"The Handmaid's Tale," Hulu's new show about a chilling dystopia, is ever more relevant to the world we are living in today. Based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name, the show revolves around the life of a rebellious handmaid.
It's Danger 24/7
In a world where frolicking Scrabble pieces is a fast pass to exile and your everyday fashion incorporates a circa-1600 bonnet, you ought to be clever about your every move. For Offred, the main protagonist in the eerie dystopia of Gilead, it is a matter of life and cleaning up toxic wastes in some obscure far away land.
Offred, or of-Fred, is a handmaid under the possession of high-ranking commander Fred Waterford. A handmaid in Gilead dictionary is equivalent to a baby-making machine and an antidote to the high infertility rate which plagued the nation and led to its ultimate conservative revolution – hey, so no more Ubers, coffee runs, and tank tops.
It's confusing at times
Initially, the show piloted with a 50-minute episode which made its audience almost feel claustrophobic to the amount of information crammed in one airing. It is not until the second episode when Offred's situation can be figured to the full sense.
While the random flashbacks of Offred's previous life (Volvo, iPhone, and Nordstrom) are intertwined cleverly with scenes of her current life that draw vivid contrasts, they can be ultra-confusing at times.
In short, the show's producer Bruce Miller seems to have a knack for leaving things unexplained, for this technique could be effective in creating suspense, however it could also leave lingering questions as missing pieces in the already complex jigsaw Puzzle.
Watch out for underlying symbols
Where is Offred's baby and where did Moira go after her abrupt train ride?
Ultimately, we wonder: how do we solve this jigsaw puzzle with ease? This question desired by those who binged watched this series with our bottoms on the edge of our seats is almost undeniably hard to answer.
I would say to give notice to the little details which make this series even more grandiose than it already is. There is an old Latin saying that reminds me of Gilead: Fiat Lux.
As cliché as it sounds, "Let there be light" is an omnipotent phrase that prevails both physically and metaphorically in this machine-gun-filled dystopia. The windows that illuminate the Waterford house, the beacon of hope from Offred's memories and the repetitive panoramic view of sunny Gilead are perhaps all contrived to make this world a little more relatable or a little more bearable.
This might be our world
To be frank, I still have outtakes when the scenes shift from Offred trying to figure out her Tinder profile to a beautiful colonial house filled with handmaids learning the ways to conceive. These fast scenes make Gilead rather unsettling but almost too real to be true.
As the New York Times reviewed mockingly "You may not believe that anyone, in real life, is actually Making America Gilead Again", the messages conveyed through this show might actually be worthwhile.
Peculiarly concurrent with some views of current America, Gilead resembles a resurgence of conservative movements and the lack of respect for women rights.
The Handmaid's Tale reminds us that there is a possibility that Gilead can be our world in a matter of time, but even in a world deprived of Ubers, there will always be defying voices of intellects which ultimately echo.
