In the future world, due to air pollution and chemical pollution, the infertility rate in society is extremely high. The U.S. government was overthrown after a bloody revolution, and those in power established Gilead, a male totalitarian society, a country that is extremely Christian and exclusive, a patent dictatorship, and a country that uses fertile young women as a tool for inheriting the lineage. One second you are an excellent working woman, the next second you are reduced to a walking womb.
Here, young fertile women (“handmaids”) would be sent to the homes of infertile rulers on a mission to “pass the line.” The wife of the man in power was by his side throughout the process of "inheriting the lineage". The whole process is more equivalent to "breeding" between males and females. There is no communication, no eye contact, and no physical contact except for the genitals. If a woman is pregnant, she will enjoy very good treatment during pregnancy. However, due to environmental pollution, many handmaid fetuses are often not born smoothly or are born with defects. In this way, she has to continue to conceive the next child in this family. If the child is born healthy, after she completes the task of breastfeeding, the maid will be sent to the next house of power to complete the "honorable mission", and they will never recognize their own children for life. If the "handmaid" stays in one household for two years without getting pregnant, she will also be sent to the next household of power. As for those women who are infertile, they will become maids; and those women and men who are disobedient will be sent to places with very serious pollution areas to clean up the wasteland, and the results can be imagined. Even later, in order to prevent the "handmaid" from communicating with the master and even preventing the "handmaid" from communicating with each other, their mouths were even nailed with steel.
This is the background of the development of the story. Think if it feels very absurd. Yes, I also thought it was incredible at first. But when I actually watch this drama, the more I watch it, the more I feel scared. That strong sense of substitution will make you feel that such a situation may really happen in the future. Even though it has been revealed in the show that the cause of infertility is more in men than women. But in that country, there is no problem with the male body, and the status of males is unshakable; in that country, women cannot touch books, and women are accessories to men. Even in the house of the powerful, the lady will have her thumb cut off if she touches the book and is found. And all these changes will only take a few years.
Let's turn our attention to another film, The Breadwinner. In Afghanistan under the brutal Taliban rule, ordinary people, especially women, live a life of hell. They were ordered to stay at home and were not allowed to go out unless their father, brother or husband were with them; they were not allowed to speak to any man, not even when buying food; Of course, no part of the body should be touched. This means that when the men in the family are sick and unable to go out or not at home, the women in the family cannot go out to buy groceries even if they are hungry. Women in Afghanistan do not have the right to education, some of the previous girls' schools have long been closed, and only a few mosques teach them to read the Koran. And all of this happened around 2000.
Two films, one is about a time in the past but not far from us; one is about a time in the future; one tells a story that hasn't happened yet, and one tells a story that has already happened in reality. Although there are differences, the victims are the same, and that is women. In the two films, the status of women is only obedience, only to have children; women cannot be wise and cannot attract men.
The status of women always seems to be in the weakest position. When there is a crisis, women are always the first to be sacrificed. Then the final outcome is roughly the same: women cannot have culture, they cannot have their own ideas; women are accessories to men; women's mission is to "pass down the lineage". This of course has to do with the long-term social status of women, it has to do with the physical strength of women, and maybe we'll be thankful that the plot in the movie never happens to us, but even in times of peace, how many people, especially how many Women still imprison themselves in similar circumstances?
View more about The Handmaid's Tale reviews
