The world of The Handmaid’s Tale feels chillingly close to our own.
An eye for an eye, a bonnet upon a bonnet and a definition of God’s mercy that includes an offending hand clamped in a vice over a gas flame … The Handmaid’s Tale is back for a second zeitgeistdissecting season.
I may be watching it from behind a sofa cushion as, among many lethal shortcomings of our species, a tendency for moral righteousness to result in mutilated bodies is pitilessly delineated.
This series heads off-piste into territory beyond Margaret Atwood’s dystopian 1985 novel about the newly minted theocracy, the Republic of Gilead, where a class of red-gowned sex slaves are forced to bear children for the infertile elite. “Blessed be the fruit,” they must chant dutifully. “Under His eye.”
Offred has lost her real name, June, to extreme fundamentalists, her daughter to some privileged, barren “mistress” and her husband to exile in Canada. She’s pregnant and on the run, determined to get out, if that’s even possible any more. “There probably is no out,” she says.
Denne historien er fra May 12-18 2018-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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Denne historien er fra May 12-18 2018-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
