I want to shout this in all caps, but I am trying to be polite. Please just read the book. Then read all of Margaret Atwood’s other books. Please. Stop watching the show. Read. All. Her. Books.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

if you think this show rings eerily true

...then you are an alarmist, similar to a doomsday [b]prepper.

There are good people on both sides of the two major parties. This book/show is so FAR from today's reality. I'm not complicit, nor a MAGA supporter, but I do know that this would not happen today. I will be highly irritated if the producers try to draw a straight line from MAGA to Gilead.

+1. Please provide evidence of something concrete that has Happened that’s similar to the show.

I mean I’m not getting carried away but it’s undeniable that the blend of Christian extremism and misogyny from the show is ascendant in America. To pull a few episodes that would be right at home in a Handmaid’s Tale flashback, NC Bathroom Laws, Fox News, “incel” murderers, Liberty U, Melania, that “religious freedom” EO draft that circulated, etc etc

Not allowing men to use women’s restrooms and vice versa is akin to the handmaidens take?!

I hate Fox News but don’t know what comparison you’re drawing there either.

Melania?!? What does she have to do with this??

You’re an extremist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

if you think this show rings eerily true

...then you are an alarmist, similar to a doomsday [b]prepper.

There are good people on both sides of the two major parties. This book/show is so FAR from today's reality. I'm not complicit, nor a MAGA supporter, but I do know that this would not happen today. I will be highly irritated if the producers try to draw a straight line from MAGA to Gilead.

+1. Please provide evidence of something concrete that has Happened that’s similar to the show.

I mean I’m not getting carried away but it’s undeniable that the blend of Christian extremism and misogyny from the show is ascendant in America. To pull a few episodes that would be right at home in a Handmaid’s Tale flashback, NC Bathroom Laws, Fox News, “incel” murderers, Liberty U, Melania, that “religious freedom” EO draft that circulated, etc etc

I want to know more about the Muslim family. I was curious what happened to "traditional" families in Gilead (other than make them convert to Christianity), and how they lived, what their lives were like.

Anonymous wrote:

if you think this show rings eerily true

...then you are an alarmist, similar to a doomsday [b]prepper.

There are good people on both sides of the two major parties. This book/show is so FAR from today's reality. I'm not complicit, nor a MAGA supporter, but I do know that this would not happen today. I will be highly irritated if the producers try to draw a straight line from MAGA to Gilead.

+1. Please provide evidence of something concrete that has Happened that’s similar to the show.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A voice of dissolution here.
As much as I loved season 1, season 2 seems to be exploiting current fears and sentiments yet absolutely boring and not too engaging. It’s like a bland dish with highly popular spices sprinkled all over.

Yes agreed.

This is the weirdest analogy ever. What exactly are “highly popular spices” these days? Is paprika making a comeback?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what to think about this episode. I get that they can't let her get to Canada this early in the season, but if she goes back to that house and we have to watch her get tortured deal with that again I don't know if I can keep watching.

Yeah, I really hate how this episode ended.
The pilots execution got to me.

*i didn't read the book*

So I'm guessing that the econo-people June stayed with where intercepted by guardians, and they confessed to where she would be?

None of this is in the book. The book ends similar to season 1, with June being hauled away from Fred's house. The epilogue of the book shows a future university class discussing June's escape tapes (so we know she survived) and Gilead as a whole. All of season two is brand new.

Econo people are never discussed in the book. That was very interesting. I'd like to know what happened to the family as well.

Econowives were mentioned in the book. They wore blue, red and green striped dresses to symbolize their all-in-one role of handmaid, wife and martha. Very economic!

Anonymous wrote:I'd Alexis bleidel at the colonies temporarily? She's fertile. Why not just kill her?

I thought maybe it was illegal, but they didn’t tell the girls that. I figured that’s why Aunt Lydia wanted the girls to Stone the other girl. She too ends up at the colony.

Anonymous wrote:I'd Alexis bleidel at the colonies temporarily? She's fertile. Why not just kill her?

She ran over a guardian (or someone). It seems like they need people to work at the colonies, so sometimes they send them there. Of course, it has more to do with her being a popular character, but unlike some people, I can totally suspend reality when I watch the show. I find it very entertaining.

I'd Alexis bleidel at the colonies temporarily? She's fertile. Why not just kill her?

Anonymous wrote:

if you think this show rings eerily true

...then you are an alarmist, similar to a doomsday prepper.

There are good people on both sides of the two major parties. This book/show is so FAR from today's reality. I'm not complicit, nor a MAGA supporter, but I do know that this would not happen today. I will be highly irritated if the producers try to draw a straight line from MAGA to Gilead.

That was exactly my point. But if we become laser focused on just one side and discredit the other, THAT is how something like this happens. People keep saying the book is relevant especially in today's environment with the anti-abortion stuff and whatnot... I don't agree. I think it's relevant in any environment, on any political stance. It happens when you become one-track minded on policy. Clearly the founders of Gillead felt there opinions ignored in America and took major recourse. I don't think this would ever happen in today's world yet people keep saying it could. Which was my point of "IF you think this rings eerily true" then don't be apart of the problem that led them there. Have some tolerance for others. ]

And of course they're going to draw MAGA connections to Gillead. I don't think season 2 will hold a candle to season 1, and hollywood is very liberal minded. It always surprises me when I go out there how extreme everyone is in their opinions. They will definitely use this angle as the show progresses and ratings naturally drop.

if you think this show rings eerily true

...then you are an alarmist, similar to a doomsday prepper.

There are good people on both sides of the two major parties. This book/show is so FAR from today's reality. I'm not complicit, nor a MAGA supporter, but I do know that this would not happen today. I will be highly irritated if the producers try to draw a straight line from MAGA to Gilead.

Anonymous wrote:I can't watch this (first I don't have hulu..) but I love the discussion. I think dystopian futures are a GREAT thing to have books and shows about. I do better with books. They are warnings not to get too comfortable. Anyone who takes that personally is not getting that this could happen. We should all be paying attention!

But the way this happens is a total revolution against a group of people who have been muted by society. I consider myself a moderate democrat, please don't get what I'm about to say twisted...

Think about the MAGA supporters and the deplorable persona we've associated them with. They're ALL people and we can't assume ALL are racist, bigoted, extremist that we sometimes persecute them as. Just like not all Dems are mooching off the government and unwilling to work, but sure some people are like that. But we know the MAGA approached worked because it resonated with a group of Americans who feel their views are being left behind. What was once socially acceptable: rebuking homosexuality and broken families, enforcing Christianity on all levels, the nuclear family, that has all become wrong when just twenty-years ago it was more than right, it was how everyone lived.

In Post-America Gillead you have a large enough group of people who feel their values, which were once normal and accepted, are now being ostracize. Leading to enough outrage that they revolt.

Think about some of these extreme liberal stances we're taking against MAGA. If we refuse to include the opinions and values of others, regardless of how wrong they seem to us, then that's how you get a dystopian future. Killing every homophobe is not the solution. Killing every homosexual is not the solution. YET, somehow we must find a way to exist together.

We can't force a group of people to conform to our new society norms. So if you think this show rings eerily true, reconsider who you send to Washington and make sure they're seeking bipartisan solutions and not strict loyalty to the Republican or Democrat agenda.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what to think about this episode. I get that they can't let her get to Canada this early in the season, but if she goes back to that house and we have to watch her get tortured deal with that again I don't know if I can keep watching.

Yeah, I really hate how this episode ended.
The pilots execution got to me.

*i didn't read the book*

So I'm guessing that the econo-people June stayed with where intercepted by guardians, and they confessed to where she would be?

None of this is in the book. The book ends similar to season 1, with June being hauled away from Fred's house. The epilogue of the book shows a future university class discussing June's escape tapes (so we know she survived) and Gilead as a whole. All of season two is brand new.

Econo people are never discussed in the book. That was very interesting. I'd like to know what happened to the family as well.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what to think about this episode. I get that they can't let her get to Canada this early in the season, but if she goes back to that house and we have to watch her get tortured deal with that again I don't know if I can keep watching.

Yeah, I really hate how this episode ended.
The pilots execution got to me.

*i didn't read the book*

So I'm guessing that the econo-people June stayed with where intercepted by guardians, and they confessed to where she would be?