Is anyone else currently watching [or has watched] The Handmaid's Tale? I started watching a year or so ago but didn't make it to the end of the first episode. Way too grim for me. I'm fine with ghosts, vampires and monsters [because they don't exist]. But anything to do with potential real life horror, I can't take. I know it can and does happen but I don't want to watch it on screen. This story might be fiction but it covers the consequences of catastrophic human error in judgement leading to the establishment of a society built on violence, terror and the perversion of religion in the worst way. This hasn't happened but the potential is there.
However, a few weeks ago my niece began telling me how amazing it was, she admitted it was horrific but, so well written and acted that it made for compelling viewing. So partly out of curiosity and partly because I love having something in common to chat about with my niece, I started watching it again... and it really is quite astounding. At the time of publishing this post, I'm about half way through season three.
Here's a brief synopsis of the basic premise.
The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her. [IMBD]
One aspect of the story that fascinates me is the colour symbolism of the "uniforms" the Gilead women are forced to wear. The Handmaids [remaining fertile women] wear long red dresses - symbolising menstrual blood and the womb and fire and lust. The Wives wear a teal blue - associated with the Madonna, and symbolising their ultimate role as mothers, pure mothers, those who have not conceived themselves but rear the children anyway. Marthas are female servants who wear a drab brown uniform symbolising earth and the homestead.
For further information on colour symbolism in The Handmaid's Tale read this article by Charlotte Unsworth.
My designs are based around this colour representation and I began with basic shapes.
Would you believe I've never made a paper chain before!
I used this blog post to get me started: Ehow make paper people cut outs
Then I and added text, imagining I was designing a book cover.
I use both Picassa and GIMP for doing this; Picassa is easier to navigate but GIMP has more functions.
I played about with this macabre idea too.
Finally, I created a paper chain of Handmaids wearing their distinctive "wings" - a Jacobean styled white wimple.
Religion in the Handmaid's Tale Religion is the foundation of Gilead ’s formation. It is a republic based on religious dogma from the Old Testament skewed cover up the real wishes of the Gilead elite. Their use of Christianity is only a means to an end. There’s never any mention of people willingly praying, going to church, or even using the accepted greetings of their own accord. They do these things out of fear, fear that they will be thrown out of civilization or worse, tortured and killed.
Quote from Women's Literature Blog Religion in The Handmaid's Tale
Handmaid's greet each other by saying "Under His Eye"
This link gives a brief explanation on these words:
What does Under His Eye mean in the The Handmaid's Tale
Well there you are, I've had a lot of fun playing around with these concepts and am pretty happy with the results. I'm going to experiment more with text as I love the changes it makes to the images. Off now to watch the remaining few episodes of season three... in the last episode I watched, things weren't looking very good for Offred... :-)
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