I wrote this review for my Semiotics subject last year. I just loved the series and I still couldn’t get over it.
First of all, it took my breath away. Probably because I gave it a lame judgment, I thought it was just a typical dystopian story where people will just have to kill one another to survive, or just plain predictable. (I will not name other shows or books because I don’t like to offend anyone LOL.) I haven’t heard of this show before, so thank you so much for suggesting this one, it s definitely a good watch and I’m going to start binge watching tonight. Although I think reading the book first is a good idea… Anyway, I’m here to review the first episode with all the signs and symbolisms that I’ve noticed.
The first one is the color of their dress code. It’s red. It’s red but dark. Maybe it’s Maroon. Based on my research, the word ‘Maroon’ has another definition; A fugitive black slave of the West Indies and Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries; also : a descendant of such a slave. Basically, the color maroon symbolizes slavery. The handmaids are sex slaves but with a ‘blessing’ from ‘God’. (This show makes me angrier towards the hypocritical religious people)
Second one is the lead character’s name, Offred. I thought it is an odd, futuristic name but based on my research (I’m not sure if this is mentioned in the show), ‘Offred’ is derived from ‘Of Fred’. The handmaids are not allowed to use their birthnames. Their new names must echo the male, or the master that they serve. I feel really sorry about them.
The men with guns symbolizes authority or Totalitarian. They have the control to everything and women cannot do anything but to give them children or just do the chores. It’s like the 18th century all over again.
The three hanging men near the river. The first one is a priest. Maybe that priest has a good heart and he is strongly againsts the government’s inhumane regulation. Or maybe he wanted to escape but he got caught. The next one is a doctor, and he has a drawing of a fetus on the sack that covered his head. He must’ve performed an abortion, which is a strong offense because they wanted to reproduce. I’m not sure about the third one, he has a triangle on his sack. I think I heard that he’s gay. Being a part of the LGBT community in a Totalitarian, Christian Autonomy is very unfortunate. What do we expect???
Don’t get me wrong, I totally respect Christianity and my Christian friends’ beliefs, but I think the whole Christian thing here in the story symbolizes hypocrisy. They were all about God, the bible, the teachings… But the government’s actions say otherwise. I believe that this shows the reality of how Christianity was shoved in people’s faces from the past. The nuns, the priests, they were all evil (Not all, it’s never my intention to generalize). If hell is real, I expect most of them to be there.
I really wanted to write more but I need to watch the whole season first. This is very interesting.
Movie Menu 