What Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale Prefer To Ignore

National Review ^ | April 27, 2017 | Heather Wilhelm

[EdnaMode]

Exciting news, America! In case you haven’t heard, we’re living in The Handmaid’s Tale. Normally, I would take this shot of news with a chaser of instant panic, given that The Handmaid’s Tale — first published by Margaret Atwood in 1985 and now elevated to larger-than-life status with a much-ballyhooed new miniseries on Hulu — is a downright nightmarish story. In Atwood’s dystopian world, a sinister cabal of fundamentalist Christians (it’s always those dastardly Christians, it seems) seizes power, transforming what remains of the United States into the cruel Republic of Gilead. In this terrifying new world, certain fertile women — the “handmaids” in question — are forced into sex slavery, dissenters are sent off to clean up toxic waste, and a sly yet miserable cadre of privileged upper-class women manage to quietly enable the whole thing.

[EdnaMode]

Finally a voice of reason after everyone from the cast and crew, Margaret Atwood, and critics have called this series "timely" and a reflection of "Trump's America."

[GraceG]

The most “Socially oppressive Christians” in America’s history never came close to the barbarism that is commonplace in ANY ISLAMIC country that lives under Sharia Law! Today in 2017!!!

The left will never grasp this FACT.... because they refuse to acknowledge ANYTHING that will disprove their DOGMA!

[dforest]

This book came out during Reagan’s tenure and now, it is out for Trump in series fashion.

Thing is, it has absolutely no correlation to a Trump Presidency.

One minute these lefties call Trump a pervert, and another minute he is accused of being a religious tyrant.

[ClearCase_guy]

A deeply stupid book.

[Yaelle]

So true.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Wasn’t this made into a movie many years go? Maybe that is why no one has heard or seen it since.

Yep. Found it. Made into a movie in 1990.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=handmaidstale.htm

[Army Air Corps]

One minute these lefties call Trump a pervert, and another minute he is accused of being a religious tyrant.

The Left holds both beliefs simultaneously - that's Doublethink.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Margaret Atwood is revered in Canada. I am not sure why since her books are virtually unreadable.

[Army Air Corps]

Is it the result of knee-jerk Anti-Americanism among the Canadian Left?

[dangus]

Not to mention that the nightmarish dystopia is a desperate attempt to save humanity after a STI plague wipes out human fertility. But maybe they rewrote that to an environmental catastrophe to keep it ideologically pure?

[tbw2]

The fictional Gilead doesn’t have as much oppression of women as ISIS and Boko Haram today. There weren’t violent female enforcers of the modesty code shoving prongs into women’s breasts as ISIS had, women who didn’t obey the code could choose to become prostitutes or be sent to the work camps instead of just sold.
Their hysterical dystopia of Christian theocracy that has never existed in human history is thus better for women than real world Islamic theocracies.

[Former Proud Canadian]

I don’t know.

[mass55th]

She probably stole the idea from the Nazi’s “Lebensborn” Program, and replaced the Nazis with Catholics.

[rollo tomasi]

No, she stole the idea through various dystopian novels before her as well as the story of Abraham and his wife's handmaiden, Hagar.

Instead of using the Jewish religion as a method to impugn, she chose Christianity in order to escape the wrath of academics and the media. Yes, the same Christianity where the founder warned against even *thinking* about having sex wife another woman other then your wife.

[rollo tomasi]

Lol, the first wife in the second part = with, sorry about that

[Steve_Seattle]

If the summary is an accurate account of the storyline, the book has absolutely NOTHING to do with “Trump’s America.” It is false on every single point.