I have read a book about scripts. When it comes to making a story, you can first "assume" a seemingly absurd premise and then rationalize it. The most convenient "hypothesis" is to exaggerate a fact. For example, suppose that the fertility rate in the world has dropped to 0.1, suppose that the leaders of the entire country are male rapists, suppose that the United States is occupied by Islam and is rapidly radicalized.
"My country is dying"
"My country is already dead"
During a drink, I argued with people about how to define "human extinction": the decline of biological "genes" or the decline of philosophical "wisdom".
Based on the above two definitions, Gilead is actually advancing the decline of mankind from a scientific point of view.
The war against the United States, slaughter, rebellion, and domestic cleansing have caused the population of childbearing age to fall off the cliff, further damaging the already precarious genetic diversity-in reality, the human Y chromosome is shrinking. (PS: The more amazing thing is that Gilead actually allows blacks to be handmaidens. It is reasonable to say that this kind of fundamentalist country must also engage in racism (and vice versa). Maybe it really needs fertility too much, so it accepts the right to a certain extent. A modern interpretation of the "Bible"?)
Persecuting faculty, prohibiting women from reading, and resisting scientific progress will limit the development of medicine and biology, and will not fundamentally solve the problems of birth difficulties and child deaths. It will also lead to a shortening of adult life expectancy and further reduce the population iteration rate. And reduce human IQ.
Escape from the reality of male infertility and blindly suppress women to increase fertility, which will inevitably lead to "borrowing sperm to give birth to children." Post the relationship between Nick and June). Moreover, such countries that emphasize eugenics and even rape can find a rationale in the Bible. Free love should not be allowed within the ruling class, and large-scale incest in the second-generation circle of bishops is just around the corner.
Nonetheless, there has been a self-destruction using these methods while claiming to be the "savior of mankind" (ex: Nazi's "Fountain of Life" project). After all, "it is an extravagant desire (at this stage) for human beings to remain rational forever". Once the “strongmen” of a “strongman politics” lose their rationality in the face of drastic changes, the entire country—if this country happens to be a powerful country (for example, the story in the play takes place in the United States)—the whole world will fall into madness. From a historical point of view, people who are too rational (in the context of their times) will not become "strong people."
Therefore, when someone asked me about this TV series Amway, I always refused-I was scared just by reading the introduction, afraid that this is not a "purely fictitious" story, but a "if there is a similarity" prophecy.
When Alabama passed the "National Abortion Act" a few days ago, I finally decided to play this TV.
"The Handmaid's Tale" accurately extracts and perfectly presents the universal characteristics of totalitarian governments in history and reality: dogmatism is keen to quote quotations, and the leader is "the spokesperson of God on earth", in other words what the leader(s) say It is the truth, divides citizens into three, six or nine classes, and guides and encourages them to hate and fight each other, have obsessive-compulsive disorder for "uniformity", and hate words such as "freedom" and "diversity" most, and think that they are their own " "Superman Vision" rescued the "fools" from "freedom" and embarked on the Golden Avenue, emphasizing the "sense of ritual". The more ugly things, the more they pursue the "beauty" in form and name, and control freaks. No matter what you eat or sleep, and call this kind of restraint in the name of "love" and "caring", thinking that only this can prevent citizens from "degrading."
The reason why totalitarian governments—whether it is a unity of church and state or secular materialism—have these characteristics. I created God in my own image." The Virgin Mary is a Jew, but she looks like an Italian in the country of Italy. If she wants to preach in China, she has to change her facial features into a Chinese.
What kind of person you are, what kind of god you believe in. You are a breeding freak, your god is. You are a racist, your god must be. You are a sexist, and your god must be too. There is no "or vice versa", after all, no one can really pull God out for two steps. What you believe can only be what you are willing to believe. What you are willing to believe must be something beneficial or beneficial to you. What is beneficial or beneficial to you may not be beneficial to others, and may harm some people, just like the Waterfood in the play. Said "Better never means better for everyone". How to override all other interests with one's own interests requires the methods mentioned above. According to this logic, any totalitarian government saying that it is "for the whole nation" or even "for the whole mankind" must be farting.
Then how do you know that something is better for most people's vision of mankind, and how do you know whether you will become better or worse in this event, and should you cooperate or resist?
Although the heroine June cannot represent "every one", it is a kind of "average"-ordinary urban white-collar workers, have a husband and children, have no outstanding personality and ability, are not too brave or too strong, avoid conflict (in the coffee When I was scolded by bitch in the museum, I pulled Moira away. I was completely insensitive to the social changes of "boiling frogs in warm water"). Generally speaking, I was a middle-class fortunately. I had committed some "mistakes that both men and women would make". The husband of the woman is dating (from her expression before calling Luck "divorce", she may feel guilty about it), loves friends and family. Abundant emotions and sufficient dating skills (played with Tinder and occasionally read some women's magazines to flirt with Luck when it is appropriate to date) make her-especially to the men of Gilead-attractive. This attraction, coupled with a certain amount of luck (it happened to be sent to the prestigious Waterfood home, Nick is Eye and has fertility and actually survived the "Lucifer effect"), plus she is not deep in the spirit. Knowing where the brainwashing antibodies came from has allowed her to survive this season (the fetus in her belly may be able to keep her alive for the next season) without Stockholm syndrome. She doesn't have the power and mind to save herself, and she doesn't dare to take risks like Emily. In Gilead, all she can do is to "fake and make snakes" and keep her head sober and not be brainwashed by the theory of "you are a sinner".
It's not easy anymore (some viewers definitely think they can do better than the heroine, but I think it can't). But the plot development to the present, this is far from enough.
They are just the first generation of Gilead-let's say they are "citizens". They have memories of their "previous" lives. They were highly educated, competed with men in the workplace, loved dating, and believed that what the bishops of Gilead did was "rape." But the children they give birth will grow up in Gilead, men will be educated that "women's natural mission is to have children", and women will be illiterate. In order to use a woman's fertility quickly and economically, girls will be married as soon as they come on men's holidays, and they will be "fully protected" by men-of course, they cannot drive, go out alone, or participate in any social activities. At that time, it was almost impossible to change. The vested interests—that is, the men of the country—have no need for change, and there will be a bunch of data to support "women’s inherently low intelligence" (after all, higher education and active The brain activity can improve IQ), the oppressed lose the motivation to pursue change (the less knowledgeable, the less reactionary), and the less resource for revolution.
If Mayday can’t overthrow the rule in this generation, if the United States can’t fight back home within ten years, the maid will become the “national culture” of Gilead and require the recognition and respect of other countries, and it will be called this in a few decades. The country’s "traditional virtues" were used for bragging and pride.
So why does a smart and capable woman like Serena set up such a future for girls (she doesn't seem to have a special pursuit of "giving a son")?
Mentalist has an episode of catching a serial rapist and murderer. In the end, it is discovered that the murderer is a couple. Although the executor is the husband, the planner and the chief messenger are the wives. This is probably what Serena calls "domestic feminism"-the husband is ruling the world outside, and he is ruling the husband at home by himself. In exchange for her husband’s affection for her “docileness” and “sacrifice”, he gains family influence and a child. Serena and Aunt Lyndia are typical "breeders"-the former is from the perspective of the wife, and the latter is the face of the mother-in-law. If you can't give birth to yourself, you can force others to give birth to yourself in the name of God. While they love babies, they torture and kill adults, praise the miracle of life and trample on the dignity of life. They don’t think about children who will grow up to be grown-ups, and don’t think about maids who were once holy babies. People who don't care about their lives don't really love and pity their children. What they are fascinated by is "control". If the children don't look like they imagined (for example, if a child born to June becomes an atheist), they can abandon it in a matter of minutes.
But the revolution is not a dinner party, and certainly not a serial rape. Serena has excluded herself and other women from the decision-making circle based on the article "Women cannot read". No matter how deep Fred’s affection is for her, the other bishops are not her husband. The way she gets along with her wife may not be the same Like Waterfood, even other wives—especially those who made girls a son—may not be on her side. The separation of her husband's feelings and the loss of influence on national affairs will greatly threaten Serena. Although the interests are different, she and June are bound to join forces again and again in the next season. Only in this way can this melancholic story have some positive meaning: all women, whether they are housewives or women in the workplace, whether they are child-controlled or unmarried or infertile, can only support each other to help each other. We are unfavorable and unfavorable to survive in a world that has existed for thousands of years.
PS: I have argued with people about the issue of "surrogacy" and "legalization of prostitution" before, and I am opposed to it. Because for the same thing, as long as the legally recognized transaction with the price tag, you will actually accept the possession of clever plundering—power can take money, and violence can take power. Therefore, whoever approves that it can be obtained with money also approves the possession of power and violence. This is why all civilized and modern countries prohibit "trafficking in human beings" (not selling oneself) and the sale of organs (not selling one's own). As long as "free trade" is allowed, power and violence can create conditions that allow people to "have to trade." If "The Handmaid's Tale" does not use "traditional" methods, but "artificial insemination" as Moira envisioned-that is, skipping the "violent" part, but a "surrogacy" combining power and violence, perhaps- No, it should be for sure-some people will say "there is merit". If “violence” is further eliminated by confiscation of the maids’ property, depriving them of the right to work and do business, and not allowing them to marry, then they will only have to go to prostitution or surrogacy. Under this setting, disputes It will be even bigger, and maybe some governments really think "this is feasible."
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