April 17, 2025 • 48 mins
Margaret Atwood's chilling vision of a dystopian America transformed into the theocratic Republic of Gilead has captivated readers since 1985, but how does this haunting story translate from page to screen? Diving deep into both the original novel and its acclaimed Hulu adaptation, this episode explores the fascinating creative choices that shape our understanding of Offred's nightmare.
From the stunning watercolor imagery of Renee Nault's graphic novel adaptation to the controversial casting of younger actors as the Commander and Serena Joy, each artistic decision fundamentally alters our perception of Gilead's power dynamics. The television series makes explicit what Atwood merely implies - showing us Janine's eye removal and Ofglen's genital mutilation while expanding character journeys beyond the novel's boundaries.
The most profound differences emerge in how each medium handles hope and resistance. While both end with the same ambiguous cliffhanger of Offred entering a van to an unknown fate, the novel frames her story as historical testimony studied in a post-Gilead future. The series, needing to continue beyond season one, transforms her journey into an ongoing resistance narrative with expanded roles for characters like Moira, who escapes to Canada rather than remaining broken at Jezebel's.
Whether you're a longtime fan of Atwood's prose or discovered this world through Elisabeth Moss's powerful performance, this episode illuminates how different storytelling approaches can reveal different truths about the same cautionary tale. What changes strengthened the adaptation? What was lost in translation? And most importantly - is the book really always better than the adaptation? Listen now and join the conversation about one of our most urgent and relevant dystopian visions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be talkingabout the Handmaid's Tale by
Margaret Atwood and its 2017adaptation, the Handmaid's Tale
streaming on Hulu.
Alright, everyone, as you know,I'm super excited to be
(00:23):
bringing this episode to you andI gotta say I actually I did
read the Handmaid's Tale, but Iactually read, for this round,
the Handmaid's Tale, the graphicnovel.
So it is obviously stillMargaret Atwood's Handmaid's
Tale, but it was adapted into agraphic novel by Renee Nolt, and
(00:43):
it's one of those things whereI couldn't find the novel at my
local library.
It just was not available.
This is the only way that itwas available, which is fine.
I've read this book before.
I've read it twice before, soI'm familiar with the novel.
It was just a matter of likerefreshing my memory of what
happens, because it's been awhile since I've read it and,
(01:03):
wow, I'm just realizing the lasttime I read it was nine years
ago.
It's been a while, but I reallydo love the book, and so I was
like all right, I'm excited torevisit it in the form of a
graphic novel.
So that was fun to experienceit that way and just visually,
renee Nault did a great jobadapting it.
(01:24):
It's absolutely beautiful.
She used like watercolors tobring it to life.
So it's like these beautifulwatercolor paintings just
bringing the story to life.
And yeah, so just want to givethat disclaimer that it is
obviously still MargaretAtwood's Handmaid's Tale, but I
read the graphic novel for thisiteration because it wasn't
(01:44):
available.
I don't know, maybe people arepanic reading because of the new
administration, I don't know.
I don't know.
It was just not available inits regular novel format.
So I did read the graphic novel, but I'm glad I did.
It was beautiful.
And I do want to say that thegraphic novel adaptation of the
Handmaid's Tale was actually aGoodreads Choice Award nominee
(02:06):
for Reader's Favorite GraphicNovels and Comics in 2019.
So obviously it didn't win, butit was a nominee.
So, anyway, and yes, this is aspecial TV series versus book
episode to discuss theHandmaid's Tale.
I believe there is a filmversion of the Handmaid's Tale,
but no one talks about it.
(02:28):
I don't think it's reviewedvery well from what I've seen.
So this is kind of theHandmaid's Tale that everyone is
familiar with, and this wasactually the first TV series I
saw when I moved to New YorkCity.
As you know, I've mentioned, I'mnot much of a TV watcher.
My favorite medium to tellstories is through film.
(02:51):
I'm starting to get more intotelevision series now, but
growing up, film was like my jam.
I could start watching TV showsbut I couldn't necessarily
stick with watching them frombeginning to end.
And yeah, this was the first TVseries I saw after moving to
New York.
I actually watched it with mymom.
So, yeah, my mom like had beendying to take the train and so
(03:15):
she kind of used me as like whenyou move, we're, I'll help you
move.
But we got to take the trainand I was like okay, so we took
the train and it was a three daylong train journey.
I mean, we chose like thecheapest seats available.
So obviously there was like,yeah, we just had no way of
enjoying some.
It was a nice journey.
I don't know that I wouldrecommend a three hour long
(03:37):
journey in coach, which is whatwe did.
I would definitely want to.
If it's going to be that longof a journey, I would definitely
want to get a cabin, a privatecabin with an actual bed and a
shower and a private bathroom,because that would have all been
nice, but anyway.
So, yes, three-day journey Gotto New York City.
My roommates obviously wentabout their lives after I moved
(04:00):
in because they'd been livinghere for a while, and my mom
stayed with me.
I don't remember if it was likefour or five days or if she
stayed like the full week, butshe did stay with me for a
little bit to help me move inand she bought a lot of my
furniture.
So thank you, mom, definitelyappreciate it.
And, yes, she helped me makethe move out here, and so we
(04:20):
actually watched the seriestogether.
That was the thing we wouldwatch when we were waiting for,
like, the furniture that we hadbought to be delivered.
We just sit down and watch itand then, after we did some
exploring, we would like comehome and watch it.
So that's the first series Isaw when I moved to New York,
and I did it with my mom.
So that was nice.
(04:40):
That's a good memory.
So this was my second timere-watching the first season.
I've only ever seen the firstseason.
I've heard mixed things aboutseasons two to four, and season
five will premiere later thisyear, if it hasn't premiered
already, but I think it justpremiered actually, but anyway.
So yeah, I've heard mixedthings about seasons two to four
so I was never reallyinterested in watching it.
(05:03):
But beyond that, I have a thingIf you're going to do a series
based on a book, a standalonebook, eventually Margaret Atwood
did expand the story via theTestaments, which is I think
it's technically a prequel tothe Handmaid's Tale, but it's
one of those prequel sequels, ifI'm not mistaken.
It's a prequel, but yeah, butthe series is it's still its own
(05:26):
thing, like it does notincorporate the Testaments into
the storyline at all, becausethat's a completely different
storyline.
So I have this thing about TVshows having more than one
season of a standalone book,unless it's like a thousand page
book and you're like splittinglike the first 500 pages into
one series and then the last 500pages, like Pachinko.
(05:48):
Pachinko did that.
Pachinko's two seasons Pachinko.
So season one is focuses oncertain events of the book and
then the second season isfocusing on other sections of
the book.
So in that case I'm definitelyinterested in watching season
two of Pachinko, because wedidn't cover everything.
Go back to my pachinko episodeto see what was covered in that
(06:08):
first season and what is stillmissing.
But yeah, so like, unless it'ssomething like pachinko, I'm not
really interested in seeing theseasons beyond what takes place
in the actual novel.
That's just thing I have.
That's why, 13 reasons why samething only watched the first
season.
Yeah, to me it's like, not thatyou can't expand upon this
world, obviously you can.
(06:29):
But I like I don't know, I likesticking to what I already know
and I'm not necessarilyinterested in seeing how the
story expands beyond that even.
But this one where it ends on acliffhanger in both the book
and the tv series, yeah, justnot interested.
So yes, orlando, because he didask me and he's like is that
how this book ends or iscliffhanger in both the book and
the TV series?
Yeah, just not interested.
So, yes, orlando, because hedid ask me and he's like is that
(06:50):
how this book ends or is thatjust how the series ends?
And I'm just like you'll haveto wait for the episode.
So, yes, the book does end inthe exact same cliffhanger that
the TV series ends in.
But anyway, I've rambled longenough, a really long time
actually.
I apologize, but anyway.
So let's go ahead and getstarted.
So the Handmaid's Tale again,since I'm reading the, in this
(07:10):
case referring to the graphicnovel.
Specifically, the Handmaid'sTale, the graphic novel adapted
by Renee Nolt, originally byMargaret Atwood, was first
published in 2019 and it followsOffred.
Offred is a handmaid in theRepublic of Gilead, where women
are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, forming friendships.
(07:32):
She serves in the household ofthe commander and his wife, and
under this new social order, shehas only one purpose, and that
is that once a month, she mustlie on her back and pray that
the commander makes her pregnant.
In this universe, the birthrates are declining, and so
Offred and the other handmaidsare valued only if they're
(07:55):
fertile.
But we get glimpses of Offred'slife before Gilead, and this
was when she was an independentwoman who had a job, family, her
own name, and now all she cando is try to survive and
hopefully find a way to rebel.
The 2017 adaptation of theHandmaid's Tale first premiered
(08:20):
in 2017.
It stars Elizabeth Moss, yvonneStrahovski and Anne Dowd, and
the series is set in a dystopianfuture in which a woman is
forced to live as a concubineunder a fundamentalist
theocratic dictatorship.
So the first season.
I remember when I first watchedthe first season, I felt like
(08:42):
it was completely different fromthe book.
And revisiting the book, I waslike no, they actually I mean,
obviously they did change a lotof things.
And they changed those things,I imagine, because, as always,
they have to change things forthe medium, but because they're
also expanding on this worldbeyond the novel.
But I was like, other than thechanges which we will talk about
(09:04):
, they actually did a prettyspot on adaptation.
I would say.
So let's go ahead and getstarted and first things first.
My biggest gripe with the TVseries and this is even before I
watched it this is when we werejust getting like promo videos
and things like that.
And this was Orlando and I wentto the movies.
(09:24):
You know we love going to themovies and you know how, if you
get there really early, likebefore the previews start,
sometimes you'll get like firstglimpses of TV series or other
movies.
And so we got a first glimpseat the Handmaid's Tale.
And this was my first gripe,this was my first complaint, and
this is before I had even seenit.
(09:44):
So Orlando very much knows whatI ranted about, because he was
the first person to hear thisrant, and that is the casting of
Joseph Fiennes and YvonneStrahovski as the commander and
his wife.
No shade to them as actors.
My issue with them being casthas nothing to do with their
ability as actors and it haseverything to do with the fact
(10:05):
that the commander and his wifeare supposed to be old.
Like they're supposed to be old, like this is.
There's a reason why the wivesare not expected to give birth.
There's a reason why the wivesare not the ones that are going
through the ritual to up thedeclining birth rate.
It's because they're past theage when they were they can get
(10:28):
pregnant and give birth, and thecommanders are old.
So, yes, I am aware that a mancan impregnate a woman pretty
much at any age once he hitspuberty, and that's why we have
men like Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro that are 80-year-old
fathers.
So I am aware that men do havethe ability to get younger women
(10:53):
, or do have the ability to getsomeone pregnant, even at the
age of, however, or any age,basically.
But there is still.
It's a lot more difficult.
Let me look up statisticsreally fast, all right.
So here it is.
As men age, their sperm countcan decrease due to various
(11:15):
factors, including changes inhormone levels, health
conditions and a decrease intesticular fertility.
So in young adulthood, which isin the 20s to 30s age range,
males tend to have the highestsperm count and fertility Sperm
count.
In older men, as in 60s andabove, the sperm count and
(11:35):
fertility may decrease even more.
An older man may have between 1million and 10 million sperm
per milliliter of semen.
So the younger men tend to havemay have between 15 million and
200 million sperm, while againthe older men have between 1
million and 10 million sperm.
(11:55):
So yes, they do have theability to get people pregnant
as they age, but the likelihooddoes go down, the ability to do
so does go down.
Like it is such a sticking pointin the novel that it's like all
the blame is being placed onthese younger women for not
getting pregnant, when it's likewe don't even know if these
(12:18):
really old men even like it'sjust like such an important
detail that like all the blamefalls on these young women, when
it's like the fault could verymuch be with the very old men
that are trying to impregnatethem.
So that is my issue with thecasting of Joseph Fine and Ivan
Strahovski as the commander andhis wife.
(12:39):
Again, nothing to do with theirability as actors.
I actually think they're bothreally great actors.
I enjoy their performances, butthat really, like we saw that
first glimpse and I went on thisrant immediately and it just
still irks me that they werecast in these roles, like it is
such an important detail thatthey're older, because it is
(13:01):
just like such an importantpoint that is made over and over
again in the books that, like,these men might be sterile at
this point because of their age,but the blame is falling on the
women who do not have theability to get pregnant or who
are not getting pregnant becauseof these old, sterile men.
So all right, so let's bringhim back and we'll just say go
with.
(13:22):
Like a not very important detail, but it's one that caught my
attention and that is that thereis more than one Martha in the
book.
So there's different tiers ofwhat women can do.
So there's.
So we have the commander'swives and they're the ones that
are married to the commandersand run the household, or, you
know, traditional, and they nolonger have the ability to get
(13:43):
pregnant.
So they're the ones that aregoing to like after the handmaid
gets pregnant and gives birth,they're the ones that are going
to raise the child as their own.
Then there's the aunts, andthey're the ones that
essentially prepare and trainthe women into being handmaidens
.
There's the econo-wives that doeverything except what the
aunts do, but they're wives,they're handmaids, they're
(14:05):
Marthas, they're everything andthey're for the poor men.
We don't meet any Akana wives,but they are mentioned.
And then there's the Marthas,and they're like the maids.
So again for the commanders andtheir wives, they're richer,
they have the ability to afforda Martha, so the Martha is in
charge of cleaning, cooking, allof that.
So those are the differentrankings of women.
(14:26):
They each wear their ownindividual color.
In the TV series there's onlyone Martha.
In the book there's actuallytwo Marthas that live in the
household.
Both the book and the TV seriesare told via flashbacks.
So we flash back and forthbetween the current time and the
time before, whether that bethe time way before Gilead was
(14:48):
established or once Gilead wasestablished, and we get a
glimpse of the Red Center.
The Red Center is where all thewomen that have been selected
to be handmaids are trained tobe handmaids.
So there is one character namedJanine and she is beaten in the
Red Center.
But I will say this is anotherthing that a lot of people took
(15:10):
issue with in the adaptation,and that is that the Republic of
Gilead takes a lot of the Biblevery literally.
So, for example, in the TVseries.
This doesn't happen in the bookbut in the TV series Janine is
beaten and she's punished, andshe's punished by having her eye
removed.
And it's one of those thingsthat, like one of the scripture
(15:32):
says if your eye causes you tosin, have it removed.
So they remove.
There are handmaids like Janineher eyeball is taken out.
There's other handmaids thatare that are missing a hand, or
and again, that was throughpunishment, because their hand
is what caused them to sin.
So this doesn't happen in thenovel.
They are beaten, they arepunished, but they are not
(15:55):
punished with the removal ofeyes or limbs.
And the reason for that is andagain, this was a gripe that
some people had with theadaptation is that a lot of
people felt that these womenwould not be like you, wouldn't
remove an eye, like this wholething is about how should I
phrase it?
It's about perfection in a way.
(16:15):
Not perfection, it's kind ofhow do I phrase it?
It's very racist, ableist.
There you go.
It's a very racist and ableistsociety, so there's no way that
they're going to.
They're not actually going togive a handmaid a disability.
That's not like.
The women that are chosen to behandmaids are perfect for lack
of a better word like physicallyperfect and meet the society's
(16:38):
standards, which is that they'rewhite and again, they have all
their limbs.
Because in this society,ableism is a very big thing and
this isn't like explicitlystated in the, it's hinted at in
the book.
It's not like explicitly statedlike there's no disabled people
or black people whatever, butit's like in this society, like,
(16:58):
yeah, it makes sense for their,for like people, that with
disabilities and any Blackpeople or minorities not exist
in the society.
This was changed for the TVseries.
As I said, they do physicallypunish the handmaids and disable
them in some ways sometimes,and then there are a lot of
handmaidens of color.
(17:20):
So, yes, so Janine is beaten inthe Red Center the way she is
in the TV series, but she is notphysically scarred, or at least
physically scarred in the sensethat they remove her eye.
(17:40):
Horrible society, and I reallylike that.
Margaret Atwood included thisdetail because it just really
like oh gosh, is the fact thatthere's Japanese tourists.
They're visiting Gilead andtaking pictures of the handmaids
as if they're animals at thezoo and asking them like, yeah,
they're there as tourists to seeGilead, but it's like, is this
(18:04):
really a country you should bevisiting?
I don't know, yeah, it's justreally.
It's really striking and that'sone of the images I remember
that really stuck with me afterI read the book and it continues
to stick with me now.
And yeah, and it just feelsreally nasty to just see these
like tourists from anothercountry, like literally touring
(18:25):
this place and just seeing howthese poor women live, and it's
like, well, it sucks to be them.
I'm gonna go back to my countryand again there's commentary
there, but in the TV series theydon't include these tourists.
They changed it instead inwhich there's a group of Mexican
ambassadors that come and getto see Gilead and how it's run
(18:49):
and there's like this bigpresentation for them and this
big dinner, and then Offred endsup finding out that they're
actually there because they'reinterested in trading some of
the handmaids for whateverMexican goods Mexico has to
offer in this society.
And that's when Offred standsup for herself and says like she
(19:12):
lied.
Obviously when she's asked inthe TV series.
Are you happy?
And she's like oh yeah, I'mvery happy.
And then, like, when she findsout what the Mexican ambassadors
are actually there for, shetells them the truth and she's
like I'm not happy here.
This is the way we're treated,like we're not doing any of this
consensually.
And I'm not.
(19:33):
You should do something aboutit.
And so the Mexican ambassadorsgo back to Mexico and I don't
know if they did anything aboutit.
Maybe they do in the futureseasons, but that's where it
ends in the first season.
So we get a glimpse of justregular Japanese tourists versus
Mexican ambassadors, getting aglimpse of Gilead and how it's
(19:55):
run.
Moira is Offred's best friendfrom before, and so Offred's
name is June.
So if you hear me say June, I'mreferring to Offred.
Offred and June are the sameperson.
So if I use the nameinterchangeably which I might,
depending on which time periodin the story I'm talking about,
if it's the time before Gilead,I'll probably say June.
(20:17):
If it's the times of Gilead,I'll probably say Offred.
But in case I don't and I justinterchange them willy-nilly,
just know that if I'm talkingabout June, I'm referring to
Offred.
So Moira is Offred's bestfriend from before and they
reunite briefly at the RedCenter, and in the TV series
(20:38):
Moira escapes once.
In the book she actually triesto escape twice.
So in the TV series she escapesonce and is successful.
In the book she escapes twice.
Once is not successful and thesecond time it is.
So the first time she tries toescape by pretending she's sick,
because she's seen that theycall the ambulance if someone at
(20:59):
the red center is seriously illand so she's like I'll pretend
that I'm sick, they'll call theambulance and then I'll escape
once, like once I'm out of thered center it'll be easier for
me to escape.
So she does that.
She pretends to be sick and theambulance is called and
everything.
But then she's brought in a fewhours later and she's been
beaten because I guess they'vefigured out that she wasn't
(21:21):
actually ill.
So that was a failure.
The second attempt matches theattempt made in the tv series.
There is one difference which Iwill touch upon, but essentially
what happens in the tv seriesand the book on Moira's
successful attempt at escapingis she takes the little like on
the toilet flusher, the thingthat's like inside the tank on
(21:44):
the toilet.
There's like something in therethat's sharp, and so she takes
that and she tells the auntthat's outside supervising the
bathrooms.
She's like there's a like oneof the toilets is overflowing.
And when the aunt goes in thereto investigate she like holds
the sharp thing and like is like, give me your clothes or I'm
(22:08):
going to kill you.
And then she trades clotheswith the aunt and she escapes by
pretending to be an aunt,because the aunts can come and
go from the red center freely.
So she escapes by pretending tobe an aunt.
The guards just let her out andshe leaves.
She does this in the TV seriesas well.
However, in the TV series Juneor Offred goes with her.
Offred does not make any attemptto escape the Red Center in the
(22:28):
book, but in the TV series sheand Moira escape.
So, moira, they take one of thehandmade garments and Offred
puts it on.
Moira does the same thing.
She takes the little sharpthing from the toilet and steals
the Martha's clothes and theyexit the red center and they
make it as far as the subway.
When they get to the subway,moira walks a little bit ahead
(22:52):
of June and as June falls behind, two guards see a handmaid all
by herself.
And as June falls behind, twoguards see like a handmaid all
by herself.
And so they're like where'd youcome from?
Who are you with?
Handmaids aren't supposed towalk around by themselves.
And she's just like, um, well,uh, and then she's just looking
at Moira, moira's looking at her, and so Offred is taken back to
the Red Center and Moira getson the subway and is able to
(23:15):
escape so and so in thisinstance it is June who is
punished the way that Moira ispunished in the book, after her
first attempt.
So she's severely beaten andwhipped, like her feet are
whipped, so she can't stand fora few days.
But yeah, in the TV series.
So the commander's wife doessay, like it's possible that the
(23:37):
commander is sterile, which isa forbidden word in this
universe and she's like it'spossible, he's sterile, so I
think we should find you adifferent way to get pregnant so
you can give me my baby and youcan get out of here and move on
to somewhere else, because Idon't want you here anymore,
essentially.
And she's like I think Nickshould be the sperm donor,
essentially.
So in the book that's all thathappens.
(23:59):
They steal one kiss in secretin which Nick tells her the
commander wants to see you alonein his room, which is also
forbidden, but they steal thatone kiss and then they sleep
together in order to try to getOffred pregnant.
But that is it.
In the TV series they actuallystart a whole affair and they
sleep together a lot.
There's a lot of sex betweenthe two of them, but yeah, that
(24:22):
doesn't happen.
In the book, janine, as ofWarren, actually she's the only
handmaid to get pregnant andduring the time period of this
book and the TV series she's theonly handmaid to get pregnant
and give birth successfully.
And in the TV series the baby'sfine, the baby's born fine and
(24:42):
she's fine, she lives.
But in the book she gives birthand the baby's fine, and then
the baby ends up dying a fewdays later, which in this
universe is pretty frequent.
You can give birth to a babythat looks healthy and then they
just die suddenly.
The declining birth rates andthe child mortality rates in
(25:04):
this universe are attributed toa lot of pollution and a lot of
radiation, which makes sense fora baby to not be able to
survive all of that.
But yeah, the baby doesn't diein the tv series, but it is
mentioned at some point in thebook that she she died a few
days after being born, and it'sjust one of those things where
(25:26):
it was like they named her,where offred says like they
named her too soon, but it's,yeah, it's just a very common
thing.
So it's not.
And any child that makes itpast the baby stage is like
there doesn't?
There's like a certainthreshold I'm not exactly sure
what it is where it's like okay,this baby's not going to die
Like she's good, she survived,she's going to make it into
adulthood.
Essentially, and in the TVseries, since Angela is Angela's
(25:50):
, the baby is fine and shedoesn't die.
What ends up happening insteadis that Janine is ends up so,
after she is severely beaten andtortured in the red center and
her eyes removed, she goes alittle crazy and so she's not
all there, like she getstortured to madness, essentially
.
So her handmaid gives birth,she sticks around for a little
(26:20):
bit to like nurse the baby andthen after a few weeks or months
, she's then removed from thathome and taken to a different
home to start the process overagain and hopefully give another
commander and his wife a baby.
So after in the book, like Isaid, angela the baby dies
before she's.
I mean she is eventually likesent to baby.
Angela dies before she'srelocated to a new location.
So yeah, so baby Angela was notlike, she wasn't even like a
(26:41):
few months old when she died.
I don't even think she reachedlike the month mark.
But in the TV series shefulfills her duties and she's
there for the required amount ofmaternity time that she needs
to be there before being sent,and then she's relocated, she
meets the new family and shedoesn't.
That madness is obviouslyexacerbated by the fact that she
(27:03):
gave birth and she is not withher daughter anymore.
She's been separated from herdaughter.
So when she is there to do theritual, she like fights against
it and like refuses to do it.
And the commander that she waswith essentially promised her
like we'll run away together,blah, blah, blah.
And of course she believes it.
And so after she's relocated,she ends up in the middle of the
(27:24):
night, like escaping her newhome, goes to the old
commander's home and takesAngela.
And then she is.
She is threatening to jump offa bridge and kill herself and
Angela.
They bring Offred to herbecause they know that Offred
and Janine are friends andOffred talks her down from
hurting Angela.
So Janine gives Angela toOffred and then she still jumps
(27:48):
off the bridge but she survives.
Yeah, so none of that happens inthe book, because baby Angela
dies in the book and, as far aswe know, offred never becomes
pregnant in the book.
In the TV series she does.
She does end up finding outthat she's pregnant, more than
likely with the next babybecause of how often they're
sleeping together.
But she does find out she'spregnant and there's like this
(28:08):
whole thing where everyone iscelebrating her pregnancy.
In the book she does not getpregnant.
As far as we know, the bookends on a cliffhanger.
So we don't know if she evergot pregnant or not.
But yeah, in the once it isrevealed that Offred is pregnant
, serena Joy, who's thecommander's wife, takes her to
like is like you're coming withme, and she puts her in the car.
(28:30):
And then because I think likeOffred does something I don't
remember exactly what she does,but she like does something and
like she's starting to rebel alittle bit against Serena Joy
and the commander and the wayshe's like speaking to them and
everything, or the way she'sspeaking to Serena Joy she, she
doesn't speak that way to thecommander she's starting to
rebel a little bit in that sense.
So, after her pregnancy isrevealed.
(28:52):
Serena Joy puts her in the vanand then she gets.
They show up at a destinationand then she tells the driver
like don't let her come out forany reason, and then they close
the doors so she can't get outof the car.
She goes inside the buildingand then when she comes out, she
comes out with Hannah, who'sOffred's daughter, and so
obviously Offred is like beggingthe driver to let her.
(29:14):
She's been looking for herdaughter.
She had no idea where herdaughter was this whole time and
she's like begging the driverto please let her out.
It's a really heartbreakingscene because obviously he
doesn't and she's just cryingand cursing serena joy.
And serena joy just says aslong as my baby's safe, your
baby's safe, and so that's whenoffred starts behaving a little
(29:34):
bit more respectfully towardsSerena Joy.
Again In the book this does nothappen, serena Joy, to keep her
motivated and like you're goingto sleep with Nick and if you
sleep with Nick I will see if Ican get a picture of your
daughter and she finds a pictureof Offred's daughter and shows
her the picture and it's one ofthose really sad things.
It's been three years since shesaw her daughter the last time
(30:02):
she saw her daughter herdaughter was five.
So after three years, like shecan just tell.
Like this child doesn't know meanymore.
So it's really it's a reallysad moment in the book as well,
but in the TV series just seeingher cry and curse and beg to
see her to be let out of the carso she can see her daughter is
just really heartbreaking.
In the TV series so there's aplace called Jezebel's, which is
like this underground placewhere the commanders can break
(30:23):
all the laws that they've setforth because, like, of course,
they're so righteous and they'redoing this for the declining
birth rates and they care aboutfollowing the Bible.
But Jezebel's exists, which isessentially a place where the
women that work at Jezebel's areprostitutes and the commanders
are allowed to drink and smokethere, something that is against
(30:46):
the law in the real world.
So it's like it's kind of likea speakeasy, but there's sex
involved as well.
Because why wouldn't there be?
Like, of course they're goingto be hypocrites and be like and
just do that because it'scourse there are going to be
hypocrites and be like and justdo that because it's they're not
going to follow their own rules.
Let's be real.
So in the book, offred visitsjezebel's once and it's one of
(31:08):
those things where the commandergets off on taking his
handmaids to this place.
So he'll, like he has themdress up in like this really
skimpy outfit and put makeup onand he takes them out and he
parades them.
But people there can't knowthat they're a handmaid.
They have to think that she's aprostitute or one of the worker
(31:29):
, one of the sex workers there.
And so he goes and he like getsoff on, like yeah, this is like
the sex worker I got for thenight and offred has to be like
I'm with him for the night, hejust like.
And then he like gets off on,like yeah, this is like the sex
worker I got for the night andoff red has to be like I'm with
him for the night and he justlike.
And then he like takes her toone of the hotel rooms and
sleeps with her and and the waythat he wants to and which is
not the boring ritual way.
(31:50):
So, yeah, he like gets, he getsoff on this and on this power
trip, essentially.
But in she only visits thatplace once in the book, in the
tv series she visits it twiceand the reason she visits the
first time.
It's the same reason as thebook.
The commander just wants thepower trip and takes and takes
her there the second time in thetv series is because the
(32:11):
handmaids that are working on arebellion to bring the end of
Gilead One of the handmaidsthat's in on it tells her
there's a very important packagethere.
We know that you've been toJezebel's because someone don't
you worry about it, we just know.
So there's a very importantpackage at Jezebel's and we need
(32:31):
you to convince your commanderto take you there again and pick
up the package from thisbartender and bring it back to
us.
And so she does.
She convinces the commander,like oh, can you take me again?
Like I really enjoyed havingsex with you there and I just I
really enjoyed it.
And he's like yeah, of course.
And then he takes her back andshe's not able to retrieve the
(32:52):
package, but she does go theretwice.
The reason she's unable to getthe package is because we need
to give Moira something to do.
Yes, she Offred, and Moira arereunited for the first time in
years at Jezebel's.
It turns out that after Moiraescaped the Red Center, she was
eventually caught and they gaveher the choice of either going
(33:14):
to the colonies or to going toJezebel's.
You do not want to go to thecolonies.
The people that work in thecolonies are exposed to
radiation constantly, likethey're literally.
Their job is to clean up theremnants of war and radiation
that was left behind, so you'regoing to die a very painful
(33:35):
radiation death.
So when she was given theoption, she chose to work at
Jezebel's instead.
So she works at Jezebel's andthat's where she's been ever
since she was caught.
And it's one of those momentsin the book that makes June
really, really sad, because it'sclear that Moira has lost her
fight and she's resigned toliving the rest of her life or
(33:58):
not the rest of her youthfullife working at Jezebel's until
she is sent off to somewhereelse, more than likely the
colonies and she's kind of justresigned herself to this life.
And so it makes June really,really sad to see Moira like
this.
So in the TV series, when Juneand the commander returned to
(34:18):
Jezebel's the second time, thecommander's like I know the real
reason you wanted to come.
It's to see your friend.
And then he's like I'll giveyou two some privacy for a
little bit, why I expect someaction later.
And so June tells Moira allabout why she came back and the
package, and she's like Moira, Ineed you to help me.
(34:39):
And Moira's like I'm not gonnahelp you, like I don't mind
working at Jezebel's it's, andif I get caught, like I'm for
sure going to the colonies andI'm not gonna go to the colonies
.
And so, like June yells at herand is like what happened to the
old Moira?
The old Moira, and you wouldnot just give up like this, she
would fight, she would dosomething about it.
And it's like this epic blowoutthat ends with her in tears and
(35:03):
the commander comes back.
It's kind of like I'm sorrythat you had a fight with your
friend, blah, blah, blah.
And then she's unable tocomplete her mission because the
commander comes back and it'slike the only way, like, yeah,
so then she receives a packagelater on while she's on a
shopping trip, and it's frommoira, and we find out that
(35:25):
moira was like you know what?
June is right.
So she gets the package,manages to stink it out of
jezebels and into to offred'scare, and then she dresses up as
one of the eyes.
So the eyes are the ones thatare in charge of enforcing the
law and if you see an eye comingfor you it's very bad news, but
(35:45):
anyway.
So she attacks one of the eyesand dresses up as the eye and
steals his van and then sheeventually makes it over the
border into Canada and she issafe and it is there that she
reunites with Luke.
Luke is Offred's husband frombefore, but in the TV series he
also manages to escape to Canada.
(36:05):
In the book we don't know whathappens to him.
He and June do try to escapeGilead when it's Gilead's
already established, but thingshave not gotten to the extremes
that they are now, and sothey're trying to leave Gilead
and they're caught at the borderand we don't know what happened
.
Luke and Offred get separated,so Offred's running with her
(36:28):
daughter and then they're bothcaptured and brought back to
Gilead and we know Offred ismade a handmaiden and we don't.
We have no idea what happenedto Luke.
We don't know if he did make itor if he died.
We don't know.
In the book there's only onesalvaging, so a salvaging is
kind of like a public execution.
So in the book there's only onesalvaging and it is a man who's
(36:50):
been accused of raping apregnant handmaid and this rape
is what causes her to lose thebaby.
We don't know if this is trueor not.
This is what the aunts aresaying, but for all we know he
could just a traitor and this isthe reason the handmaids are
given.
So they stone him to death.
And this does happen, as I said, in the book, but in the TV
(37:13):
series this happens in like thefirst or second episode.
And then there's anothersalvaging that doesn't happen in
the book, in which it's.
The salvaging is Janine.
So again, at this point Janinehas jumped off the bridge.
She survives the suicideattempt and for the harm she
could have brought to Angela,for the harm she brought to the
commander and his wife and forher attempted suicide,
(37:36):
essentially this all means she'ssentenced to death.
So she goes to the salvagingand all the handmaids refuse to
kill Janine and Janine is sparedbecause the handmaids decide
not to participate.
So, as I said, the secondsalvaging involving Janine does
not happen in the book.
The salvaging against the manwho supposedly sexually
(37:57):
assaulted a handmaid happenstowards the end of the book and
in it of Glenn, who is Offred'spartner.
So again, in this society thehandmaids are not allowed to
walk by themselves.
They're not allowed to goanywhere without supervision.
So they're paired up with otherhandmaids and they do
everything in twos.
And they of Glenn eventuallyfinds out that like Offred is
(38:19):
interested in joining therebellion of glenn's already was
already a part of it, and soshe starts telling offred a
little bit about the rebellionand what she can do to help, and
all that when the salvaginghappens of this man, of glenn,
goes and kicks him right in thehead, knocking him out, so he
doesn't feel anything.
Um, he doesn't feel the pain ofbeing stoned to death,
essentially because of glennknocks him out, so he doesn't
feel anything.
(38:39):
He doesn't feel the pain ofbeing stoned to death,
essentially because of Glennknocks him out and Offred's like
why did you do that?
And she's like because he's oneof us, like he's part of the
rebellion.
And Offred's like ooh, and so.
That's why I'm saying that inthe TV series that's the reason
that we're given for this manbeing executed.
But we actually don't know ifthat's the real reason or not.
In the TV series, at the veryend of the first episode, ofglen
(39:01):
is replaced with the newhandmaid, who's also Ofglen, but
the handmaid that Offred knewto be Ofglen, is replaced at the
end of the first episode.
This does happen in the book aswell.
However, ofglen is replaced atthe end.
Towards the end, Again afterthe salvaging of this guy.
She saw that the the new ofglenn reveals that she saw the
(39:25):
van the van of the eyes comingfor her, and so it was one of
those things that she's like oh,I've been discovered as a rebel
and I'd rather kill myself thango to where wherever the eyes
are taking.
Like I said, you don't want to,to wherever the eyes are taking
you.
Like I said, you don't want togo where the eyes are taking you
.
So Ofglen decides to killherself.
And yeah, like this happens atthe end of the book, like it was
(39:47):
one of those things that's like, huh Ofglen's around for a
while In the TV series, likeshe's gone after the first
episode.
So, yeah, in the TV series, thereason Ofglen is replaced with
the new new of Glenn is actuallybecause she was caught as
committing sexual crimes withanother woman, which just means
she was caught either making outor having sexual relations with
(40:10):
a woman.
There are no LGBTQ people inthis universe or in this allowed
in the Republic of Gilead.
So this is against the law.
This allowed in the Republic ofGilead.
So this is against the law.
So in the second episode we seeof Glenn being captured and I
think it's actually with theMartha of her house that she's
been having this secret affair.
So the Martha is ordered to behanged and she is of.
(40:31):
Glenn sees her being hanged andthen of Glenn is spared because
and the only reason she'sspared is because she's a
handmaid and they need all thefertile women to be handmaids.
Essentially, reason she'sspared is because she's a
handmaid and they need all thefertile women to be handmaids.
Essentially so she spared thedeath penalty.
But when she wakes up at theend of the second episode, she
has gone through the removal ofher clitoris, and aunt lydia
(40:54):
that's like the main aunt of thetv series, end of the book too
is like now you don't need toworry about those sinful
thoughts entering your mind everagain.
And so she just cries at herfemale castration essentially
having happened.
So that's what happens withOfglen in the TV series, but in
the book she kills herselfbecause she sees the eyes coming
for her.
And yeah, as I said, the TVseries and the book both end in
(41:18):
a cliffhanger, the exact samecliffhanger that you see in the
TV series is the exact samecliffhanger found in the book.
So there you go, orlando, andthe TV series continues beyond
there.
As I said, this is where thebook ends.
The TV series continues on andexpands on this story, which I
still am on about whether or notI want to watch the rest of the
(41:40):
seasons.
Like I said, I just I have athing about watching shows that
continue past the first season,like if they covered everything
that the book did in the firstseason.
I don't really want to continuebeyond that, but that's just me
and my personal preference.
The book ends with thecliffhanger, but on top of that
(42:01):
it ends with historical notes,which is just like I guess you
could consider it an epilogue inwhich there's like a conference
.
Someone is giving apresentation on Gilead at this
point, gilead is no more, butit's like a conference at some
point in the future and they'relooking back on Gilead and the
ways and customs that theybelieved in and they're this is
(42:24):
a symposium from Gilead expertstalking about everything they
know, and that includeseverything they know about
Offred, because the whole storyof the Handmaid's Tale is told
through recordings that Offreddid at some point.
However, where her tale ends ishow it ends.
These experts don't know ifOffred ended up getting killed
(42:47):
or if she made it to Canada andlived out the rest of her life
in Canada.
Like there's no answers, theydon't know.
We don't know what happened toOffred, so it's still a
cliffhanger and I kind of wishthe book had ended there, as
frustrating as it is, becausethe historical notes don't
really give us any newinformation other than the
commander was eventually killedor not?
(43:08):
Well, yeah, killed, and well,maybe not killed, but he was
punished.
He was found guilty of havingforbidden materials in his house
and for committing crimes, asin like visiting Jezebelbels.
So all of that happens, butyeah, it's kind of.
Offred's story remains acliffhanger, so I kind of wish
that Margaret Atwood had left itas that, because in my opinion,
(43:30):
like, the historical notesdon't really add too much beyond
that.
But anyway, I just want to saythat, as I mentioned, renee
Nault's adaptation and art forthe graphic novel is absolutely
stunning.
If you are someone thatstruggles reading regular novels
but you can read graphic novels, I highly recommend you check
(43:51):
out the Handmaid's Tale and readit for yourself and enjoy the
artwork.
Like I said, it's beautiful andthe way red is used.
Red is the color of thehandmaids and she just finds
ways to really make that redstand out in ways beyond the
handmaid's robe.
So it's absolutely gorgeous.
(44:12):
The TV series is very well acted.
I know a lot of people hadissues when it first premiered
with, like I said, the use ofthe.
They're being disabledhandmaids and they're being
handmaids of color and it's notin this instance.
Their reasoning for not wantinghandmaids of color is not for
the stereotypical, racistreasons.
(44:33):
People don't usually wantpeople of color playing their
white characters.
In this instance, this issupposed to be.
This is obviously a dystopianfuture, but in this society, for
the people in charge that areliving it, they have created the
perfect utopia and in thisperfect utopia there's no room
for, you know, they believe ineugenics.
(44:53):
That's all I'll say.
So, yeah, so that was somethingthat I really, really liked
about the.
I mean I can't fault the actors.
All the actors are great, evenJoseph Fiennes and Ivan
Strahovski.
Again, no issues with them asactors, just age-wise they don't
fit.
We needed to go with someoneold.
Okay, I'm done ranting aboutthat.
But yeah, elizabeth Moss, asOffred, is fantastic.
(45:16):
She's great.
I can't fault her performancein any way.
Like those moments, like thatscene with Hannah, she just it's
so good, like she's just she'sgreat and yeah, she's, I think
she makes a really great off-red.
I know, apart from the issues Imentioned, a lot of people were
like the soundtrack for this TVshow is what is with this
(45:39):
soundtrack, ugh?
And I just want to say I likethere was maybe like one song
choice that I was like this wasa little odd, but for the most
part, like the scene that droveme to tears the first time I saw
it and drove me to tearsrewatching.
It has Heart of Glass playingas its background and it's in
(45:59):
episode three, I believe, andit's when we're seeing the start
of Gilead.
We get in the flashbacks.
We see Moira and June's creditcards get declined even though
they have money, and June losesher job and we find out that all
her money is being transferredto Luke, since he's her husband.
Moira is a lesbian and so thefate of her money is kind of up
(46:24):
in the air because she doesn'thave any relatives, like it's
just her, so there's no malerelatives that the money would
go to.
And the final scene ends in aprotest and the police start
firing back against theprotesters.
It's a peaceful protest andthey're being shot at and
attacked and Heart of Glass isplaying and the juxtaposition of
(46:47):
this song that I really reallylove with this scene.
That's just really hard towatch.
It gets me every time.
So I personally did not haveany issues with the soundtrack.
But anyway, that being said, Irated the book four stars.
I rated the graphic novel fourstars, but the book is four
stars as well, and I gave the TVseries a four star rating as
(47:09):
well.
But to me there is a clearwinner and it is the book.
I do really really love thebook and the TV series is great.
The first season I can onlytalk about the first season.
The first season is great, it'sfantastic and it's not a bad
adaptation all things considered.
But there's just somethingabout the book that, as
(47:32):
difficult as it is to read attimes I just I don't know
there's some.
I think the book just does morefor me in terms of spreading
the message and the warning thatit's trying to send, and
Margaret Atwood is just awonderful writer.
So I have to go with the book.
But that is it for this episodeof Books vs Movies.
If you're enjoying this podcast, please leave me a rating and a
(47:55):
review.
Tell all your friends about itand I will see you next time.
Bye.
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be talkingabout the Handmaid's Tale by
Margaret Atwood and its 2017adaptation, the Handmaid's Tale
streaming on Hulu.
Alright, everyone, as you know,I'm super excited to be
(00:23):
bringing this episode to you andI gotta say I actually I did
read the Handmaid's Tale, but Iactually read, for this round,
the Handmaid's Tale, the graphicnovel.
So it is obviously stillMargaret Atwood's Handmaid's
Tale, but it was adapted into agraphic novel by Renee Nolt, and
(00:43):
it's one of those things whereI couldn't find the novel at my
local library.
It just was not available.
This is the only way that itwas available, which is fine.
I've read this book before.
I've read it twice before, soI'm familiar with the novel.
It was just a matter of likerefreshing my memory of what
happens, because it's been awhile since I've read it and,
(01:03):
wow, I'm just realizing the lasttime I read it was nine years
ago.
It's been a while, but I reallydo love the book, and so I was
like all right, I'm excited torevisit it in the form of a
graphic novel.
So that was fun to experienceit that way and just visually,
renee Nault did a great jobadapting it.
(01:24):
It's absolutely beautiful.
She used like watercolors tobring it to life.
So it's like these beautifulwatercolor paintings just
bringing the story to life.
And yeah, so just want to givethat disclaimer that it is
obviously still MargaretAtwood's Handmaid's Tale, but I
read the graphic novel for thisiteration because it wasn't
(01:44):
available.
I don't know, maybe people arepanic reading because of the new
administration, I don't know.
I don't know.
It was just not available inits regular novel format.
So I did read the graphic novel, but I'm glad I did.
It was beautiful.
And I do want to say that thegraphic novel adaptation of the
Handmaid's Tale was actually aGoodreads Choice Award nominee
(02:06):
for Reader's Favorite GraphicNovels and Comics in 2019.
So obviously it didn't win, butit was a nominee.
So, anyway, and yes, this is aspecial TV series versus book
episode to discuss theHandmaid's Tale.
I believe there is a filmversion of the Handmaid's Tale,
but no one talks about it.
(02:28):
I don't think it's reviewedvery well from what I've seen.
So this is kind of theHandmaid's Tale that everyone is
familiar with, and this wasactually the first TV series I
saw when I moved to New YorkCity.
As you know, I've mentioned, I'mnot much of a TV watcher.
My favorite medium to tellstories is through film.
(02:51):
I'm starting to get more intotelevision series now, but
growing up, film was like my jam.
I could start watching TV showsbut I couldn't necessarily
stick with watching them frombeginning to end.
And yeah, this was the first TVseries I saw after moving to
New York.
I actually watched it with mymom.
So, yeah, my mom like had beendying to take the train and so
(03:15):
she kind of used me as like whenyou move, we're, I'll help you
move.
But we got to take the trainand I was like okay, so we took
the train and it was a three daylong train journey.
I mean, we chose like thecheapest seats available.
So obviously there was like,yeah, we just had no way of
enjoying some.
It was a nice journey.
I don't know that I wouldrecommend a three hour long
(03:37):
journey in coach, which is whatwe did.
I would definitely want to.
If it's going to be that longof a journey, I would definitely
want to get a cabin, a privatecabin with an actual bed and a
shower and a private bathroom,because that would have all been
nice, but anyway.
So, yes, three-day journey Gotto New York City.
My roommates obviously wentabout their lives after I moved
(04:00):
in because they'd been livinghere for a while, and my mom
stayed with me.
I don't remember if it was likefour or five days or if she
stayed like the full week, butshe did stay with me for a
little bit to help me move inand she bought a lot of my
furniture.
So thank you, mom, definitelyappreciate it.
And, yes, she helped me makethe move out here, and so we
(04:20):
actually watched the seriestogether.
That was the thing we wouldwatch when we were waiting for,
like, the furniture that we hadbought to be delivered.
We just sit down and watch itand then, after we did some
exploring, we would like comehome and watch it.
So that's the first series Isaw when I moved to New York,
and I did it with my mom.
So that was nice.
(04:40):
That's a good memory.
So this was my second timere-watching the first season.
I've only ever seen the firstseason.
I've heard mixed things aboutseasons two to four, and season
five will premiere later thisyear, if it hasn't premiered
already, but I think it justpremiered actually, but anyway.
So yeah, I've heard mixedthings about seasons two to four
so I was never reallyinterested in watching it.
(05:03):
But beyond that, I have a thingIf you're going to do a series
based on a book, a standalonebook, eventually Margaret Atwood
did expand the story via theTestaments, which is I think
it's technically a prequel tothe Handmaid's Tale, but it's
one of those prequel sequels, ifI'm not mistaken.
It's a prequel, but yeah, butthe series is it's still its own
(05:26):
thing, like it does notincorporate the Testaments into
the storyline at all, becausethat's a completely different
storyline.
So I have this thing about TVshows having more than one
season of a standalone book,unless it's like a thousand page
book and you're like splittinglike the first 500 pages into
one series and then the last 500pages, like Pachinko.
(05:48):
Pachinko did that.
Pachinko's two seasons Pachinko.
So season one is focuses oncertain events of the book and
then the second season isfocusing on other sections of
the book.
So in that case I'm definitelyinterested in watching season
two of Pachinko, because wedidn't cover everything.
Go back to my pachinko episodeto see what was covered in that
(06:08):
first season and what is stillmissing.
But yeah, so like, unless it'ssomething like pachinko, I'm not
really interested in seeing theseasons beyond what takes place
in the actual novel.
That's just thing I have.
That's why, 13 reasons why samething only watched the first
season.
Yeah, to me it's like, not thatyou can't expand upon this
world, obviously you can.
(06:29):
But I like I don't know, I likesticking to what I already know
and I'm not necessarilyinterested in seeing how the
story expands beyond that even.
But this one where it ends on acliffhanger in both the book
and the tv series, yeah, justnot interested.
So yes, orlando, because he didask me and he's like is that
how this book ends or iscliffhanger in both the book and
the TV series?
Yeah, just not interested.
So, yes, orlando, because hedid ask me and he's like is that
(06:50):
how this book ends or is thatjust how the series ends?
And I'm just like you'll haveto wait for the episode.
So, yes, the book does end inthe exact same cliffhanger that
the TV series ends in.
But anyway, I've rambled longenough, a really long time
actually.
I apologize, but anyway.
So let's go ahead and getstarted.
So the Handmaid's Tale again,since I'm reading the, in this
(07:10):
case referring to the graphicnovel.
Specifically, the Handmaid'sTale, the graphic novel adapted
by Renee Nolt, originally byMargaret Atwood, was first
published in 2019 and it followsOffred.
Offred is a handmaid in theRepublic of Gilead, where women
are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, forming friendships.
(07:32):
She serves in the household ofthe commander and his wife, and
under this new social order, shehas only one purpose, and that
is that once a month, she mustlie on her back and pray that
the commander makes her pregnant.
In this universe, the birthrates are declining, and so
Offred and the other handmaidsare valued only if they're
(07:55):
fertile.
But we get glimpses of Offred'slife before Gilead, and this
was when she was an independentwoman who had a job, family, her
own name, and now all she cando is try to survive and
hopefully find a way to rebel.
The 2017 adaptation of theHandmaid's Tale first premiered
(08:20):
in 2017.
It stars Elizabeth Moss, yvonneStrahovski and Anne Dowd, and
the series is set in a dystopianfuture in which a woman is
forced to live as a concubineunder a fundamentalist
theocratic dictatorship.
So the first season.
I remember when I first watchedthe first season, I felt like
(08:42):
it was completely different fromthe book.
And revisiting the book, I waslike no, they actually I mean,
obviously they did change a lotof things.
And they changed those things,I imagine, because, as always,
they have to change things forthe medium, but because they're
also expanding on this worldbeyond the novel.
But I was like, other than thechanges which we will talk about
(09:04):
, they actually did a prettyspot on adaptation.
I would say.
So let's go ahead and getstarted and first things first.
My biggest gripe with the TVseries and this is even before I
watched it this is when we werejust getting like promo videos
and things like that.
And this was Orlando and I wentto the movies.
(09:24):
You know we love going to themovies and you know how, if you
get there really early, likebefore the previews start,
sometimes you'll get like firstglimpses of TV series or other
movies.
And so we got a first glimpseat the Handmaid's Tale.
And this was my first gripe,this was my first complaint, and
this is before I had even seenit.
(09:44):
So Orlando very much knows whatI ranted about, because he was
the first person to hear thisrant, and that is the casting of
Joseph Fiennes and YvonneStrahovski as the commander and
his wife.
No shade to them as actors.
My issue with them being casthas nothing to do with their
ability as actors and it haseverything to do with the fact
(10:05):
that the commander and his wifeare supposed to be old.
Like they're supposed to be old, like this is.
There's a reason why the wivesare not expected to give birth.
There's a reason why the wivesare not the ones that are going
through the ritual to up thedeclining birth rate.
It's because they're past theage when they were they can get
(10:28):
pregnant and give birth, and thecommanders are old.
So, yes, I am aware that a mancan impregnate a woman pretty
much at any age once he hitspuberty, and that's why we have
men like Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro that are 80-year-old
fathers.
So I am aware that men do havethe ability to get younger women
(10:53):
, or do have the ability to getsomeone pregnant, even at the
age of, however, or any age,basically.
But there is still.
It's a lot more difficult.
Let me look up statisticsreally fast, all right.
So here it is.
As men age, their sperm countcan decrease due to various
(11:15):
factors, including changes inhormone levels, health
conditions and a decrease intesticular fertility.
So in young adulthood, which isin the 20s to 30s age range,
males tend to have the highestsperm count and fertility Sperm
count.
In older men, as in 60s andabove, the sperm count and
(11:35):
fertility may decrease even more.
An older man may have between 1million and 10 million sperm
per milliliter of semen.
So the younger men tend to havemay have between 15 million and
200 million sperm, while againthe older men have between 1
million and 10 million sperm.
(11:55):
So yes, they do have theability to get people pregnant
as they age, but the likelihooddoes go down, the ability to do
so does go down.
Like it is such a sticking pointin the novel that it's like all
the blame is being placed onthese younger women for not
getting pregnant, when it's likewe don't even know if these
(12:18):
really old men even like it'sjust like such an important
detail that like all the blamefalls on these young women, when
it's like the fault could verymuch be with the very old men
that are trying to impregnatethem.
So that is my issue with thecasting of Joseph Fine and Ivan
Strahovski as the commander andhis wife.
(12:39):
Again, nothing to do with theirability as actors.
I actually think they're bothreally great actors.
I enjoy their performances, butthat really, like we saw that
first glimpse and I went on thisrant immediately and it just
still irks me that they werecast in these roles, like it is
such an important detail thatthey're older, because it is
(13:01):
just like such an importantpoint that is made over and over
again in the books that, like,these men might be sterile at
this point because of their age,but the blame is falling on the
women who do not have theability to get pregnant or who
are not getting pregnant becauseof these old, sterile men.
So all right, so let's bringhim back and we'll just say go
with.
(13:22):
Like a not very important detail, but it's one that caught my
attention and that is that thereis more than one Martha in the
book.
So there's different tiers ofwhat women can do.
So there's.
So we have the commander'swives and they're the ones that
are married to the commandersand run the household, or, you
know, traditional, and they nolonger have the ability to get
(13:43):
pregnant.
So they're the ones that aregoing to like after the handmaid
gets pregnant and gives birth,they're the ones that are going
to raise the child as their own.
Then there's the aunts, andthey're the ones that
essentially prepare and trainthe women into being handmaidens
.
There's the econo-wives that doeverything except what the
aunts do, but they're wives,they're handmaids, they're
(14:05):
Marthas, they're everything andthey're for the poor men.
We don't meet any Akana wives,but they are mentioned.
And then there's the Marthas,and they're like the maids.
So again for the commanders andtheir wives, they're richer,
they have the ability to afforda Martha, so the Martha is in
charge of cleaning, cooking, allof that.
So those are the differentrankings of women.
(14:26):
They each wear their ownindividual color.
In the TV series there's onlyone Martha.
In the book there's actuallytwo Marthas that live in the
household.
Both the book and the TV seriesare told via flashbacks.
So we flash back and forthbetween the current time and the
time before, whether that bethe time way before Gilead was
(14:48):
established or once Gilead wasestablished, and we get a
glimpse of the Red Center.
The Red Center is where all thewomen that have been selected
to be handmaids are trained tobe handmaids.
So there is one character namedJanine and she is beaten in the
Red Center.
But I will say this is anotherthing that a lot of people took
(15:10):
issue with in the adaptation,and that is that the Republic of
Gilead takes a lot of the Biblevery literally.
So, for example, in the TVseries.
This doesn't happen in the bookbut in the TV series Janine is
beaten and she's punished, andshe's punished by having her eye
removed.
And it's one of those thingsthat, like one of the scripture
(15:32):
says if your eye causes you tosin, have it removed.
So they remove.
There are handmaids like Janineher eyeball is taken out.
There's other handmaids thatare that are missing a hand, or
and again, that was throughpunishment, because their hand
is what caused them to sin.
So this doesn't happen in thenovel.
They are beaten, they arepunished, but they are not
(15:55):
punished with the removal ofeyes or limbs.
And the reason for that is andagain, this was a gripe that
some people had with theadaptation is that a lot of
people felt that these womenwould not be like you, wouldn't
remove an eye, like this wholething is about how should I
phrase it?
It's about perfection in a way.
(16:15):
Not perfection, it's kind ofhow do I phrase it?
It's very racist, ableist.
There you go.
It's a very racist and ableistsociety, so there's no way that
they're going to.
They're not actually going togive a handmaid a disability.
That's not like.
The women that are chosen to behandmaids are perfect for lack
of a better word like physicallyperfect and meet the society's
(16:38):
standards, which is that they'rewhite and again, they have all
their limbs.
Because in this society,ableism is a very big thing and
this isn't like explicitlystated in the, it's hinted at in
the book.
It's not like explicitly statedlike there's no disabled people
or black people whatever, butit's like in this society, like,
(16:58):
yeah, it makes sense for their,for like people, that with
disabilities and any Blackpeople or minorities not exist
in the society.
This was changed for the TVseries.
As I said, they do physicallypunish the handmaids and disable
them in some ways sometimes,and then there are a lot of
handmaidens of color.
(17:20):
So, yes, so Janine is beaten inthe Red Center the way she is
in the TV series, but she is notphysically scarred, or at least
physically scarred in the sensethat they remove her eye.
(17:40):
Horrible society, and I reallylike that.
Margaret Atwood included thisdetail because it just really
like oh gosh, is the fact thatthere's Japanese tourists.
They're visiting Gilead andtaking pictures of the handmaids
as if they're animals at thezoo and asking them like, yeah,
they're there as tourists to seeGilead, but it's like, is this
(18:04):
really a country you should bevisiting?
I don't know, yeah, it's justreally.
It's really striking and that'sone of the images I remember
that really stuck with me afterI read the book and it continues
to stick with me now.
And yeah, and it just feelsreally nasty to just see these
like tourists from anothercountry, like literally touring
(18:25):
this place and just seeing howthese poor women live, and it's
like, well, it sucks to be them.
I'm gonna go back to my countryand again there's commentary
there, but in the TV series theydon't include these tourists.
They changed it instead inwhich there's a group of Mexican
ambassadors that come and getto see Gilead and how it's run
(18:49):
and there's like this bigpresentation for them and this
big dinner, and then Offred endsup finding out that they're
actually there because they'reinterested in trading some of
the handmaids for whateverMexican goods Mexico has to
offer in this society.
And that's when Offred standsup for herself and says like she
(19:12):
lied.
Obviously when she's asked inthe TV series.
Are you happy?
And she's like oh yeah, I'mvery happy.
And then, like, when she findsout what the Mexican ambassadors
are actually there for, shetells them the truth and she's
like I'm not happy here.
This is the way we're treated,like we're not doing any of this
consensually.
And I'm not.
(19:33):
You should do something aboutit.
And so the Mexican ambassadorsgo back to Mexico and I don't
know if they did anything aboutit.
Maybe they do in the futureseasons, but that's where it
ends in the first season.
So we get a glimpse of justregular Japanese tourists versus
Mexican ambassadors, getting aglimpse of Gilead and how it's
(19:55):
run.
Moira is Offred's best friendfrom before, and so Offred's
name is June.
So if you hear me say June, I'mreferring to Offred.
Offred and June are the sameperson.
So if I use the nameinterchangeably which I might,
depending on which time periodin the story I'm talking about,
if it's the time before Gilead,I'll probably say June.
(20:17):
If it's the times of Gilead,I'll probably say Offred.
But in case I don't and I justinterchange them willy-nilly,
just know that if I'm talkingabout June, I'm referring to
Offred.
So Moira is Offred's bestfriend from before and they
reunite briefly at the RedCenter, and in the TV series
(20:38):
Moira escapes once.
In the book she actually triesto escape twice.
So in the TV series she escapesonce and is successful.
In the book she escapes twice.
Once is not successful and thesecond time it is.
So the first time she tries toescape by pretending she's sick,
because she's seen that theycall the ambulance if someone at
(20:59):
the red center is seriously illand so she's like I'll pretend
that I'm sick, they'll call theambulance and then I'll escape
once, like once I'm out of thered center it'll be easier for
me to escape.
So she does that.
She pretends to be sick and theambulance is called and
everything.
But then she's brought in a fewhours later and she's been
beaten because I guess they'vefigured out that she wasn't
(21:21):
actually ill.
So that was a failure.
The second attempt matches theattempt made in the tv series.
There is one difference which Iwill touch upon, but essentially
what happens in the tv seriesand the book on Moira's
successful attempt at escapingis she takes the little like on
the toilet flusher, the thingthat's like inside the tank on
(21:44):
the toilet.
There's like something in therethat's sharp, and so she takes
that and she tells the auntthat's outside supervising the
bathrooms.
She's like there's a like oneof the toilets is overflowing.
And when the aunt goes in thereto investigate she like holds
the sharp thing and like is like, give me your clothes or I'm
(22:08):
going to kill you.
And then she trades clotheswith the aunt and she escapes by
pretending to be an aunt,because the aunts can come and
go from the red center freely.
So she escapes by pretending tobe an aunt.
The guards just let her out andshe leaves.
She does this in the TV seriesas well.
However, in the TV series Juneor Offred goes with her.
Offred does not make any attemptto escape the Red Center in the
(22:28):
book, but in the TV series sheand Moira escape.
So, moira, they take one of thehandmade garments and Offred
puts it on.
Moira does the same thing.
She takes the little sharpthing from the toilet and steals
the Martha's clothes and theyexit the red center and they
make it as far as the subway.
When they get to the subway,moira walks a little bit ahead
(22:52):
of June and as June falls behind, two guards see a handmaid all
by herself.
And as June falls behind, twoguards see like a handmaid all
by herself.
And so they're like where'd youcome from?
Who are you with?
Handmaids aren't supposed towalk around by themselves.
And she's just like, um, well,uh, and then she's just looking
at Moira, moira's looking at her, and so Offred is taken back to
the Red Center and Moira getson the subway and is able to
(23:15):
escape so and so in thisinstance it is June who is
punished the way that Moira ispunished in the book, after her
first attempt.
So she's severely beaten andwhipped, like her feet are
whipped, so she can't stand fora few days.
But yeah, in the TV series.
So the commander's wife doessay, like it's possible that the
(23:37):
commander is sterile, which isa forbidden word in this
universe and she's like it'spossible, he's sterile, so I
think we should find you adifferent way to get pregnant so
you can give me my baby and youcan get out of here and move on
to somewhere else, because Idon't want you here anymore,
essentially.
And she's like I think Nickshould be the sperm donor,
essentially.
So in the book that's all thathappens.
(23:59):
They steal one kiss in secretin which Nick tells her the
commander wants to see you alonein his room, which is also
forbidden, but they steal thatone kiss and then they sleep
together in order to try to getOffred pregnant.
But that is it.
In the TV series they actuallystart a whole affair and they
sleep together a lot.
There's a lot of sex betweenthe two of them, but yeah, that
(24:22):
doesn't happen.
In the book, janine, as ofWarren, actually she's the only
handmaid to get pregnant andduring the time period of this
book and the TV series she's theonly handmaid to get pregnant
and give birth successfully.
And in the TV series the baby'sfine, the baby's born fine and
(24:42):
she's fine, she lives.
But in the book she gives birthand the baby's fine, and then
the baby ends up dying a fewdays later, which in this
universe is pretty frequent.
You can give birth to a babythat looks healthy and then they
just die suddenly.
The declining birth rates andthe child mortality rates in
(25:04):
this universe are attributed toa lot of pollution and a lot of
radiation, which makes sense fora baby to not be able to
survive all of that.
But yeah, the baby doesn't diein the tv series, but it is
mentioned at some point in thebook that she she died a few
days after being born, and it'sjust one of those things where
(25:26):
it was like they named her,where offred says like they
named her too soon, but it's,yeah, it's just a very common
thing.
So it's not.
And any child that makes itpast the baby stage is like
there doesn't?
There's like a certainthreshold I'm not exactly sure
what it is where it's like okay,this baby's not going to die
Like she's good, she survived,she's going to make it into
adulthood.
Essentially, and in the TVseries, since Angela is Angela's
(25:50):
, the baby is fine and shedoesn't die.
What ends up happening insteadis that Janine is ends up so,
after she is severely beaten andtortured in the red center and
her eyes removed, she goes alittle crazy and so she's not
all there, like she getstortured to madness, essentially
.
So her handmaid gives birth,she sticks around for a little
(26:20):
bit to like nurse the baby andthen after a few weeks or months
, she's then removed from thathome and taken to a different
home to start the process overagain and hopefully give another
commander and his wife a baby.
So after in the book, like Isaid, angela the baby dies
before she's.
I mean she is eventually likesent to baby.
Angela dies before she'srelocated to a new location.
So yeah, so baby Angela was notlike, she wasn't even like a
(26:41):
few months old when she died.
I don't even think she reachedlike the month mark.
But in the TV series shefulfills her duties and she's
there for the required amount ofmaternity time that she needs
to be there before being sent,and then she's relocated, she
meets the new family and shedoesn't.
That madness is obviouslyexacerbated by the fact that she
(27:03):
gave birth and she is not withher daughter anymore.
She's been separated from herdaughter.
So when she is there to do theritual, she like fights against
it and like refuses to do it.
And the commander that she waswith essentially promised her
like we'll run away together,blah, blah, blah.
And of course she believes it.
And so after she's relocated,she ends up in the middle of the
(27:24):
night, like escaping her newhome, goes to the old
commander's home and takesAngela.
And then she is.
She is threatening to jump offa bridge and kill herself and
Angela.
They bring Offred to herbecause they know that Offred
and Janine are friends andOffred talks her down from
hurting Angela.
So Janine gives Angela toOffred and then she still jumps
(27:48):
off the bridge but she survives.
Yeah, so none of that happens inthe book, because baby Angela
dies in the book and, as far aswe know, offred never becomes
pregnant in the book.
In the TV series she does.
She does end up finding outthat she's pregnant, more than
likely with the next babybecause of how often they're
sleeping together.
But she does find out she'spregnant and there's like this
(28:08):
whole thing where everyone iscelebrating her pregnancy.
In the book she does not getpregnant.
As far as we know, the bookends on a cliffhanger.
So we don't know if she evergot pregnant or not.
But yeah, in the once it isrevealed that Offred is pregnant
, serena Joy, who's thecommander's wife, takes her to
like is like you're coming withme, and she puts her in the car.
(28:30):
And then because I think likeOffred does something I don't
remember exactly what she does,but she like does something and
like she's starting to rebel alittle bit against Serena Joy
and the commander and the wayshe's like speaking to them and
everything, or the way she'sspeaking to Serena Joy she, she
doesn't speak that way to thecommander she's starting to
rebel a little bit in that sense.
So, after her pregnancy isrevealed.
(28:52):
Serena Joy puts her in the vanand then she gets.
They show up at a destinationand then she tells the driver
like don't let her come out forany reason, and then they close
the doors so she can't get outof the car.
She goes inside the buildingand then when she comes out, she
comes out with Hannah, who'sOffred's daughter, and so
obviously Offred is like beggingthe driver to let her.
(29:14):
She's been looking for herdaughter.
She had no idea where herdaughter was this whole time and
she's like begging the driverto please let her out.
It's a really heartbreakingscene because obviously he
doesn't and she's just cryingand cursing serena joy.
And serena joy just says aslong as my baby's safe, your
baby's safe, and so that's whenoffred starts behaving a little
(29:34):
bit more respectfully towardsSerena Joy.
Again In the book this does nothappen, serena Joy, to keep her
motivated and like you're goingto sleep with Nick and if you
sleep with Nick I will see if Ican get a picture of your
daughter and she finds a pictureof Offred's daughter and shows
her the picture and it's one ofthose really sad things.
It's been three years since shesaw her daughter the last time
(30:02):
she saw her daughter herdaughter was five.
So after three years, like shecan just tell.
Like this child doesn't know meanymore.
So it's really it's a reallysad moment in the book as well,
but in the TV series just seeingher cry and curse and beg to
see her to be let out of the carso she can see her daughter is
just really heartbreaking.
In the TV series so there's aplace called Jezebel's, which is
like this underground placewhere the commanders can break
(30:23):
all the laws that they've setforth because, like, of course,
they're so righteous and they'redoing this for the declining
birth rates and they care aboutfollowing the Bible.
But Jezebel's exists, which isessentially a place where the
women that work at Jezebel's areprostitutes and the commanders
are allowed to drink and smokethere, something that is against
(30:46):
the law in the real world.
So it's like it's kind of likea speakeasy, but there's sex
involved as well.
Because why wouldn't there be?
Like, of course they're goingto be hypocrites and be like and
just do that because it'scourse there are going to be
hypocrites and be like and justdo that because it's they're not
going to follow their own rules.
Let's be real.
So in the book, offred visitsjezebel's once and it's one of
(31:08):
those things where the commandergets off on taking his
handmaids to this place.
So he'll, like he has themdress up in like this really
skimpy outfit and put makeup onand he takes them out and he
parades them.
But people there can't knowthat they're a handmaid.
They have to think that she's aprostitute or one of the worker
(31:29):
, one of the sex workers there.
And so he goes and he like getsoff on, like yeah, this is like
the sex worker I got for thenight and offred has to be like
I'm with him for the night, hejust like.
And then he like gets off on,like yeah, this is like the sex
worker I got for the night andoff red has to be like I'm with
him for the night and he justlike.
And then he like takes her toone of the hotel rooms and
sleeps with her and and the waythat he wants to and which is
not the boring ritual way.
(31:50):
So, yeah, he like gets, he getsoff on this and on this power
trip, essentially.
But in she only visits thatplace once in the book, in the
tv series she visits it twiceand the reason she visits the
first time.
It's the same reason as thebook.
The commander just wants thepower trip and takes and takes
her there the second time in thetv series is because the
(32:11):
handmaids that are working on arebellion to bring the end of
Gilead One of the handmaidsthat's in on it tells her
there's a very important packagethere.
We know that you've been toJezebel's because someone don't
you worry about it, we just know.
So there's a very importantpackage at Jezebel's and we need
(32:31):
you to convince your commanderto take you there again and pick
up the package from thisbartender and bring it back to
us.
And so she does.
She convinces the commander,like oh, can you take me again?
Like I really enjoyed havingsex with you there and I just I
really enjoyed it.
And he's like yeah, of course.
And then he takes her back andshe's not able to retrieve the
(32:52):
package, but she does go theretwice.
The reason she's unable to getthe package is because we need
to give Moira something to do.
Yes, she Offred, and Moira arereunited for the first time in
years at Jezebel's.
It turns out that after Moiraescaped the Red Center, she was
eventually caught and they gaveher the choice of either going
(33:14):
to the colonies or to going toJezebel's.
You do not want to go to thecolonies.
The people that work in thecolonies are exposed to
radiation constantly, likethey're literally.
Their job is to clean up theremnants of war and radiation
that was left behind, so you'regoing to die a very painful
(33:35):
radiation death.
So when she was given theoption, she chose to work at
Jezebel's instead.
So she works at Jezebel's andthat's where she's been ever
since she was caught.
And it's one of those momentsin the book that makes June
really, really sad, because it'sclear that Moira has lost her
fight and she's resigned toliving the rest of her life or
(33:58):
not the rest of her youthfullife working at Jezebel's until
she is sent off to somewhereelse, more than likely the
colonies and she's kind of justresigned herself to this life.
And so it makes June really,really sad to see Moira like
this.
So in the TV series, when Juneand the commander returned to
(34:18):
Jezebel's the second time, thecommander's like I know the real
reason you wanted to come.
It's to see your friend.
And then he's like I'll giveyou two some privacy for a
little bit, why I expect someaction later.
And so June tells Moira allabout why she came back and the
package, and she's like Moira, Ineed you to help me.
(34:39):
And Moira's like I'm not gonnahelp you, like I don't mind
working at Jezebel's it's, andif I get caught, like I'm for
sure going to the colonies andI'm not gonna go to the colonies
.
And so, like June yells at herand is like what happened to the
old Moira?
The old Moira, and you wouldnot just give up like this, she
would fight, she would dosomething about it.
And it's like this epic blowoutthat ends with her in tears and
(35:03):
the commander comes back.
It's kind of like I'm sorrythat you had a fight with your
friend, blah, blah, blah.
And then she's unable tocomplete her mission because the
commander comes back and it'slike the only way, like, yeah,
so then she receives a packagelater on while she's on a
shopping trip, and it's frommoira, and we find out that
(35:25):
moira was like you know what?
June is right.
So she gets the package,manages to stink it out of
jezebels and into to offred'scare, and then she dresses up as
one of the eyes.
So the eyes are the ones thatare in charge of enforcing the
law and if you see an eye comingfor you it's very bad news, but
(35:45):
anyway.
So she attacks one of the eyesand dresses up as the eye and
steals his van and then sheeventually makes it over the
border into Canada and she issafe and it is there that she
reunites with Luke.
Luke is Offred's husband frombefore, but in the TV series he
also manages to escape to Canada.
(36:05):
In the book we don't know whathappens to him.
He and June do try to escapeGilead when it's Gilead's
already established, but thingshave not gotten to the extremes
that they are now, and sothey're trying to leave Gilead
and they're caught at the borderand we don't know what happened
.
Luke and Offred get separated,so Offred's running with her
(36:28):
daughter and then they're bothcaptured and brought back to
Gilead and we know Offred ismade a handmaiden and we don't.
We have no idea what happenedto Luke.
We don't know if he did make itor if he died.
We don't know.
In the book there's only onesalvaging, so a salvaging is
kind of like a public execution.
So in the book there's only onesalvaging and it is a man who's
(36:50):
been accused of raping apregnant handmaid and this rape
is what causes her to lose thebaby.
We don't know if this is trueor not.
This is what the aunts aresaying, but for all we know he
could just a traitor and this isthe reason the handmaids are
given.
So they stone him to death.
And this does happen, as I said, in the book, but in the TV
(37:13):
series this happens in like thefirst or second episode.
And then there's anothersalvaging that doesn't happen in
the book, in which it's.
The salvaging is Janine.
So again, at this point Janinehas jumped off the bridge.
She survives the suicideattempt and for the harm she
could have brought to Angela,for the harm she brought to the
commander and his wife and forher attempted suicide,
(37:36):
essentially this all means she'ssentenced to death.
So she goes to the salvagingand all the handmaids refuse to
kill Janine and Janine is sparedbecause the handmaids decide
not to participate.
So, as I said, the secondsalvaging involving Janine does
not happen in the book.
The salvaging against the manwho supposedly sexually
(37:57):
assaulted a handmaid happenstowards the end of the book and
in it of Glenn, who is Offred'spartner.
So again, in this society thehandmaids are not allowed to
walk by themselves.
They're not allowed to goanywhere without supervision.
So they're paired up with otherhandmaids and they do
everything in twos.
And they of Glenn eventuallyfinds out that like Offred is
(38:19):
interested in joining therebellion of glenn's already was
already a part of it, and soshe starts telling offred a
little bit about the rebellionand what she can do to help, and
all that when the salvaginghappens of this man, of glenn,
goes and kicks him right in thehead, knocking him out, so he
doesn't feel anything.
Um, he doesn't feel the pain ofbeing stoned to death,
essentially because of glennknocks him out, so he doesn't
feel anything.
(38:39):
He doesn't feel the pain ofbeing stoned to death,
essentially because of Glennknocks him out and Offred's like
why did you do that?
And she's like because he's oneof us, like he's part of the
rebellion.
And Offred's like ooh, and so.
That's why I'm saying that inthe TV series that's the reason
that we're given for this manbeing executed.
But we actually don't know ifthat's the real reason or not.
In the TV series, at the veryend of the first episode, ofglen
(39:01):
is replaced with the newhandmaid, who's also Ofglen, but
the handmaid that Offred knewto be Ofglen, is replaced at the
end of the first episode.
This does happen in the book aswell.
However, ofglen is replaced atthe end.
Towards the end, Again afterthe salvaging of this guy.
She saw that the the new ofglenn reveals that she saw the
(39:25):
van the van of the eyes comingfor her, and so it was one of
those things that she's like oh,I've been discovered as a rebel
and I'd rather kill myself thango to where wherever the eyes
are taking.
Like I said, you don't want to,to wherever the eyes are taking
you.
Like I said, you don't want togo where the eyes are taking you
.
So Ofglen decides to killherself.
And yeah, like this happens atthe end of the book, like it was
(39:47):
one of those things that's like, huh Ofglen's around for a
while In the TV series, likeshe's gone after the first
episode.
So, yeah, in the TV series, thereason Ofglen is replaced with
the new new of Glenn is actuallybecause she was caught as
committing sexual crimes withanother woman, which just means
she was caught either making outor having sexual relations with
(40:10):
a woman.
There are no LGBTQ people inthis universe or in this allowed
in the Republic of Gilead.
So this is against the law.
This allowed in the Republic ofGilead.
So this is against the law.
So in the second episode we seeof Glenn being captured and I
think it's actually with theMartha of her house that she's
been having this secret affair.
So the Martha is ordered to behanged and she is of.
(40:31):
Glenn sees her being hanged andthen of Glenn is spared because
and the only reason she'sspared is because she's a
handmaid and they need all thefertile women to be handmaids.
Essentially, reason she'sspared is because she's a
handmaid and they need all thefertile women to be handmaids.
Essentially so she spared thedeath penalty.
But when she wakes up at theend of the second episode, she
has gone through the removal ofher clitoris, and aunt lydia
(40:54):
that's like the main aunt of thetv series, end of the book too
is like now you don't need toworry about those sinful
thoughts entering your mind everagain.
And so she just cries at herfemale castration essentially
having happened.
So that's what happens withOfglen in the TV series, but in
the book she kills herselfbecause she sees the eyes coming
for her.
And yeah, as I said, the TVseries and the book both end in
(41:18):
a cliffhanger, the exact samecliffhanger that you see in the
TV series is the exact samecliffhanger found in the book.
So there you go, orlando, andthe TV series continues beyond
there.
As I said, this is where thebook ends.
The TV series continues on andexpands on this story, which I
still am on about whether or notI want to watch the rest of the
(41:40):
seasons.
Like I said, I just I have athing about watching shows that
continue past the first season,like if they covered everything
that the book did in the firstseason.
I don't really want to continuebeyond that, but that's just me
and my personal preference.
The book ends with thecliffhanger, but on top of that
(42:01):
it ends with historical notes,which is just like I guess you
could consider it an epilogue inwhich there's like a conference
.
Someone is giving apresentation on Gilead at this
point, gilead is no more, butit's like a conference at some
point in the future and they'relooking back on Gilead and the
ways and customs that theybelieved in and they're this is
(42:24):
a symposium from Gilead expertstalking about everything they
know, and that includeseverything they know about
Offred, because the whole storyof the Handmaid's Tale is told
through recordings that Offreddid at some point.
However, where her tale ends ishow it ends.
These experts don't know ifOffred ended up getting killed
(42:47):
or if she made it to Canada andlived out the rest of her life
in Canada.
Like there's no answers, theydon't know.
We don't know what happened toOffred, so it's still a
cliffhanger and I kind of wishthe book had ended there, as
frustrating as it is, becausethe historical notes don't
really give us any newinformation other than the
commander was eventually killedor not?
(43:08):
Well, yeah, killed, and well,maybe not killed, but he was
punished.
He was found guilty of havingforbidden materials in his house
and for committing crimes, asin like visiting Jezebelbels.
So all of that happens, butyeah, it's kind of.
Offred's story remains acliffhanger, so I kind of wish
that Margaret Atwood had left itas that, because in my opinion,
(43:30):
like, the historical notesdon't really add too much beyond
that.
But anyway, I just want to saythat, as I mentioned, renee
Nault's adaptation and art forthe graphic novel is absolutely
stunning.
If you are someone thatstruggles reading regular novels
but you can read graphic novels, I highly recommend you check
(43:51):
out the Handmaid's Tale and readit for yourself and enjoy the
artwork.
Like I said, it's beautiful andthe way red is used.
Red is the color of thehandmaids and she just finds
ways to really make that redstand out in ways beyond the
handmaid's robe.
So it's absolutely gorgeous.
(44:12):
The TV series is very well acted.
I know a lot of people hadissues when it first premiered
with, like I said, the use ofthe.
They're being disabledhandmaids and they're being
handmaids of color and it's notin this instance.
Their reasoning for not wantinghandmaids of color is not for
the stereotypical, racistreasons.
(44:33):
People don't usually wantpeople of color playing their
white characters.
In this instance, this issupposed to be.
This is obviously a dystopianfuture, but in this society, for
the people in charge that areliving it, they have created the
perfect utopia and in thisperfect utopia there's no room
for, you know, they believe ineugenics.
(44:53):
That's all I'll say.
So, yeah, so that was somethingthat I really, really liked
about the.
I mean I can't fault the actors.
All the actors are great, evenJoseph Fiennes and Ivan
Strahovski.
Again, no issues with them asactors, just age-wise they don't
fit.
We needed to go with someoneold.
Okay, I'm done ranting aboutthat.
But yeah, elizabeth Moss, asOffred, is fantastic.
(45:16):
She's great.
I can't fault her performancein any way.
Like those moments, like thatscene with Hannah, she just it's
so good, like she's just she'sgreat and yeah, she's, I think
she makes a really great off-red.
I know, apart from the issues Imentioned, a lot of people were
like the soundtrack for this TVshow is what is with this
(45:39):
soundtrack, ugh?
And I just want to say I likethere was maybe like one song
choice that I was like this wasa little odd, but for the most
part, like the scene that droveme to tears the first time I saw
it and drove me to tearsrewatching.
It has Heart of Glass playingas its background and it's in
(45:59):
episode three, I believe, andit's when we're seeing the start
of Gilead.
We get in the flashbacks.
We see Moira and June's creditcards get declined even though
they have money, and June losesher job and we find out that all
her money is being transferredto Luke, since he's her husband.
Moira is a lesbian and so thefate of her money is kind of up
(46:24):
in the air because she doesn'thave any relatives, like it's
just her, so there's no malerelatives that the money would
go to.
And the final scene ends in aprotest and the police start
firing back against theprotesters.
It's a peaceful protest andthey're being shot at and
attacked and Heart of Glass isplaying and the juxtaposition of
(46:47):
this song that I really reallylove with this scene.
That's just really hard towatch.
It gets me every time.
So I personally did not haveany issues with the soundtrack.
But anyway, that being said, Irated the book four stars.
I rated the graphic novel fourstars, but the book is four
stars as well, and I gave the TVseries a four star rating as
(47:09):
well.
But to me there is a clearwinner and it is the book.
I do really really love thebook and the TV series is great.
The first season I can onlytalk about the first season.
The first season is great, it'sfantastic and it's not a bad
adaptation all things considered.
But there's just somethingabout the book that, as
(47:32):
difficult as it is to read attimes I just I don't know
there's some.
I think the book just does morefor me in terms of spreading
the message and the warning thatit's trying to send, and
Margaret Atwood is just awonderful writer.
So I have to go with the book.
But that is it for this episodeof Books vs Movies.
If you're enjoying this podcast, please leave me a rating and a
(47:55):
review.
Tell all your friends about itand I will see you next time.
Bye.
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