Must-Watch: Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”

In early March, while scrolling through my Hulu Plus homepage I saw something stunning: Elisabeth Moss in a red cape and white bonnet, looking determined, her stare piercing into my soul. She was accompanied by a gnarly text graphic claiming “A hulu Original: The Handmaid’s Tale”. I paused, furrowed my brows, and scoffed. What in the world, I thought. Elisabeth Moss, who will always to me be Peggy Olson (thank you Mad Men), was going to star in The Handmaid’s Tale?

– For those of you who have never had the chance to read the 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwood fictionally predicts a world where women become powerless and subjected to an oppressive, violent, patriarchal theocracy called “The Republic of Gilead”. In the novel, fertile women are forced to become “Handmaids” or women trained by “Aunts” who are responsible for bearing the children of the couples on top of the hierarchy in their newly established society. Non-fertile women become “Marthas” or domestic workers for these couples and men without influence become domestic workers as well. Basically, families were torn apart in the name of God.

When I read it in 12^th grade AP Lit, it led to my feminist awakening. –

Moreover, Hulu Plus was producing The Handmaid’s Tale? I was confused, mostly because I hadn’t heard anything about the show yet, not on Vulture, not on Buzzfeed, and not even on Tumblr. I began searching for it on whatever outlet I could find, and found out that yes, Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel (what up Gilmore Girls fans?) and Samira Wiley (I miss you, Poussey Washington) would be starring as characters Offred, Ofglen, and Moira respectively in Hulu’s 10-episode series of The Handmaid’s Tale. As excited as I was, I was also worried. Would Hulu be able to do justice to such an important feminist novel, during a time that is not politically welcoming to women’s rights issues? I kept the hope, though.

From Tuesday May 16^th to Wednesday May 17^th, I binge-watched the entirety of what had aired so far. Six episodes in total.

This show does not disappoint. I was enthralled by Elisabeth Moss’s portrayal of Offred and of Alexis Bledel’s portrayal of Ofglen. I was terrified by Joseph Fiennes’s “the Commander” and Yvonne Strahovski’s “Serena Joy”. Hulu’s re-imagining is wholly superior because it sucked me into its world, blindly, in a way that no other show in the past months has been able to.

I will say that creator Bruce Miller’s grim world of “The Republic of Gilead” was difficult to stomach with each passing minute. The fact that Miller and co. (with the assistance of Margaret Atwood herself) decided to set it in modern times was even more unbearable; the removal of women’s rights and freedoms in the matter of months was not totally inconceivable.

I saw myself in the “Handmaids” getting abused by the “Aunts”, “Commanders”, and their wives. I saw myself in the “Marthas” tasked with being quiet at all times. I saw myself in the “Commander’s wives” being forced to live under rule that takes away their abilities to be truly fulfilled. I felt their despair, their hopelessness, their hope, and their unease in a world that had bled them dry, quite literally. In an effort to avoid spoilers for both the book and the show, I will say this: whomever you are, please watch this show. The show did this feminist tale an immense justice. And for that, I thank you Hulu. But, in introspect, I should’ve known this show would be compelling.

Because I’ve always had faith in Peggy Olson.