The Handmaid's Tale

[Furrowed Brow]

The Handmaid's Tale was a book by Margaret Atwood. There was a underwhelming movie in 1990 but the recent Emmy winning Hulu production was both beautiful and powerfully realised I thought. One of the best things on TV for a long time and a deserving winner, though I have friends who thought it was a little slow.

[center]Trailer for The Handmaid's Tale[/center]
In the Handmaid's Tale the United states has been taken over by a theocratic state and is now the Republic of Gilead. Atheists, gays, Jews are hung from walls. Catholic Churches are bulldozed, woman are not permitted to read. Eyes are plucked and hands cuts off. Woman - the handmaid's - are raped for the greater good. It is a highly disturbing picture of totalitarian power, misogyny and religious fundamentalism.

Unrealistic dystopia or a disturbing warning to be heeded?

[Divine Insight]

With the way things are going with the current administration of the USA this movie might actually be a prophesy of things to come.

[bluethread]

In the Handmaid's Tale the United states has been taken over by a theocratic state and is now the Republic of Gilead. Atheists, gays, Jews are hung from walls. Catholic Churches are bulldozed, woman are not permitted to read. Eyes are plucked and hands cuts off. Woman - the handmaid's - are raped for the greater good. It is a highly disturbing picture of totalitarian power, misogyny and religious fundamentalism.

Unrealistic dystopia or a disturbing warning to be heeded?

I have not watched the series, but if the trailer and your summary are correct, in spite of the Quacker outfits on the handmaids and western business clothing for the leaders, there is only one theistic philosophy that even comes close to this, and it is not fundamentalist Christianity. Also, it looks more like an authoritarian socialist state, than a laissez faire capitalist one. However, that might be why it is so popular. When confronted with oppression, it is easy to only see those characteristics that one opposes and ignore those that one agrees with.

[Divine Insight]

there is only one theistic philosophy that even comes close to this, and it is not fundamentalist Christianity.

Don't you think that depends on who the fundamentalist Christians are?

Keep in mind that even the New Testament has Jesus proclaiming that not one jot or one tittle shall pass from law until heaven and earth pass. This opens the door for "Fundamentalist Christians" to enforce everything and anything they can glean from the Old Testament, and that stuff isn't much different from radical Islam.

Keep in mind that the KKK was formed by so-called "Christians". They even used the cross as their symbol of justification for their evil deeds.

Liberal Christians of today actually renounce Christian Fundamentalism.

Ironically they also seem to renounce liberalism.

Strange world isn't it?

[Divine Insight]

By the way, I think the movie Idiocracy is basically coming true as we speak. Sadly.

[bluethread]

Keep in mind that even the New Testament has Jesus proclaiming that not one jot or one tittle shall pass from law until heaven and earth pass. This opens the door for "Fundamentalist Christians" to enforce everything and anything they can glean from the Old Testament, and that stuff isn't much different from radical Islam.

Keep in mind that "Fundamentalist Christians" don't glean much of anything from the Tanakh. They mostly tend to focus on their doctrines, that are mostly inherited from the RCC. Regarding your equating the Tanakh with radical Islam, as I stated, people tend to see what they want see.

Keep in mind that the KKK was formed by so-called "Christians". They even used the cross as their symbol of justification for their evil deeds.

"so-called" is the operative term. The KKK was a cultural movement based on the economic displacement of poor whites under reconstruction. Christianity applied to them just about as much as "In God We Trust" applies to our current federal government.

[Divine Insight]

"so-called" is the operative term. The KKK was a cultural movement based on the economic displacement of poor whites under reconstruction. Christianity applied to them just about as much as "In God We Trust" applies to our current federal government.

Keep in mind that this is the mentality of all Christians. They all consider any Christians who disagree with them to be "so-called" Christians.

Any by the way:

Regarding your equating the Tanakh with radical Islam, as I stated, people tend to see what they want see.

If that's your position then you can't claim that the Tanakh is clear about anything. Your position needs to be that anyone can see anything they want in it.

That doesn't say much for the Tanakh.

And besides, Islam is based on precisely this same underlying mythology. Allah and Yahweh are the same God. Christianity and Islam are simply two different offshoots of the same original mythology.

[Wootah]

Movies like this indicate where the left wing zeitgeist is at.

Actual rape of women gets covered up in Hollywood for years but a fantasy scenario is apparently coming true for DI.

I think fantasy and fetish is what what is going on in this story and if you enjoy it and can separate the two then do so.

[Divine Insight]

Movies like this indicate where the left wing zeitgeist is at.

Actual rape of women gets covered up in Hollywood for years but a fantasy scenario is apparently coming true for DI.

I think fantasy and fetish is what what is going on in this story and if you enjoy it and can separate the two then do so.

I don't know what you meant to imply by this, but I most certainly wouldn't want The Handmaid's Tale to come true.

The only observation I would make is that the current administration of the USA certainly appears to be moving in that direction.

Just look at what recently happened with John Kelly. He did a total character assassination on a very decent upstanding black congresswoman. Not only did he get away with this disgraceful inhumane act, but the President of the United States even condones it.

I'd say we're already half-way toward this nightmare scenario of The Handmaids Tale.

Our "leaders" are leading us right down the toilet of extreme bigotry and racism. If this type of behavior continues to go unchecked by our very own governmental leaders The Handmaids Tale could become reality in very short order.

[Wootah]

[Replying to post 9 by Divine Insight]

I'm not implying you want it to to come true (although I think there is a section of women being titillated by the tale).

What I am saying is that your connection between a movie and Trump is bizarre and that the movie reflects more on the paranoia of the left.