Background
The Story
The Handmaid is there to have a baby for the couple. The Handmaids are women who have successfully given birth is this society. They are put through gruesome training in order to go to these homes. The Handmaid, the husband, and the wife partake in a cruel, and gruesome custom called The Ceremony. It is to be held once a month, when the Handmaid is fertile.
The Handmaid lies between the legs of the wife. The wife holds down the Handmaid's wrist, and the husband rapes the Handmaid, in hopes of impregnating her. If the women or anyone objects, they are tortured. Eyes are taken out, a finger cut off, a hand cut off. They are hanged or threatened to be sent to a place called The Colonies. The Colonies is where they are forced to dig up toxic dirt. I'm not exactly sure what they are digging up, but whatever it is, it is extremely deadly.
June is a mother of a little girl. In the show, they don't really specify the girl's age, but I think at the beginning she was 4 or 5. June is married. She has a best friend who happens to be a lesbian. She also has a mother who is a doctor and who is also a feminist. June met her husband while he was still married. They had an affair. But he did divorce his wife for June.
We meet June and her husband as they are trying to escape to Canada. June is captured, her daughter is taken, and her husband is shot. June is taken to Handmaid training.
My Opinion
However, this story reminded me slavery. Back in the days of slavery there were field slaves and house slaves. The Handmaids and the Marthas are the house slaves. The Marthas cook and do chores. While the Handmaids are raped by their masters. I think that the field slaves are the ones who are forced to work in The Colonies.
Another critique I have is about June and her husband. June is sentenced to be a Handmaid even though she is married. Before her husband and her got married, her husband was married. They show a clip where the wife goes to June and asks her to back off of her husband. Surprise surprise, the wife is black. June’s husband looks to be of mixed race. He states that he never loved his wife as much as he loves June, even though they were high school sweethearts. I keep seeing the trope that Caucasian women are the heroes and the love interests, and feminine. Of course, a black man would choose the Becky over a black woman, that he didn’t any way.
One other thing I didn't particularly care for is that most characters are Caucasian. It makes me sad that Caucasian people can only empathize with other Caucasian people. But, if I were to point out the similarities with this story to slavery, Caucasian people would dismiss me. They can't seem to empathize or give a sh*t about what black people have been through.
I do love this show don't get me wrong, but it is something that bothered me. It also bothers me that EVERYONE bends over backwards for June, risking their own lives. I don't like that a Caucasian woman is the hero of this story because in slavery that was never the case. I wish this story reflected that more.
Final Thoughts
XOXO
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