptic alternate universe presented in HBO’s television series, The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name is a groundbreaking piece filled with social commentary, refusing
massive amounts of government negligence that would allow such a scenario to exist. Atwood wrote her book 35 years ago — while the primary themes are still socially prevalent, the story itself has no plausibility in the country’s current state. For a fanatic, cultlike insurgence to dominate a country that has since significantly developed in terms of bigotry, it would require unimaginable ignorance to permeate the government and dismantle the country. Dystopian television must be grounded in reality if it wishes to make an impact on its audiences. With the vast amount of gore
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WHY THE HANDMAID ’S TAL to sugarcoat misogyny and magnifying the misdeeds done to women during a time when they were largely ignored. However, the television adaptation over-dramatizes the story, rendering it pointless and numbing to an already desensitized audience. Consequently, the great attention to gore and violence undermine its core themes about feminism and fighting oppression. The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a grim future for the United States, in which a totalitarian government subjects women into child-bearing slavery, brutally subjugating their roles in society. After a stunning first season, ending hopefully with the show’s protagonist, June, escaping her forced servitude, the second season sank into endless, cynical cruelty. Finding herself back at the feet of her captors, June is kept alive — but only just. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the
and violence in mainstream media, audiences become increasingly apathetic to its content. By raising the qualificationsfor shock-value, the images displayed on screens become increasingly detached to reality. The outrageousness of The Handmaid’s Tale allows critics and naysayers to point at how the forced servitude could never take place in the real world, dismissing the show as a whole. Today’s society is expected to settle, be grateful that their world isn’t as terrible as the handmaids’. The series has also received criticism for the heightened violence following the first season. The depictions of sexual assault take a backseat to the horrifying executions. Some especially graphic scenes can be too difficult to watch. The scenes add little to nothing to the effect of the show; they have
